Sensex ends 180 pts up; Maruti wows street, midcaps excel

Equity benchmarks made a remarkable recovery on Friday on short covering, the markets closed near day's high. The Sensex closed up 179.75 points or 0.90% at 20103.53, and the Nifty ended the day 55.30 points or 0.92% up at 6074.65.

After the carnage yesterday, the midcap rebounded today with nearly 2 percent gains. Yen was in focus after it hit a two-and-half year low of 90.69.

Maruti Suzuki remained most active stock on the bourses clocking a gain of 4 percent gains. After six consecutive quarters of decline, Maruti moved in the fast lane by posting stellar numbers in the third quarter.

The two stocks which were hammered in yesterday's trade, IVRCL, HDIL, Suzlon too staged a good comeback.

Banks were among the leading gainers for the day. State Bank of India rose 2.22 percent, while ICICI Bank gained 0.73 percent.

Bank of Baroda surged 5 percent and Bank of India gained 4.5 percent on valuations that were considered attractive after profit concerns hit the shares earlier this month.

Property shares that would benefit from lower rates also gained. DLF  rose 3.2 percent, while Unitech surged 7 percent higher, recouping its 7 percent fall on Thursday.

Shares in Reliance Communications gained 7.62 percent after a newspaper reported the company was in talks to sell a stake in its mobile tower unit to Reliance Industries.

Shares in ITC gained 0.8 percent to Rs 299.75. The stock has gained 9.6 percent in the last two weeks, moving towards its record high hit on December12, as investors felt fears of a potential duty on cigarettes had dragged the stock down excessively.

Exide Industries shares fell 2.3 percent, down for the second day after Dutch banking and insurance group ING said it was selling its 26 percent stake in an Indian insurance venture to local partner Exide.

Shares in Reliance Industries ended 0.4 percent lower as recent recommendations on a revision in local gas prices was seen benefiting state-run upstream companies such as Oil and Natural Gas Crop and Oil India with immediate effect.

Sensex rallies over 150 pts; Maruti swells 3.8%

Fresh buying by funds and retail investors in auto, real estate and banking stocks helped markets firm up its gains in late afternoon trade. The Sensex rebounded over 150 points aided by auto stocks that flared up post Maruti Suzuki quarterly number. The stock was up 3.81 percent. Tata Motors, Mahindra and Mahindra, Bajaj Auto and Hindalco were the other gainers on the Sensex.
 
At 2.39 PM, the Sensex was up 153.59 points or 0.77% at 20077.37, and the Nifty gained 48.60 points or 0.81% at 6067.95.

Banks are rallying on hopes that the Reserve Bank of India, in its monetary policy meet on January 29, will cut rates for the first time in nine months. Bank of Baroda was the top gainer on Nifty with 5 percent gains. Other gainers include SBI (up 1.52 percent), Kotak Mahindra (1.85 percent), HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank (both up close to 1 percent)

DLF vaulted back as real-estate favourite with 3.32 percent gains. Other realty gainers were Oberoi Realty, Pantaloon, Prestige Estate and Godrej Properties. HDIL, which lost 20 percent in yesterday's trade, rebounded with 12 percent gains.

Sensex rise 100 pts; OBC, Bank of Baroda up over 3%

Equity benchmarks bounced back in midday trade as traders and investors cherry-picked stocks that crashed in previous few sessions. At 13.04 PM, the Sensex was up 94.06 points or at 20017.84, and the Nifty rose 23.70 points at 6043.05. midcaps, which were beaten out of shape, were trading in the positive zone.

Key Asian markets were trading in the red, barring Nikkei and Strait Times. Europe opened in green after most of them ended higher on better-than-expected macro data. Speaking from Davos, George Soros that although calm has returned in Eurozone after Germany's comment that Euro was here to stay, it was too premature to say that euro crisis was over.

OBC rose more than 3 percent after it announced its quarterly result. Bank of Baroda, Jaiprakash Associates, Reliance Infra, Tata Motors and PNB were the top gainers on Nifty gaining between 2 percent and 3.85 percent each.

HDIL, Jet Airways, SBI and Tata Power were most active stocks on the bourses

From currencies, the yen was in focus after it hit a a two-and-half year low of 90.69.

Quiet market but Nifty holds above 6000; cement drags

It's a quietly positive session for the frontliners, the Nifty is firm above 6000. The Sensex was up 45.95 points or 0.23% at 19969.73, and the Nifty gained 7.80 points or 0.13% at 6027.

Banks and autos are holding up while cement stocks were dragging. Bank shares were leading on hopes the RBI will cut interest rates at its policy review on January 29. Bank of Baroda was up 2.3% while PNB, Kotak Mahindra Bank, ICICI Bank and SBI were lead gainers. However, there was some relief for midcaps, the index is outperforming marginally today.

Some gainers on the Sensex are Tata Motors, Dr Reddy Labs, Maruti Suzuki, M&M and Bharti Airtel.

SKS Micro reacted to a good set of numbers . After seven consecutive quarters of losses, the company reported a Q3 FY13 small profit of around Rs 1 crore against a loss of Rs 428 crore, year-on-year. The gain was led by a 16% growth in core interest income in non-Andhra Pradesh states.

After two days of major sell-off, some respite was seen for HDIL as it was up nearly 5%. While Macquarie has an outperform on the stock with a target of Rs 168, it says investors need more clarity from the management on land transactions and other concerns before confidence is restored.

Liberty Phosphate was  up more than 3%, while Coromandel was down nearly 7% led by a disappointing set of earnings. Coromandel international has acquired over 56% stake in Liberty Phosphate at Rs  241 a share, a premium to its current market price of Rs 220. Coromandel has made an open offer for additional 26% stake in liberty phosphate.

After the big fall yesterday, IVRCL was up 7% today after the company bagged orders worth Rs 378 crore.

The top losers on the Sensex include Tata Power, Tata Steel, HDFC, Coal India and Jindal Steel.

BSE Sensex gains; Maruti up ahead of results

The BSE Sensex is up 0.3 percent and the 50-share Nifty is up 0.15 percent. Maruti Suzuki shares gain 1 percent ahead of October-December earnings, due later in the day.

Bank shares lead gains on hopes the RBI will cut interest rates at its policy review on Tuesday: ICICI Bank gains 1 percent, while HDFC Bank gains 0.4 percent.

Mkt may slide or remain in trading range: Sukhani

Tata Motors shares gain 2.3 percent, as its 6.3 percent fall on Thursday was seen as overdone. That decline was sparked by concerns over unit Jaguar Land Rover's EBTIDA margins.

Sensex flat, midcap stocks continue to bleed

The market opened on a very flat note. The Sensex was up 34.33 points or 0.17% at 19958.11 while the Nifty gained 3.60 points or 0.06% at 6022.95. Incremental damage continued in the midcap stocks.

BSE Midcap index opened on a weak note but recovered quickly with a loss of 0.9%. Most of the midcap stocks like HDIL (down 3.6%), IVRCL, Hexaware (down 4.3%) and Polaris (down 3.6%) were on a losing spree. 

Shares in Ashok Leyland fell as much as 9.2% after disappointing investors with its October-December quarterly earnings, but pared losses later in the morning session. Tata Power (down 1.1%), Coal India (1.2%), M&M, Hero Moto Corp and RIL were other major losers.

Suzlon gained 5%, riding high on empowered group of Corporate Debt Restructuring (CDR) Cell's  formal approval to its proposal to restructure domestic debt. A consortium of 19 banks approved the CDR package of Rs 9,500 crore (USD 1.8 billion). Some of the other lead gainers were Bharti Airtel, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, TCS and Dr Reddy's Lab. Maruti Suzuki is expected to announce a strong third quarter results .

The India's largest passenger vehicle maker by sales is expected to report a net profit of Rs 466 crore, more than double year-on-year, while total income from operations is seen at Rs 11,025.4 crore, up 40 percent, according to a CNBC Awaaz poll.