Nifty ends above 5950; shrugs off Cobrapost, weak PMI data

Key equity benchmarks ended in green led by buying in metal and IT stocks. Indian shares consolidated for most part of the day in the absence of major economic data announcements this week. Asian shares surged across the board on stronger than expected US non farm payroll data.

Key gainers in the Nifty were Hindalco, Tata Steel, TCS, Asian Paints and NMDC, up over 2.5 percent each. Laggards included Kotak Mahindra Bank, ONGC, Ambuja Cements, ITC and NTPC, down over 1 percent each.

Banking stocks recovered their morning losses and ended in the green. Media website Cobrapost named 23 banks and insurance companies alleged to be helping their customers launder black money.

Shares of metal companies like Hindalco, Tata Steel, NMDC, Jindal Steel, Sesa Goa surged today after copper rallied more than 6 percent on Friday.

IT stocks witnessed value buying on Monday after recent sell-off. TCS, Infosys and HCL Tech have surged over 5 percent in May series so far. The Indian Rupee was also trading close to one week low.

Saurabh Mukherjea of Ambit Capital is bullish on Indian market and maintains a target of 23,000 for the Sensex by December. He is cautious on the banking sector and positive on oil & gas and auto sector.

HSBC Services Purchasing Managers' Index, tracking India's services growth fell to 50.7 in April from 51.4 in March, its lowest since October 2011 and the weakest reading in the current expansion cycle. The growth eased during April as new orders came in at a much slower pace.

Private sector lender South Indian Bank's fourth quarter (January-March) net profit rose more than 26 percent year-on-year to Rs 154 crore, driven by other income worth Rs 121 crore. The stock surged one percent.

Adani Power closed in red after the company reported consolidated net loss at Rs 586 crore in fourth quarter (January-March) as against loss of Rs 285 crore in the same quarter last year.

Reliance Communocations closed at fresh 52-week high after the company said on Monday it had increased voice call prices on some of its plans by about a fifth and cut promotional offers and discounts on some others by up to 65 percent.

Indian shares were trading firm in the last one hour of trade on Monday tracking positive regional shares. Asian markets closed in green barring Kospi after US non farm payroll data eased fears of another recession hitting the world's largest economy.

The Sensex was up 69 points at 19645 and the Nifty was up 18 points at 5961. The breadth of the market was positive. About 1276 shares advanced, 968 shares declined, and 143 shares were unchanged.

Shares of metal companies like Sterlite Industries, Hindalco, Tata Steel rallied after copper gained more than 6 percent on Friday.

Key gainers in the Nifty were Hindalco, Asian Paints, TCS, Tata Steel and Reliance Industries, up between 2.5 to 3.5 percent.

Laggards included Kotak Mahindra, Ambuja Cements, ONGC, Axis Bank and HDFC Bank, down over 1 percent each.

It is a quiet day for market with the Sensex and the Nifty trading marginally in the green.

At 13.24 hrs IST, the Sensex is up 54.20 points or 0.28 percent at 19629.84, and the Nifty up 11.90 points or 0.20 percent at 5955.90.

Top gainers on the Sensex: Hindalco (3.26 percent), TCS (2.98 percent), Tata Steel (2.63 percent), Reliance (1.97 percent) and Hero Motocorp (1.68 percent).

Shares of Anil Ambani-led Reliance Communications recover from early losses after it increased voice call prices on some of its plans by about a fifth and cut promotional offers and discounts on some others by up to 65 percent.

The move comes as mobile phone companies in India, burdened by heavy debt and facing huge payouts for airwaves, are cutting discounts to customers, effectively increasing call prices.

Easing competition after several smaller carriers either shut down or scaled back operations is also helping the bigger carriers to be aggressive on call prices, which are one of the cheapest in the world.

Interestingly, Reliance Comm has gained 75 percent in April, and has already gained another 13 percent in May.

Shares in Infosys gain 1.2 percent on short covering in its May futures on Monday due to value buying in the cash market after April's underperformance, dealers say.

Infosys fell 22.6 percent in April compared with a 3.6 percent rise in the BSE Sensex in the same period.

Infosys added 0.29 million shares or about 10.5 percent in outstanding positions for May futures on Friday with a price increase of 2.3 percent, which signifies liquidation of short positions.

GTL shares are up more than 8 percent in trade, one of the top gainers in BSE mid-cap index. Finolex shares are up around 20 percent in trade, top gainer in BSE small-cap index.

Meanwhile, NTPC shares are down more than 1.5 percent, top Sensex losers.

Indian shares surged in the afternoon trade led by recovery in metal, IT and telecom stocks. Banking stocks recouped losses despite Cobrapost naming major PSU banks and insurance companies in its press conference on Monday.

The Sensex was up 100 points at 19675 and the Nifty was up 27 points at 5971. About 1113 shares advanced, 773 shares declined, and 122 shares were unchanged.

In its continuing expose on the involvement of leading financial institutions in money laundering, media website Cobrapost Monday said that 23 major banks and insurance companies were part of the racket.

Life Insurance Corporation, State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Punjab National Bank, Canara Bank, Tata AIG, Dhanlaxmi Bank, Indian Bank, IDBI Bank, Yes Bank, Federal Bank, Reliance Capital, Birla Sunlife were  among those named by Cobrapost in the scam.

Asian Paints, Hindalco, Tata Steel, Reliance Industries and TCS were key gainers in the Nifty.

Kotak Mahindra Bank, HDFC Bank, Ambuja Cements, ITC and Lupin were major losers.

Indian services growth eased for third straight month now. In April new orders came in at a much slower pace, prompting firms to rein in hiring plans, a business survey showed on Monday.

The HSBC Services Purchasing Managers' Index, based on a survey of around 400 companies, fell to 50.7 last month, its lowest since October 2011 and the weakest reading in thcurrent expansion cycle. The index had stood at 51.4 in March.

In commodities, Brent crude pulled back above USD 105 per barrel while gold is relatively stable at USD 1475 per ounce.

In currencies, euro rallied to 1.314, dollar index at 82, while yen weakens towards 100 per dollar on strong US data.

BSE benchmark Sensex was trading little changed on Monday in the absence of major events this week. Brent futures and gold have recouped most of their losses and were trading at two-week highs, causing concern for the market. India is a net importer of crude and gold.

Asian shares surged across the board after a strong US employment report for April calmed fears of slowdown in US.

The Sensex was up 58 points at 19633 and the Nifty was up 12 points at 5955. About 940 shares advanced, 632 shares declined, and 94 shares were unchanged.

Bank Nifty recovered over 100 points from its intraday low after Cobrapost press conference begun on Monday.

In its continuing expose on the involvement of leading financial institutions in money laundering, media website Cobrapost Monday said that 23 major banks and insurance companies were part of the racket. In a sting operation in March this year, Cobrapost had showed how private banks like HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank were helping their customers convert black money into white.

Key gainers in the Nifty were Hindalco, Reliance Infra, Tata Steel, Sesa Goa and NMDC, up between two to three percent.

Laggards included Jaiprakash Associates, HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, IDFC and IndusInd Bank.

Key equity benchmarks opened marginally in green tracking positive Asian shares in the morning trade. S&P 500 finished above 1,600 and the Dow briefly closed above 15,000 for the first time on Friday as Wall Street cheered a better-than-expected US April non-farm payrolls report.

The RBI credit policy which turned out to be a sentiment dampener was out of the way and the market will now focus on individual stocks that will report their quarterly earnings this week.

Banking stocks were biggest laggards in trade today. IT stocks continued their V-shape recovery in May after losing over 10 percent in April series. Metal stocks were key gainers in the Nifty for second consecutive day.

The Sensex was up 28 points at 19604 and the Nifty was up 2 points at 5946. About 642 shares advanced, 318 shares declined and 50 shares remain unchanged.

Top gainers in the Nifty were Hindalco, TCS, Tata Steel, Sesa Goa and Reliance Infra. Kotak Mahindra, PNB, Bank of Baroda, Jaiprakash Associates and IDFC were top losers.

Saurabh Mukherjea of Ambit Capital echoed his bullish sentiment on the market in his interview to CNBC-TV18. He maintains a target of 23,000 on Sensex by the end of this calendar year citing cool-off in commodity prices as one of the positives for Indian market. Ambit Capital is bullish on oil&gas and auto space but maintains cautious stance on banks. 

Buzzing Stocks
Shares in Suzlon Energy gained more than two percent on Monday as the company plans to raise up to USD 400 million by selling 15 of its non-core assets.

With these funds, the world's fifth largest wind turbine maker will partly retire its debt pile of nearly Rs 14,600 crore, PTI quoting a top company official said.

SpiceJet was up 3 percent after ace investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala's wife Rekha Jhunjhunwala, bought 25 lakh shares of the company on Friday for a sum of Rs 9.73 crore at an average price of Rs 38.94.

Reliance Industries was up 1 percent after the company surrendered 10 blocks on Friday which would scale down its oil and gas portfolio to 17 exploration blocks.

Aurobindo Pharma received final approvals from US FDA to sell generic versions of two separate drugs Tamsulosin HCL and Clindamycin Palmitate Hydrochloride. The stock was up 1 percent.

Jaiprakash Associates was down over 1 percent after the company reported 56.5 percent drop in its fourth quarter net profit to Rs 124 crore from Rs 284 crore, a year earlier. JP's cement and real estate verticals dragged the overall performance of the company.

Grasim Industries clocked flat growth in net profit and sales in the fourth quarter of FY13.

Cement major ACC reported quarterly earnings that missed street estimates both in terms of topline and bottomline.

Crude, Rupee update
Brent futures rose to the highest in nearly a month above USD 105 per barrel on Monday as an Israeli air strike on a Syrian military facility over the weekend stoked supply disruption worries from the Middle East, reported Reuters.

The rupee was moving higher at 53.84/85 versus its close of 53.935/945 tracking gains in Asian currencies.