Only a close below any previous day’s low on the Nifty would be the first sign of a reversal
 

Hopes of a rate cut by the RBI in its annual policy announcement tomorrow saw all-round buying, which resulted in the market closing near its three-month high. Only a close below any previous day’s low on the Nifty would be the first sign of a reversal. The National Stock Exchange (NSE) reported a volume of 61.89 crore shares and advance-decline ratio of 781:540.

The Indian market opened weak tracking its Asian peers which were trading lower in morning trade following reports that the HSBC Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) dropped to 50.4 in April from March’s 51.6 reading. The data follows Wednesday’s official Chinese manufacturing data, which painted a similar picture of a fragile economic recovery.

The Nifty opened 19 points lower at 5,911 and the Sensex resumed trade at 19,459, a cut of 45 points from its previous close. The market brushed aside the initial hiccups as resumption of buying activity in IT, oil & gas, banking, healthcare and metal sectors saw the indices start on a northward journey.

Across-the-board buying led the indices higher as trade progressed with IT and technology sectors leading the lot. The benchmarks hit their highs at around 1.30pm with the Nifty touching 6,019 and the Sensex climbing to 19,792. The Nifty crossed the 6,000 level mark for the first time since 4^th February.

The market was seen moving sideways after hitting its high as cautiousness prevailed a day ahead of the announcement of the annual monetary policy by the Reserve Bank of India.

The market pared some of its gains but settled higher for the third day in a row. At the close the Nifty settled 69 points (1.17%) higher at 5,999 and the Sensex closed the day at 19,736, a jump of 232 points (1.19%) over its previous close.

Among the broader indices, the BSE Mid-cap index advanced 0.77% and the BSE Small-cap index gained 0.57%.

All sectoral indices settled in the green today. The top gainers were BSE IT (up 2.55%); BSE TECk (up 2.07%); BSE Capital Goods (up 1.59%); BSE Realty (up 1.48%) and BSE Bankex (up 1.17%).

Eighteen of the 30 stocks on the Sensex closed in the positive. The chief gainers were TCS (up 3.84%); Mahindra & Mahindra (up 3.48%); Larsen & Toubro (up 2.61%); Infosys (up 2.35%) and HDFC (up 1.99%). The main losers were Hero MotoCorp (down 1.96%); Hindustan Unilever (down 1.93%); Hindalco Industries (down 1.44%); GAIL India (down 1.38%) and Bajaj Auto (down 1.18%).

The top two A Group gainers on the BSE were—Reliance Communications (up 8.30%) and Syndicate Bank (up 8.01%).

The top two A Group losers on the BSE were—Essar Oil (down 3.14%) and Coromandel International (down 2.90%).

The top two B Group gainers on the BSE were—Noida Medicare Centre (up 20%) and Supertex Industries (up 20%).

The top two B Group losers on the BSE were— Zodiac JRD MKJ (down 19.92%) and SNL Bearings (down 19.64%).

Of the 50 stocks on the Nifty, 35 ended in the green. The key gainers were Reliance Infrastructure (up 3.43%); HCL Technologies (up 3.42%); TCS (up 3.38%); Jaiprakash Associates (up 06%) and M&M (up 2.98%). The major losers were Cairn India (down 1.94%); HUL (down 1.88%); Hero MotoCorp (down 1.62%); Hindalco Ind (down 1.39%) and Tata Motors (down 1.12%).

Markets in Asia settled mostly lower on factory outputs from the US and China coming in below expectations, showing signs of weak growth in the world’s two top economies. The Jakarta Composite, Indonesia’s benchmark index, fell the most in about six weeks after Standard & Poor’s cut its outlook on the rating for Southeast Asia’s biggest economy.

The Shanghai Composite fell 0.17%; the Hang Seng declined 0.30%; the Jakarta Composite dropped 1.32%; the KLSE Composite fell 0.24%; the Nikkei 225 contracted 0.76% and the Seoul Composite settled 0.34% higher. Bucking the trend, the Straits Times surged 1.02% and the Taiwan Weighted gained 0.43%.

At the time of writing, key markets in Europe were mixed with a negative bias and the US stock futures were in the positive, indicating a firm opening for US stocks later in the day.

Back home, foreign institutional investors were net buyers of shares totalling Rs876.93 crore on Tuesday. On the other hand, domestic institutional investors were net sellers of stocks amounting to Rs347.17 crore.

Pharma major Venus Remedies today said it has signed a deal with South Korean drug company Goodwills Co Ltd for exclusive marketing of its antibiotic drug ‘Elores’.  The deal was signed after Companies and Intellectual Property Registration Office (CIPRO) of Republic of South Korea granted the patent to the product, Panchkula (Haryana) based Venus Remedies said in a statement. Venus Remedies advanced 1.94% to close at Rs250 on the NSE.

Apollo Tyres today said it has set up its second exports hub in Thailand to cater to the ASEAN region, which contributes 40 per cent to the company's overseas income. After Dubai for West Asian region, this is the second hub outside the company's operations in India, The Netherlands and South Africa, it added. The stock fell 0.31% to close at Rs96.30 on the NSE.

Private carrier Jet Airways has sought approval of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) to sell 24% stake in the company to Gulf carrier Etihad Airways, sources said today. After months of deliberations, Jet Airways and Etihad last month signed a deal under which the premier Indian carrier agreed to sell 27.26 million shares in a preferential offer to the latter at Rs754.74 a piece. Jet Airways declined 1.77% to close at Rs610.15 on the NSE.