Market ends bad run, rebounds on day four

Mumbai: It was a strong rebound for the markets in late trade after choppy session for major part of the day since morning and broken losing streak of last four consecutive days. Recovery led by FMCG, technology, metal, banking, telecom and pharma stocks. The Sensex managed to end above 16,500 and the Nifty above 4,900. Midcap stocks also bounced back.

The Sensex closed at 16,525.37, up 1.53 per cent or 249.78 points after hitting high of 16,563.30 and low of 16,217.78. The Nifty touched a high/low of 4926.90 and 4835.65, before ending the day at 4918.35, up 1.2 per cent or 58.55 points. Market breadth was mixed, about 1421 shares have advanced, 1497 shares declined, and 191 shares remained unchanged.

Biggest gainers were Ambuja Cements (6.66 per cent), ITC (6.19 per cent), Hindalco (5.96 per cent), TCS (4.46 per cent) and Sun Pharma (5.99 per cent) while losers - BHEL, L&T, ONGC, M&M, Cairn, Suzlon and Dr Reddy's Labs.

The BSE Midcap was up 1.12 per cent at 6,753.53 led by National Fert, Chambal Fert, Nagarjuna Fert, Mphasis, GSFC, Spice Comm, GNFC, Emami, Balaji Telefilm and HT Media, which were up over 7.5 per cent. The BSE Small Cap rose 0.33 per cent at 8,237.09.

ITC was the star performer, gained over 6 per cent as there is news that distributor says ITC hiked cigarette prices by 5-10 per cent. FMCG Index jumped 4.19 per cent to end at 2,443.68. Other gainers were United Spirits, Dabur India, Colgate, Nestle, GSK Cons, HUL, P & G and Godrej Consumer.

Cement stocks were also in focus on partial removal of export ban. Ambuja Cements, ACC and India Cements gained.

Banking stocks like Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra, PNB, Union Bank, SBI, Yes Bank, Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank and HDFC Bank have gained smartly. Bankex shot up 2.31 per cent or 178.86 points at 7,933.50.

BSE IT was up 2.61 per cent or 116.02 points at 4,566.42 due to buying in Mphasis, TCS, Satyam, Wipro, HCL Tech, Infosys, Patni Computer and Tech Mahindra.

Metal stocks including Hindalco, Tata Steel, Ispat Industries, NALCO, Sesa Goa, JSW Steel and Sterlite Ind have surged. Metal Index closed at 16,649.65, up 378.88 points or 2.33 per cent.

Telecom stocks like Spice Comm, Tata Comm, Bharti Airtel, Tata Teleservices, Idea Cellular and MTNL also surged higher.

Healthcare Index increased by 1.72 per cent at 4,320.08 as rally seen in Sun Pharma, Apollo Hospital, Glenmark, Nicholas Piramal, Sterling Bio, Aventis Pharma, Dishman Pharma, Aurobindo Pharm and Biocon.

Auto stocks like Hero Honda, Maruti Suzuki, Escorts, TVS Motor, Ashok Leyland, Hind Motors and Tata Motors ended higher. Auto Index was up 0.58 per cent at 4,562.03.

Oil & Gas Index gained marginally by 0.65 per cent at 10,777.91. Buying seen in GAIL, BPCL, RNRL, Reliance, Petronet LNG, HPCL and IOC.

However, capital goods stocks remained weak through the day. Index lost 1.66 per cent or 212.23 points at 12,571.91 due to selling in Jyoti Structures, Crompton Greaves, Alstom Projects, BHEL, Suzlon Energy, Bharat Bijlee, Bharat Elec, Areva T&D and L&T.

Most active counters on the bourses were Chambal Fert, Bajaj Finserv, Reliance and ICICI Bank.

Total turnover traded by markets stood at Rs 75109.24 crore including Rs 13367.22 crore from NSE Cash segment, Rs 56333.67 crore from NSE F&O and the balance Rs 5408.35 crore from BSE Cash segment.

On the global front, Asian markets ended mixed; Nikkei, Taiwan plunged over 1 per cent while Shanghai shot up nearly 2.5 per cent. European markets were trading strong at the time of writing market report.