Sensex ends above 19K; metals, banks, IT lead

Indian benchmarks rallied smartly on Tuesday on the back of good third quarter earnings from TCS and strong European cues. Technology, financial and metal companies' shares drove the 50-share NSE Nifty to settle the session above 5700 level, with gain of 69 points at 5724.

Healthcare, auto, FMCG, cement and capital goods also supported the markets. However, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Industries, Reliance Infrastructure, HDFC, GAIL, Sesa Goa, DLF and Tata Power were only losers on Nifty, which limited gains to major extent.

Lars Kalbreier, Managing Director, Head of Global Equity and Alternatives Research, Private Banking Division at Credit Suisse said India's growth could be stronger than China this year. He is expecting that Indian equities will see an increase of 15-20%. Kalbreier is underweight on govt bonds and overweight on equities, high yield corp bond, commodities.

However, Sanjeev Prasad, executive director and co-head of Kotak Institutional Equities feels that the global interest in India may subside for some time. "Inflation will be the focus in 2011," he states.

The 30-share BSE Sensex closed at 19,092, with gain of 209 points over previous close.

Nifty hovers around 5700 on positive European cues