Nifty to move in the range of 4,950 and 5,085

Positive earnings reports helped the market settle higher for the third consecutive week. We had mentioned in our yesterday’s closing report that we may see the Nifty reaching the level of 5,050. We saw the index breaching this level in the initial hours of trading itself. Now we may see the benchmark making a sideways move in the range of 4,950 and 5,085. The National Stock Exchange (NSE) saw a huge volume of 82.12 crore share on which the Nifty closed at its highest in the past 33 days (including today).

The market opened in the green for the second day in a row following better-than-expected quarterly results and supportive cues from the Asian markets which were in the positive in morning trade. The Nifty opened 27 points higher at 5,045 and the Sensex surged 99 points to 16,745 at the opening bell. Brisk buying in blue-chips supported early gains.

The market extended its gains as IT major Wipro’s third quarter results were in line with analysts’ expectations. The benchmarks continued to remain range-bound in the positive zone till the noon session after which sharp sell-off, following a dismal opening of the key European indices, pulled the market lower. The market fell to its intraday low in post-noon trade with the Nifty dropping to 5,004 and the Sensex declining to 16,612.

Also news during the second half of the trading session that the Supreme Court set aside the Bombay High Court judgement asking Vodafone International Holdings to pay income tax of Rs11,000 crore, holding that tax authorities do not have jurisdiction on an overseas transaction, is expected to boost M&A deals in India.

Gains in banking, auto, power and capital goods in the last hour once again gave the market the much-needed boost helping it scale its intraday high. At the highs, the Nifty climbed to 5,064 and the Sensex advanced to 16,788.

Making a recovery from the lows of the day, the market closed near the intraday high. The Nifty settled 30 points higher at 5,049 and the Sensex finished 95 points up at 16,739.

While the market closed higher, the advance-decline ratio on the NSE was in favour of the decliners at 630:794.

The broader indices witnessed a flat close with the BSE Mid-cap index up 0.18% and the BSE Small-cap index adding 0.08%.

Positive results from banking majors enabled the BSE Bankex (up 3.51%) close at the top sectoral gainer. It was followed by BSE Consumer Durables (up 2.31%); BSE Power, BSE Oil & Gas (up 1.04% each) and BSE Auto (up 0.74%). The laggards were BSE Fast Moving Consumer Goods (down 2.01%); BSE Healthcare (down 0.37%); BSE Metal (down 0.32%) and BSE TECk (down 0.08%).

Bajaj Auto (up 6.18%); ICICI Bank (up 5.81%); Jindal Steel (up 3.35%); BHEL (up 3.09%) and Hero MotoCorp (up 2.63%) were the top Sensex gainers today. the major gainers were ITC (down 3.59%); Mahindra & Mahindra (down 2.67%); Maruti Suzuki (down 2.62%); Hindalco Industries (down 1.98%) and Coal India (down 1.86%).

The top performers stocks on the Nifty were Bajaj Auto (up 6.63%); Axis Bank (up 6.59%); ICICI Bank (up 6.25%); Kotak Bank (up 4.36%) and BHEL (up 4.18%). ITC (down 4.40%); Dr Reddy’s (down 3.48%); Reliance Power (down 2.46%); Reliance Infrastructure (down 2.40%) and Maruti Suzuki (down 2.19%) were the key losers on the index.

Markets in Asia closed higher on good demand for government bonds in Spain and France gave rise to speculations that the European Union is on track towards finding a solution to the debt crisis plaguing the continent. This apart, positive earning reports from the US banks also supported investor interest. However, a flash reading of the Chinese Purchase Managers’ Index for January at 48.8 almost unchanged from 48.7 in December, raised concerns.

The Shanghai Composite gained 1%; the Hang Seng rose 0.84%; the KLSE Composite advanced 0.39%; the Nikkei 225 surged 1.47%; the Straits Times climbed 1.36% and the Seoul Composite jumped 1.82%. On the flip side, the Jakarta Composite declined 0.36%. At the time of writing, the key European markets were trading in the red and the US stocks futures were mixed.

Back home, foreign institutional investors were net buyers of shares totalling Rs626.14 crore on Thursday. On the other hand, domestic investors were net sellers of stocks amounting to Rs246.59 crore.

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals’ US arm, Glenmark Generics, has received final approval from the US health regulator for its generic two oral contraceptives tablets. The approvals are for the oral contraceptive products Norethindrone and Ethinyl Estradiol (Alyacen TM 1/35) tablets in different strengths. Glenmark Pharma closed 1.34% lower at Rs316.10 on the NSE today.

United Spirits, a part of Vijay Mallya-led UB Group, today said its shareholders have approved to raise up to $225 million through issue of Foreign Currency Convertible Bonds (FCCBs). At current exchange rate, $225 million would be over Rs1,130 crore. The scrip dropped 2.61% to settle at Rs619.90 on the NSE.

Ramky Infrastructure today said its subsidiary has signed a pact with NHAI for widening Hospet-Chitradurga section of National Highways in Karnataka, entailing an investment of Rs1,033.65 crore. The company has formed a special purpose vehicle, Hospet Chitradurga Tollways, to undertake the project to be implemented under National Highways Development Project (NHDP) phase III on design, build, finance, operate and transfer (DBFOT) mode. The stock jumped 4.92% to close at Rs219.75 on the NSE today.