Markets gain on earnings hope, growth forecast

Sensex Weekly

Markets gained this week on hopes of strong corporate earnings for the quarter ending June 2010 and forecast from the IMF.

The Sensex added 373 points (2%) to 17,834. The NSE Nifty ended up 2% at 5,352.

The IMF raised India's growth forecast for 2010 to 9.5% and over 8.5% in 2011. Moreover, a revival in rains over last month's weak monsoon cheered investor sentiments.

Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Wednesday relaxed the exposure margin requirement for stock derivatives. The new exposure margin would be higher of 5% of the standard deviation of the notional value of the gross open position in single stock futures and gross short open position in stock options in a particular underlying.

The week started on a soft note as the country saw a strike called by the opposition to protest fuel price hike. The index touched a low of 17,395 on Tuesday. Thursday, the index rose on growth forecast. The Sensex touched a high of 17,858 on Friday, ending finally at 17,834.

BSE consumer durables index surged 5.3% to 4,988.IT, bankex and metal indices rallied 3-4% each. However, BSE oil & gas index was weak and dropped 1% to 10,633. FMCG, PSU and healthcare indices underperformed the Sensex.

Bharti Airtel soared 16% this week to end at Rs 308. Mahindra & Mahindra, Infosys and DLF jumped 5-6% each.

Banking stocks were up. HDFC Bank and SBI added over 4% each to Rs 2,003 and Rs 2,369, respectively. ICICI Bank was up 3.7% at Rs 872.

Metal stocks- Tata Steel and Sterlite, surged 4.4% each to Rs 496 and Rs 168, respectively.

However, ACC was down 2.7% at Rs 836. Hindustan Unilever dropped 2.5% to Rs 262. NTPC shed 2% at Rs 198.

Reliance Infrastructure and Jaiprakash Associates slipped around 2% each to Rs 1,173 and Rs 126, respectively. Market heavyweight, Reliance, declined 1% to Rs 1,056.