Earnings hope cheers Street

STOCK REPORT

Key share indices ended up nearly 1 per cent, charting gains for the third straight session, as capital goods shares climbed on expectations of robust earnings growth, analysts said.

"First quarter looks good for Indian companies, and we are expecting some good performance from the engineering and manufacturing sector," Mukul K Gupta, chief executive officer, Birla Sun Life Asset Management, said.

Rebound in the Asian markets from early losses, also helped shares shrug off initial weakness. Key Asian markets ended up despite overnight slide in the US shares due to higher bond yields.

The Bombay Stock Exchange's 30-share Sensex ended at 14499.24, up 87.29 points or 0.6 per cent from Wednesday. Intraday, it moved between 14406.67 and 14526.44.

The National Stock Exchange's 50-share Nifty ended at 4267.40, up 18.75 points or 0.4 per cent. Intraday, it moved between 4220.10 and 4275.35.

Turnover on both the exchanges was roughly Rs 15,280 crore, almost in line with Tuesday's figure of Rs 15,000 crore.

The CNX Midcap Index and S&P CNX 500 Index ended up nearly 1 per cent each.

Shares of oil retailers gained, helped by easing crude oil prices and robust outlook for Apr-Jun earnings, dealers said.

Crude oil prices fell 91 cents to $68.19 a barrel on Wednesday on a weekly report that showed a surprise rise in crude oil and gasoline inventories in the US.

Bharat Petroleum, up 4.3 per cent at Rs 347, was the top Nifty gainer.

Hindustan Petroleum gained 4 per cent to Rs 274 after the government approved LN Mittal Group's 49 per cent stake buy in the company.

Larsen and Toubro was up 4 per cent at Rs 2,105 after the company bagged $94.95 million shipbuilding contract from a Dutch firm.

Bharat Heavy Electricals, up 4 per cent at Rs 1,483, was the other major Nifty gainer.

Jet Airways ended up 2 per cent at Rs 806 after the company said it has "no intimation" of any court order against Chairman Naresh Goyal.

Sugar shares gained after the government on Thursday raised the buffer stock for sugar to 5 million tonne from 2 million tonne in a bid to help sugar mills that are burdened with huge stocks.

Shree Renuka Sugars gained 2 per cent at Rs 617, while Simbhaoli Sugar Mills was up 2 per cent at Rs 40.

Dabur India, down 3 per cent at Rs 100, was the worst hit on Nifty on profit sales after having run-up last week on expectations of an overseas acquisition.

Sterlite Industries fell 2 per cent to Rs 598 on profit sales after rising 8 per cent in the previous session tracking gains in its American depositary shares.

Auto shares ended mixed as concerns about sales in coming months resurfaced, dealers said. Hero Honda and Maruti Udyog fell 1 per cent each, at Rs 663 and Rs 759, respectively.

Oil and Natural Gas Corp was down 1 per cent at Rs 914 on reports that the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons cut estimates of gas discovery by the company.

Technology shares fell as investors are awaiting Apr-Jun results to gauge impact of the strengthening rupee on dollar-denominated sales of companies, dealers said.

The BSE IT Index, down 0.1 per cent, was the sole laggard among BSE sectoral indices.

Satyam Computer Services and HCL Technologies ended down 1 per cent each, at Rs 467 and Rs 335, respectively.