Nifty clinches 5700; auto, FMCG, power gain

It was a strong start to the October series as the NSE Nifty closed about its psychological 5700 mark. Strong buying was seen in auto, metal, power and FMCG stocks. Reliance, ITC, ICICI Bank, HDFC and L&T were major contributors to the Sensex while Infosys, HDFC Bank, SBI and BHEL were negative contributors.

The Sensex was up 183.24 points or 0.99% at 18762.74. It has touched an intraday high of 18869.94 and an intraday low of 18698.51. The Nifty was up 47.85 points or 0.85% at 5697.35. It has touched an intraday high of 5,735.15 and an intraday low of 5,683.45. About 1620 shares were advanced, 1227 shares declined, and 606 shares unchanged.

Saurabh Mukherjea, head of equities, Ambit Capital sees the BSE Sensex at 23,000 levels in the next 12-18 months. He expects a 5% upmove in the market before the Winter Session of the Parliament.

VK Sharma of HDFC Securities feels the October series feels 5,600 is going to act as a good support. "It may cross the 5,850 psychological hump that people have in their minds," he explained

Meanwhile, top gainers on the Sensex were Hindalco at Rs 120.50 was up 3.39%, Tata Motors at Rs 267.45 was up 2.96%, Cipla at Rs 380.60 was up 2.50%, Sun Pharma at Rs 693.30 was up 2.44% and Tata Power at Rs 106.95 was up 2.30%.

However, top losers on the Sensex were Infosys at Rs 2,534 was down 0.58%, BHEL at Rs 246.85 was down 0.56%, SBI at Rs 2,237.90 was down 0.39%, GAIL at Rs 383.05 was down 0.22% and HDFC Bank at Rs 628.70 was down 0.14%.

Pharma stocks were in focus in today's trade as the GoM finalised the pharma pricing policy under which 348 essential drugs will come under price control of the government. Cadila Health, Sun Pharma, Cipla and Dr Reddys Labs were up 1.5 to 3%.

Kingfisher Airlines was down 4%, at the lenders meet Yesterday, KFA did not come up with any new plan for re-capitalisation.

Most active shares on BSE were United Spirits, SBI, ICICI Bank, HDIL were L&T.

Top percentage gainers on the BSE - Future Market, Birla Corp, ARSS Infra, Crest Animation and Essar Sec were up 15-19%.

Top gainers on the BSE Midcap - Birla Corp, Tata Global Bev, Vakrangee, Shipping Corp and Anant Raj Ind were up 7-20%.

Top losers on the BSE Midcap - Shree Global Tr, AIA Engineering, Jaypee Infra, Delta Corp and Glodyne Techno were down 3-4%.

Top gainers on the BSE Smallcap - Dalmia Enter, TRF, Oricon Enterpr, Noida Toll and Aegis Logistics were up 10-14%.

Top losers on the BSE Smallcap - UB Holdings, Plethico Pharma, Kemrock Indus, Commex Tech and Talwalkars Fitn were down 5-8%

The rupee gained 35 paise to trade at nearly five-month high of 52.67 against the dollar in early trade on Friday on continued selling of the dollar by exporters and banks. "Since it is the quarter end, we are definitely seeing some exporter booking of forward contracts," Agam Gupta of Standard Chartered Bank told CNBC-TV18 explaining the movement of rupee.

The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty trimmed gains due to profit booking in banks. Country's largest lenders State Bank of India fell 0.5 percent and private sector lender declined 0.3 percent while its rival ICICI Bank cut gains to 0.6 percent from 1.5 percent.

The BSE benchmark, which gained as much as 290 points intraday, went up 202 points to 18,781.70. The NSE benchmark gained 58.35 points at 5,707.85, supported by FMCG, metals, oil & gas, healthcare and Tata group stocks.

VK Sharma of HDFC Securities feels the October series, which started today, still augurs well. There is more steam left in the market, he says.

"My sense is that this rally still has some legs. 5,600 is going to act as a good support. It may cross the 5,850 psychological hump that people have in their minds. Banking will again take the lead in terms of leading the markets higher," he explained.

Shares of Ranbaxy Labs, Reliance Infrastructure, HCL Tech and BHEL were down 0.8-0.9 percent.

Commercial vehicle maker Tata Motors still maintained its top position in the buying list, which rallied over 4 percent.

FMCG majors ITC and Hindustan Unilever were up 1.7 percent each. Oil & gas producers Reliance Industries and ONGC gained over 1.5 percent.

Tata group stocks like software services exporter Tata Consultancy Services, steel producer Tata Steel and private power producer Tata Power moved up 2 percent.

Aluminium major Hindalco Industries spiked 3.6 percent while drug producer Cipla and top car maker Maruti jumped 2 percent each.

Advancing shares outnumbered declining by 928 to 511 on the National Stock Exchange.

On the global front, European markets continued to trade with marginal gains after Spain announced budgetary measures for 2013.

Indian equity benchmarks remained in bull grip after seeing consolidation in previous four sessions. European markets opened higher on Friday following Spanish government's target to cut the deficit by euro 40 billion in 2013, which was beyond European Union recommendations. France's CAC, Germany's DAX and Britain's FTSE went up 0.4 percent each. China's Shanghai extended gains to 1.5 percent in late trade on expectations of rate cut.

The 30-share BSE benchmark surged 261.29 points or 1.41 percent to 18,840.79 and the 50-share NSE benchmark jumped 76.55 points or 1.35 percent to 5,726.05. The

Indian rupee continued to trade above the 52 against the US dollar to 52.64 (five-month high), up by 37 paise after the Department of Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram confidently said there would be no increase in borrowing target for FY13.

Private oil & gas producer Reliance Industries, cigarette major ITC and housing finance company HDFC were up 1.7 percent each.

State-run oil & gas producer ONGC, utility vehicle maker Mahindra & Mahindra and telecom operator Bharti Airtel gained over 1.5 percent.

Commercial vehicle major Tata Motors and diversified conglomerate Jaiprakash Associates retained their top position in the buying list, rising over 4 percent.

Country's largest private sector lender ICICI Bank moved up 1.35 percent while its rival State Bank of India trimmed gains to 0.3 percent from 1 percent.

Software services exporter TCS, FMCG major Hindustan Unilever and drug producer Cipla rallied 2 percent each.

Advancing shares outnumbered declining by 1651 to 972 on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Indian shares remained in strong uptrend since early trade, even after the key core industries growth fell to 2.8 percent in April-August from 5.5 percent in the corresponding month of last year. Key core industries growth for August too declined to 2.1% from 3.8% year-on-year.

The BSE benchmark rallied 276 points or 1.49 percent to 18,855.55 and the NSE benchmark rose 80 points or 1.42 percent to 5,729.45. The broader markets too were trading higher; the BSE Midcap Index was up 1.4 percent and Smallcap gained 1 percent.

The Indian rupee rose by 30 paise to 52.69 against the US dollar after Department of Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram said there would be no increase in borrowing target for FY13.

Country's largest commercial vehicle maker Tata Motors shot up over 4 percent. Tata Steel, world's sixth largest steel producer and Tata Power, one of leading power producers in private sector jumped over 3 percent.

Aluminium major Hindalco Industries too was up over 3 percent while diversified conglomerate Jaiprakash Associates surged 4.5 percent. The BSE Auto and Metal indices rallied 2 percent each.

Drug producer Ranbaxy Labs, private sector lender HDFC Bank and oil retailer BPCL fell 0.3 percent each.

In the second line shares, Vakrangee Software, Birla Corp, Tata Global Beverages, Karnataka Bank and Tulip Telecom rallied 5-8 percent while AIA Engineering, Shree Global, Wyeth, Rallis India and Info Edge slipped 2-2.5 percent.

Advancers outnumbered decliners by 1068 to 341 on the National Stock Exchange.

The broadbased buying following sharp recovery in rupee and Spain's crisis budget for 2013 helped the BSE Sensex extend gains over 250 points. The Indian rupee rose to a near five-month high today after the government stuck to its fiscal second half borrowing and said it will not borrow more via bonds in the current year.

The rupee gained 33 paise to 52.67 against the US dollar, which indicated that the foreign institutional investors increased more exposure to Indian equities.

The 30-share BSE Sensex spiked 269 points or 1.45 percent to 18,848 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 79 points or 1.40 percent to 5,728.55.

The research firm Macquarie has raised the Nifty's target to 6,600 based on 15x on FY14E.

"Government finally gets its act together: In March, we drew a parallel between sustaining on Mount Everest above 8000m, where low oxygen levels and extreme cold can lead to death, and the Indian economy reeling under high inflation and high fiscal deficit. While fiscal deficit and inflation (around 8%) still remain but recent government actions give us hope that economic factors are bottoming out. Key themes to play are: a) power sector reforms; b) interest rate cuts; c) infrastructure spending," the firm explained.

Among Tata pack, commercial vehicle maker Tata Motors and power producer Tata Power rallied nearly 4 percent. Software services exporter TCS and steel producer Tata Steel gained 2-3 percent.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries, cigarette major ITC, housing finance company HDFC and FMCG major Hindustan Unilever rose 1.5 percent each.

Country's largest lender State Bank of India was up 1 percent while its rival ICICI Bank jumped 1.5 percent.

Engineering conglomerate Larsen & Toubro moved up 1 percent while telecom operator Bharti Airtel and state-run oil & gas producer ONGC rallied 1.7 percent each.

Among metals stocks, Jindal Steel and Hindalco Industries surged over 3.5 percent; Sterlite Industries gained nearly 2 percent.

On the global front, China's Shanghai held 1 percent gains since early trade on hopes of easing. Hang Seng and Straits Times were up 0.3 percent each while Nikkei fell 0.8 percent.

Indian shares gained nearly one percent in early trade, reacting positively to the Spain's target to cut the deficit by euro 40 billion in 2013. Even expectations of China easing lifted global markets.

The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 182 points to 18,761.26 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 49.25 points to 5,698.75.

Ambit Capital has raised the Sensex target to 23000 for next 12-18 months. They expect panic buying of Indian equities over next month.

Asian markets were trading higher barring Nikkei; Shanghai rose 1 percent as China's liquidity injections through reverse repo raised hopes of additional easing.

The Indian rupee too climbed above the 53 level, rising by 24 paise to 52.77 against the US dollar after this news.

Tata Power gained another 2.6 percent after CERC hearing yesterday.

Reliance Communications, Unitech, Sterlite Industries, Axis Bank, Reliance Capital, Reliance Infrastructure, Reliance Power, Tata Motors, SAIL, Hindalco, State Bank of India and HDFC Bank were supporting the market.

The CNX Midcap Index rallied 77 points or 1 percent to 7,822. Advancing shares outnumbered declining by 661 to 182 on the National Stock Exchange.

In the second line shares, Lanco Infratech was up 4 percent as the company is going to sell stake in power and real estate businesses. It will also completely exit BOT (build-own-transfer) road projects.

IRB Infra, IVRCL, HCC, Unitech, Dish TV, MTNL, Pantaloon Retail and Shree Renuka Sugars were up 1.5-2 percent.

UB Holdings fell 2.5 percent on the back of profit booking and even the exchanges lowered the circuit limit to 10 percent yesterday.

Kingfisher Airlines was down 5 percent after the company did not come up with any new ideas for revival in lenders meet yesterday. Exchanges also reduced the circuit limit for the stock to 5 percent.

United Spirits was down 2.3 percent on profit booking. The Economic Times reported that Diageo deal may speed up as ICRA downgraded the company to junk status.

OnMobile Global gained 2.5 percent.