Sensex ends 814 pts higher ahead of Budget-day in broad-based rally

Large part of today's rally in the headline indices was led by IT stocks such Tech M, Wipro, Infosys and HCL Tech; financials such as Bajaj twins and SBI, and index heavyweights RIL

Closing Bell

Bulls marched on Dalal Street on Monday, a day ahead of the Union Budget presentation, as investors eyed pro-reforms, pro-growth measures from the annual document. This comes after the Economic Survey said that the Indian economy is well placed to take on the challenges of 2022-23. 

"With the vaccination programme having covered the bulk of the population, economic momentum building back and the likely long-term benefits of supply-side reforms in the pipeline, the Indian economy is in a good position to witness GDP growth of 8.0-8.5 per cent in 2022-23," said the annual survey report released ahead of the Union Budget. READ HERE

The S&P BSE Sensex rallied over 1,000 points intra-day before settling 814 points higher at 58,014 level. The NSE Nifty, meanwhile, zoomed over 17,400 intra-day before paring gains to end at 17,340, up 238 points. Both the frontline indices gained 1.4 per cent today.

In the broader markets, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices advanced 1.7 per cent and 0.9 per cent, respectively.

"The range of 8-8.5% growth for FY2023 assumed by the Economic Survey appears to have built in a cushion for any disruption caused by future waves of Covid, in our view, even as preparedness of economic agents has improved amidst the insurance offered by the bouquet of social safety nets," wrote Aditi Nayar, chief economist at ICRA in a note.

Adding: "The continued thrust to government capex portended by the Economic Survey is enthusing, as it offers the best likelihood of instigating a durable growth recovery. This is in line with our own view that the upcoming Budget must fully allocate the amount of capital spending that can realistically be absorbed in FY2023. With the Economic Survey corroborating that spending will be back-ended in FY2022, we maintain our forecast of a modest fiscal slippage driven by the missed disinvestment target."

Meanwhile, large part of today's rally in the headline indices was led by IT stocks such Tech M (up 5 per cent), Wipro, Infosys and HCL Tech; financials such as Bajaj twins and SBI, and index heavyweights Reliance Industries and Bharti Airtel.

Individually, shares of RIL ended around 2 per cent higher after global research and broking firm CLSA upgraded the stock to ‘buy’ from ‘outperform’. It expects the counter to hit Rs 2,955 in a year’s time – up 23 per cent from the current levels and around 3.7 per cent from its previous target of Rs 2,850. READ MORE

That apart, shares of Bharti Airtel, too, closed over 1.5 per cent up after brokerages upgraded the stock post its preferential share sale announcement to Google.

On the downside, the shares of IndusInd Bank were the worst hit among the lot, down 3.5 per cent, on profit booking post Q3 results. Kotak Bank, HUL, and Tata Steel were the other losers on the Sensex. 

Within the broader market universe, shares of AGS Transact Technologies debuted flat on the bourses at Rs 176 as against the issue price of Rs 175. Post listing, the shares turned southwards and hit a low and closed at Rs 160 per share, down 9 per cent against the issue price.

Shares of UTI Asset Management Company (AMC) dipped 8.4 per cent to Rs 887 on the BSE in Monday's intra-day trade after the company reported a weak set of numbers for the December quarter, with revenue from operation declining 10 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 309 crore. The profit after tax for the quarter was down 9 per cent YoY at Rs 127 crore

On the upside, shares of hotel companies rallied up to 13 per cent on the BSE in Monday’s intra-day trade on back of heavy volumes on expectation of healthy earnings going forward as higher vaccination and lower hospitalization rates will lead to a much stronger rebound than the second wave.

Sectorally, all thekey indices ended higher with the Nifty IT and Realty indices soaring 3 per cdent each.

Primary market update
The three-day issue of Adani Wilmar has,so far, been subscribed 16.33 times on the final day. The quota for NII's has been subscribed nearly 55 times while that of retail investors has been suibcribed 4 times.

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Markets at 02:40 PM

LIVE market updates: The key benchmark indices extended gains in late noon deals, as Reliance, IT and PSU banking shares continued to trade on a bouyant note.

The BSE Sensex was up 997 points at 58,197, and the NSE Nifty surged 298 points to 17,400.

Among the IT largecaps, Tech Mahindra soared 5 per cent. Infosys and Wipro rallied 3.5 per cent each. TCS and HCL Technologies were up around 1.5 per cent each.



Bajaj Finserv and PowerGrid Corporation also surged over 3 per cent each. Reliance Industries was up 2.9 per cent. Dr.Reddy's, Bharti Airtel, UltraTech Cement, Titan, Bajaj Finance and Mahindra & Mahindra were the other prominent gainers.

Shares of public sector banks (PSBs) continued their upward movement for the fourth straight day, with the Nifty PSU Bank index gaining 12 per cent over this period post Canara Bank's Q3 results. The index is 5 per cent shy from its all-time high level. Meanwhile, SBI traded with a gain of over 3 per cent at Rs 539.50, and was within striking distance of its record high of Rs 542.30 hit on November 3, 2021. READ MORE

In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices held steady gains, up 1.9 per cent and 1.1 per cent, respectively. The overall breadth too remained positive, with 1,929 advancing shares versus 1,558 declining stocks on the BSE.

Elsewhere in Europe, the major markets also started trade on a positive note. The DAX 30 and CAC 40 were up 1.4 per cent and 1 per cent, respectively. The FTSE 100 was up 0.3 per cent.
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Markets at Lunch (01:40 PM)

LIVE market updates: The key benchmark indices were marginally off the day's high in noon deals amid profit-taking in select banking shares. However, IT, energy, auto and realty stocks continued to trade on a firm note.

The BSE Sensex touched a high of 58,059, and was up 809 points at 58,009. The NSE Nifty gained 234 points at 17,336.

Meanwhile, India's Economic Survey which was tabled a while back in the Parliament sees economic growth of 8 per cent to 8.5 per cent for the coming financial year down from estimated 9.2 per cent growth in the current year. READ MORE

IT shares were leading the up move with the likes of Tech Mahindra, Wipro and Infosys up 3-4.5 per cent each. Dr.Reddy's, Bajaj Finserv and SBI rallied over 2.5 per cent each.

Reliance Industries too gained 2.5 per cent at Rs 2,395. Global research and broking firm CLSA upgraded the stock to ‘buy’ from ‘outperform’, and expects the counter to hit Rs 2,955 in a year’s time. READ MORE

IndusInd Bank down 3.5 per cent, and Kotak Bank down 2 per cent were the only prominent losers among the Sensex 30 shares.

Among sectoral indices, the BSE IT and Energy indices surged 2.7 per cent each. The Realty index too had rallied nearly 3 per cent. The Consumer Durables index was up 2.5 per cent, and the Auto index gained 2 per cent. The Bankex was up a per cent.

The broader indices were also holding steady gains. The BSE Midcap index jumped 1.8 per cent, and the Smallcap index added 1.1 per cent. The overall breath too was positive. Out of 3,601 stocks traded on the BSE so far, 1,925 advanced while 1,520 declined.

In the broader markets, hotel shares were in limelight on the back of hopes of faster recovery in demand on the back of higher vaccination and lower hospitalisation rates. Lemon Tree Hotels surged 13 per cent on the back of three-fold jump in volume. READ MORE

SPS Finquest was locked at the 20 per cent upper limit. Chemplasts Sanmar, Orbit Exports, PNB Gilts, Lotus Eye Hospital, CarTrade, Honda India Power, Siyaram Silk Mills, NIIT, Amber Enterprises, Gujarat Flourochemicals, Naukri, Affle India, Route Mobile, Martrimony.com, Tata Exsi, JSW Holdings, Hindustan Oil Exploration, HG Infra Engineering, Mindtree, GMM Pfauder, Inox Leisure, Hikal, Canara Bank, Prime Securities, Tarsons Products, Emkay Global Financial and Damodar Industries were some of the other significant gainers, up 6-16 per cent each.

On the other hand, Ambika Agarbathies, Pioneer Embrioderies, NACL Industries, GlobalSpace Technologies, Alpa Laboratories, Coffee Day, Venus Remedies, Amrutanjan Healthcare, Pressman Advertising, Hiltan Metal Forging, Jindal Poly Investment, ANG Lifesciences, Signet Industries, Jindal Photo, HCL Infosys, Digjam, Jet Frieght Logistics, GMDC, SpiceJet, Care Ratings, UTI AMC, Unichem Laboratories, Solar Indsutries, Sharda Corpchem and Thyrocare Technologies were the other major losers.

In the primary market, Adani Wilmar IPO was subscribed 3.5 times as of 1 PM today. The retail quota was subscribed 3x, while the NIIs and QIBs quota was subscribed 9.2x and 1.9x, respectively.
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Markets at 12 noon

LIVE market updates: The frontline indices were seen extending gains in noon deals deriving support from positive global peers. The BSE Sensex was up 908 points at 58,109 while the NSE Nifty was at 17,370, higher by 268 points. 

BS SPECIAL: NTPC, IRCTC, Coal India: How to trade PSU stocks ahead of Budget 2022?

Tech M was the top gainer on the Sensex, up 4.5 per cent, followed by Dr Reddy's, which was trading over 3 per cent higher on the back of robust Q3 performance. Next in line were IT majors Wipro, Infosys and heavyweight RIL, up 2.5-3 per cent. BPCL was the additional gainer on the Nifty, up nearly 4 per cent ahead of its earnings. 

ALSO READ: Bulls roar on D-Street. Pre-Budget rally, short covering or tech pullback?

In the broader markets, the BSE MidCap index was outperforming the benchmarks and was up 1.5 per cent. From this pack, InfoEdge, Mindtree, UBL, Jubilant Foo, Canara Bank, India Hotels, AU Small Finance Bank, and Godrej Properties were the top gainers, up between 4-7 per cent.

InfoEdge had gained 7 per cent among MidCaps on the back of strong Q3 results. The company posted a 90.7 per cent rise in standalone net profit to Rs 133.25 crore from Rs 69.87 crore in Q3 FY21. Its net sales increased by 48.1 per cent on-year to Rs 403.26 crore during the quarter.

ALSO READ: L&T: Order execution, new initiatives key to long-term growth, say analysts

Similarly, recently listed player Chemplast Sanmar was trading a whopping 17 per cent higher after the chemical company posted a 48 percent jump in consolidated PAT to Rs.236.86 crore on revenues of Rs.1,431.68 crore for the December quarter.

Elsewhere in Asia, markets were mostly trading higher after the Wall Street put up a strong show overnight. Japan's Nikkei 225 had added 1 per cent, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was also 1 per cent up. The Kospi index in South Korea was also higher by 1.87 per cent. 

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Markets at 11 AM

LIVE market updates: The key benchmark indices continued to stay firm and held onto gains after being pressured through out the last week amid a global sell-off. 

Market participants are now seen putting behind apprehensions of interest rate hikes from March by the US Federal Reserve and gearing up for the Union Budget on Tuesday. 

That said, the benhcmark BSE Sensex was 703 points higher at 57,904, while the NSE Nifty was at 17,308, higher by 205 points.

A strong broad-based rally across IT, pharma, auto, and realty sectors is supporting the significant gains in the benchmarks. The Nifty IT index was up 3 per cent, leading sectoral gains, while Nifty Pharma, Realty, Oil & Gas were up 2 per cent each. The auto index was next in line, up 1 per cent a day before auto companies announce their January sales numbers. 

On the Sensex, only Kotak Bank and IndusInd Bank were the losers, while on the Nifty, Coal India was the only additional loser.

In the primary market, the IPO of Adani Wilmar had been subscribed 1.63 times so far on the last day, while the retail portion was subscribed 2.56 times.

Among stocks, shares of Bharat Dynamics (BDL) hit a new high of Rs 507.80, on rallying 5 per cent on the BSE ahead of Budget. The stock of state-owned defence company has rallied 27 per cent in the past three weeks, as compared to 4 per cent decline in the S&P BSE Sensex. READ MORE.

Further, NIIT surged 8 per cent to Rs 427 extending its two-day rally to 14 per cent on on the BSE after the company’s board approved the composite scheme of arrangement which would result in Corporate Learning Group (CLG) Business and Skills & Careers Group (SNC) Business to be reorganized as separate publicly listed companies. READ MORE.

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Markets at 10 AM

LIVE market updates: The benchmark indices were steady in early morning trade after opening with significant gains. The BSE Sensex was up 666 points at 57,866, while the NSE Nifty was at 17,306, higher by 204 points. The two were higher up to 1.2 per cent.

The upmove was being supported by gains in RIL, Infosys, SBI, ICICI Bank, and TCS, which were trading up 1-2 per cent. Other leading gainers were Tech M, Dr Reddy's, Wipro, Tata Steel, HCL Tech, Bajaj Finserv, Powergrid and Bharti Airtel. 

On the flip side, IndusInd Bank was the top loser, down 2.5 per cent as investors seemed unimpressed with its Q3 performance announced on Saturday. 

Meanwhile, the broader markets were also gaining with the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices trading up to 1.4 per cent higher. 

Shares of Larsen & Toubro (L&T) slipped 2.5 per cent to Rs 1,851 on the BSE after the company reported a 17 per cent year-on-year (YoY) decline in consolidated net profit at Rs 2,055 crore for the December quarter (Q3) as high raw material costs ate into the bottom line even as net sales rose. READ MORE.

This apart, cash management services company AGS Transact Technologies made its debut on a tepid note. The stock got opened at Rs 176 on the BSE as compared to its issue price of Rs 175. It was trading nearly 2 per cent up around 10 am. 
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Opening Bell

LIVE market updates: The benchmark indices started higher on Monday with support from positive global markets and on the back of broad-based buying. The BSE Sensex was up 696 points at 57,876 and the NSE Nifty was at 17,316, higher by 214 points. 

Among Sensex shares, Asian Paints, Infosys, Wipro, IndusInd Bank, Tata Steel, Bajaj twins, Infosys, Tech M, HCL Tech, Ultratech Cement, Dr Reddy's, Titan and SBI were the top gainers, up between 1.5-3 per cent. On the Nifty, ONGC, Divis Labs, Britannia, BPCL and UPL were the additional gainers.

On the flip side, IndusInd Bank, L&T, Coal India and NTPC were the sole losers on the bourses. 

In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap and SmallCap indices were in the green, up 1.3 and 1.4 per cent, respectively. 

Sectorally, all Nifty indices were also in the positive territory, led by Nifty Realty and IT indices, up over 2 per cent each. These were followed by Auto, PSU banks, Consumer Durables and Oil & Gas indices, all up 1 per cent each. 

Among individual stocks, NIIT was among the top gainers on the BSE, up 7 per cent on the back of strong Q3 results announced on Friday. The company reported a 32 per cent jump in net profit to Rs 55 crore for the December quarter, and said its Corporate Learning Group (CLG) and Skills and Careers Group (SNC) businesses will be reorganised as separate publicly listed companies. Its revenues grew 51 per cent to Rs 383.6 crore from the year-ago period. 

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Pre-open session

LIVE market updates: The benchmark indices were seen holding strong gains in pre-open trades. The BSE Sensex was at 57,804, up 609 points, while the NSE Nifty was 169 points higher at 17,271.

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LIVE market updates: The key benchmark indices are likely to start higher on Monday amid positive global cues. At 8 am, the SGX Nifty futures were quoting 17,270 level, indicating a gap-up of over 100 points for the NSE Nifty benchmark. 

This apart, markets will take note of the FY23 Economic Survey that the government will table at noon today, ahead of the Union Budget on Tuesday. Further, India's GDP growth and core infra output will also be announced today after market hours. 

Among individual stocks, BPCL, DLF, IOC, Jindal Saw, KEC International, KPIT Technologies, Krsnaa Diagnostics, SCI, Sun Pharma, Suven Life, Tata Motors and UCO Bank may be in focus as the companies announce their Q3 results. READ MORE.

In the primary market, Adani Wilmar IPO closes for subscription today. The issue so far has been subscribed 1.13 times, with the retail quota subscribed 1.85 times and NII quota 88 per cent.

Global cues

The US stocks ended with strong gains on Friday amid some bargain hunting. The Dow Jones gained 1.7 per cent, the S&P 500 jumped 2.4 per cent and Nasdaq soared 3.2 per cent.

Oil prices extended gains for the sixth straight week as geopolitical turmoil exacerbated concerns over tight supply. Brent Crude ended 0.8 per cent higher to $90.03 a barrel, and WTI Crude added 0.2 per cent to $86.86 a barrel.

Major markets in Asia were up marginally this morning. Japan’s Nikkei advanced 0.5 per cent, and Hang Seng added 0.3 per cent. Kospi surged nearly 2 per cent, while Straits Times was up 0.7 per cent.