Strong trades prevail; Sensex soars 400 points

Markets continue to trade on a higher note amid firming trend in the global equities after US Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen indicated that the central bank would move cautiously in regards with interest rate hike.

Also, prospects of an interest rate cut by the RBI at its forthcoming monetary policy review spurted buying across the board.

At 2:45 pm, the S&P BSE Sensex is trading at 25,306, up by 405 points while the Nifty is quoting at 7,729, up 132 points.

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(updated at 2:45pm)

Benchmark indices have extended gains and are trading near day’s high with Sensex and Nifty50 surging over 1% each. 

By 12:56 am, the S&P BSE Sensex was trading at 25,227, up by 327 points while the Nifty was quoting at 7,699, up 102 points.

Top gainers from the Sensex pack are Lupin, Tata Steel, ICICI Bank, GAIL and Adani Ports, all surging between 3%-5%. 

Shares of Tata Steel are up over 2% at Rs 311 on the Bombay Stock Exchange after the board of directors at its meeting held on Tuesday to review the performance of the loss making European business decided to explore all options for portfolio restructuring including potential divestment of Tata Steel UK in whole or in parts.

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(updated 11:30 am)

Markets have maintained momentum and are trading higher on the back of visible buying across the board. The uptrend in the Asian peers following Janet Yellen’s cautious tone has also buoyed the local equities.

By 11:30 am, the S&P BSE Sensex was trading at 25,145, up by 245 points while the Nifty was quoting at 7,674, up 77 points. Broader markets are outperforming the benchmark indices- BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices are up 1%-1.4%.

Also, market players are expected to remain volatile ahead of the March series futures and options contracts expiry.

In the commodity space, U.S. crude CLc1 added 29 cents to $38.57 a barrel, after falling around 3% on Tuesday. Brent LCOc1 rose 24 cents to $39.38.

Extending its rising streak for the fourth day, the rupee appreciated by 16 paise to 66.38 against the US dollar in early trade today on increased selling of the American currency by exporters and banks amidst continued foreign fund inflows.

KEY STOCKS

Sectorally, healthcare, capital goods, consumer durables, and energy shares are rallying nearly 2%.

Individually, barring Maruti Suzuki and HDFC, all other stocks are trading in positive.

Lupin has rebounded in trades today after a sharp slump yesterday. The drug major received a total of three observations relating to violation of production norms at manufacturing facilities at Mandideep, Madhya Pradesh from the US Food and Drug Administration. Post the news, the stock touched 18-month low. The stock has gained nearly 3%.

Sun Pharmaceuticals has acquired Novartis’ branded drug portfolio in Japan for $293 million (Rs 1,900 crore). With this, Sun will gain a strong foothold in Japan, the world's second largest drug market after the US. Shares of Sun Pharma have advanced 2%.

Tata Steel has gained around 1.5%. The company is considering the sale of its entire UK business to stem heavy losses, a move that would draw a line under its almost decade-long foray into Britain's declining steel industry.

Banking space is also rallying ahead of the RBI monetary policy, which is scheduled next week. SBI, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, all have gained between 0.5%-2.5% each.

Reliance Jio, the telecom arm of Reliance Industries, is preparing for a soft launch of its 4G services soon, Credit Suisse said. Jio has already launched services for Reliance group employees and their friends three months back. Reliance Industries has gained 1.5%.

Among other stocks, Reliance Defence Ltd, a 100 per cent subsidiary of Reliance Infrastructure Ltd, and Rafael Advanced Defence Systems Ltd have decided to set up a joint venture (JV) company in India in the areas of air-to-air missiles, air defence systems and large aerostats. The stock has gained 1%.

TVS Motor Company (Rs 326) and Ashok Leyland (Rs 108) have hit their respective lifetime high on the BSE in early morning trade. Currently they are trading up by 2.5% and 1% respectively.

Shares of cancer-care network operator, HealthCare Global Enterprises, have listed at Rs 210 - a discount of 4% against its initial public offer (IPO) of Rs 218 per share on the National Stock Exchange (NSE). The stock made a weak debut at the bourses, falling nearly 20% to Rs 175 posts its listing on the NSE so far. It touched an intra-day high of Rs 212.