The indices are making a valiant effort to rally. A close above 6,135 on the Nifty will be required for stronger upward momentum
 

Continuing its gains for the third straight day, the market closed higher on support from oil & gas, auto and PSU stocks. The indices are making a valiant effort to rally. A close above 6,135 on the Nifty will be required for stronger upward momentum. The National Stock Exchange (NSE) reported a volume of 49.07 crore shares and advance-decline ratio of 736:684.

The domestic market opened with marginal gains in the absence of any fresh triggers. In the Asian pack, the Nikkei 225 was up on a weakening yen, which boosted the outlook for exporters. Barring the Taiwan Weighted, all other indices in the region were seen marginally higher. Markets in the US and the UK were closed on Monday for a local holiday.

The Nifty resumed trade at 6,086, up three points over its previous close, and the Sensex rose 25 points to 20,056. Buying in PSU, oil & gas, metal, healthcare and technology stocks saw the indices gaining momentum in the first hour of trade. The gains were short-lived as selling pressure amid intense volatility led the benchmarks trending lower in subsequent trade.

The market touched its lows in the mid-morning session on selling pressure from auto, capital goods and banking stocks. The Nifty fell to 6,055 and the Sensex retracted to 19,963 at their respective lows.

The benchmarks were range-bound in the negative terrain in trade that followed in the absence of any domestic trigger. However, a positive opening of the key European markets boosted investor sentiment here, pushing the indices higher in noon trade.

The market hit its high at around 2.00pm on buying support from oil &gas, power, fast moving consumer goods and realty sectors. At this point the Nifty went up to 6,128 and the Sensex rose to 20,210.

Volatility continued till the end of the trading session with the benchmarks coming off the highs, but settling in the positive for the third consecutive day.

The Nifty closed 28 points (0.46%) higher at 6,111 and the Sensex ended trade at 20,161, a gain of 130 points (0.65%).

Among the broader indices, the BSE Mid-cap index gained 0.60% and the BSE Small-cap index advanced 0.48%.

Barring the BSE Healthcare (down 0.68%) and BSE Bankex (down 0.05%) all other sectoral indices settled higher. The top gainers were BSE Oil & Gas (up 1.65%); BSE Auto (up 1.33%); BSE PSU (up 1.23%); BSE Consumer Durables (up 1.15%) and BSE Power (up 1.12%).

Out of the 30 stocks on the Sensex, 19 settled higher. The major gainers were Hero MotoCorp (up 5.09%); BHEL (up 3.30%); Coal India (up 3.01%); Mahindra & Mahindra (up 2.22%) and ONGC (up 1.94%). The key losers were Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (down 1.90%); State Bank of India (down 1.45%); Sterlite Industries (down 1.40%); Cipla (down 1.18%) and HDFC (down 0.83%).

The top two A Group gainers on the BSE were—Financial Technologies India (up 6.24%) and Gujarat Minerals Development Corporation (up 5.88%).

The top two A Group losers on the BSE were—United Spirits (down 2.69%) and Wockhardt (down 2.43%).

The top two B Group gainers on the BSE were—Chaman Lal Setia Exports (up 20%) and Mudra Lifestyle (up 20%).

The top two B Group losers on the BSE were—Manjeera Constructions (down 19.92%) and Krypton Industries (down 18.99%).

Of the 50 stocks on the Nifty, 27 ended in the in the green. The main gainers were Hero MotoCorp (up 6.99%); Jaiprakash Associates (up 4.20%); BHEL (up 3.58%); Coal India (up 2.93%) and M&M (up 2.50%). The major losers were Ranbaxy Laboratories (down 2.67%); UltraTech Cement Company (down 1.96%); Kotak Mahindra Bank (down 1.79%); SBI (down 1.56%) and Sesa Goa (down 1.53%).

Markets in Asia, with the exception of the Taiwan Weighted, settled in the green on optimism as the weakening yen boosted the prospects for Japanese exporters. On the other hand, Chinese premier Li Keqiang cautioned that huge challenges would lead to slower economic growth.

The Shanghai Composite surged 1.23%; the Hang Seng advanced 1.05%; the Jakarta Composite climbed 1.79%; the KLSE Composite gained 0.51%; the Nikkei 225 advanced 1.20%; the Straits Times rose 0.44% and the Seoul Composite settled 0.32% higher. Bucking the trend, the Taiwan Weighted lost 1.21%.

At the time of writing, the key European indices were up between 1.13% and 1.63% and the US stock futures were in the green, indicating a positive opening for US stocks later in the day.

Back home, foreign institutional investors were net buyers of stocks totalling Rs406.03 crore on Monday. On the other hand, domestic institutional investors were net sellers of equities amounting to Rs516.39 crore.

Adani Power today said it has raised more than Rs2,500 crore through issue of shares on preferential basis to two promoter group entities. More than 478 million shares have been allotted to promoter group entities—Adani Enterprises and Vinod S Adani. Each scrip was priced at Rs 53.11, according to a regulatory filing. The stock declined 0.86% to close at Rs57.35 on the NSE.

HDFC Bank conducted a full-fledged Business Continuity Plan (BCP) drill during which it processed a record 1,61,373 instruments worth Rs 1,130 crore in a single day in Ahmedabad. The exercise was carried out recently under the guidance of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to check the readiness and manual processing capacity of its back-up centre, in case of any disruption in the electronic clearing system in the future, the bank said in a statement. The stock fell 0.40% to close at Rs712.20 on the NSE.

Electrical equipment maker Havells India today reported 19.84% increase in its net profit for the fourth quarter ended 31 March 2013 at Rs109.68 crore compared to Rs91.52 crore in the same period of the previous fiscal. Net income from operations stood at Rs1,169.6 crore during the period under review against Rs1,046.68 crore. The stock climbed 2.86% to close at Rs717.50 crore on the NSE.