 "Markets in new orbit; Sensex cruises above 23k")
The markets are going gung-ho this morning, in unchartered territory, thanks to blockbuster gains in index bellweather RIL and banking stocks. The Sensex has reclaimed the 23k mark touched in the previous session and the Nifty is within kissing distance of the 7,000 mark. The Sensex is at 23,302, stronger by 308 points, the Nifty is 6,950, up 91 points and the Bank Nifty is at 13,996, up 245 points. The midcap index is at 7,523, higher by 67 points and the smallcap index is at 7,647, up 54 points.
The optimism on Dalal Street can be attributed to the prospect of a Narendra Modi-led, stable NDA regime at the Centre after May 16. The bourses had raised an early toast to Narendra Modi on Friday. And after the gains this morning, the Sensex has now added more than 1000 points within a span of little more than a day.
The market sentiment would also have been boosted by the fact that foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 1268.78 crore on Friday, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.
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The final day of voting is set for Monday and the exit polls that are expected to trickle in post 5pm on the same day. The campaigning for the Lok Sabha elections 2014 has come to an end and 41 constituencies, including Varanasi, would go to the polls. The April CPI and March IIP data, scheduled to be released next week, would also influence sentiment going ahead.
The market valuation of top seven Sensex companies advanced by Rs 84,494.52 crore last week, with RIL and ONGC emerging as the biggest gainers. The m-cap of RIL surged Rs 22,319.67 crore to Rs 3,22,369.67 crore, becoming the top gainer among the country's 10 most valued companies. ONGC's m-cap zoomed Rs 15,956.17 crore to Rs 2,97,517.17 crore, while ICICI Bank added Rs 14,240.62 crore to Rs 1,58,818.62 crore. The m-cap of HDFC Bank went up by Rs 9,688.41 crore to Rs 1,81,806.41 crore. SBI's market cap surged Rs 9,474.94 crore to Rs 1,62,207.94 crore, while that of CIL jumped Rs 8,559.24 crore to Rs 1,95,207.24 crore.
On the results front, Just Dial, Coromandel International, Indian Bank, Torrent Cables, Torrent Power and TV Today Network, among others, will announce their January-March 2014 earnings today, 12 April 2014.
RIL is the star performer in today's session. The stock has surged by 3.1% to Rs 1,028, its highest level since April 2011, on the BSE. So far in 2014, the stock has rallied around 15% against the 10% rise in S&P BSE Sensex.
The banking sector is also going strong. SBI has soared by 2.7% at Rs 2223, Axis Bank has galloped by 2.3% at Rs 1670, HDFC Bank has jumped by 1.6% at Rs 770 and ICICI Bank has added 1.3% at Rs 1393.
Other oil and gas companies such as ONGC, Hindustan Petroleum, Gail India, Oil India, Indian Oil Corporation and Bharat Petroleum Corporation have also added 1-4% each on the BSE.
The high-beta stocks in the midcap space are also attracting buying attention; RCom has raced ahead by 4.6% at Rs 123, RPower has jumped by 3.6% at Rs 72 and Reliance Infra has gained 3.5% at Rs 563 and Yes Bank has added 2.7% at Rs 497.
On the other hand, select information technology and pharma stocks are sluggish this morning, ignoring gains in the benchmark indices. In the IT space, TCS has lost 1.3% at Rs 2132 and Wipro has lost 1.1% at Rs 506. In the pharma space, Sun Pharma has lost 0.9% at Rs 617 and Cipla has lost 0.9% at Rs 388.
In stock-specific news, United Spirits is trading flat, with a negative bias, despite the sale of Whyte & Mackay. The stock is down 0.45% at Rs 2,772 on the NSE as against 1.5% rise in benchmark CNX Nifty.
The market breadth is strong. 0ut of 2092 stocks traded on the BSE, there are 1218 advancing stocks against 769 declines.