 "Nifty hits 8,200, Sensex up 450 points; Tata Motors gains 5%")
By 12:45 PM, the 30-share Sensex was higher by 464 points 27,063 and the Nifty has gained 135 points at 8,192 after hitting 8,200 mark.
Tata Motors, Cipla, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Auto and HDFC have gained between 3-5.5%
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(updated at 12:45 PM)
The markets are having a strong session of trade, led by a short-covering rally in index heavyweights such as Tata Motors, Bajaj Auto and ICICI Bank. The gains across global markets and positive news on the tax row that led to the capital outflows from the markets, have also aided the rally.
The BSE Sensex reclaimed its crucial psychological level of 27,000 to touch an intra-day high of 27,012 and is now at 26,999, up 299 points, and the Nifty has reclaimed its crucial psychological level of 8,150 and is now at 8,167, up 110 points.
The broader markets are also having a strong session; the midcap index has jumped by 1.5% at 10,222 and the smallcap index has gained 1.7% at 10,829.
The benchmark indices had shed 8% in the past three weeks and ended at 6-month lows on Thursday due to persistent selling by foreign institutional investors on MAT concerns and weakening of the rupee. Nerves seem to have steadied for the time-being, if the Volatility index is anything to go by. The Volatility index or VIX, which had soared as much as 13% amid a 2.7% decline in the benchmark indices on Wednesday, has fallen by 2.6% to 19.13 this morning. The Finance Minister Arun Jaitley decision to set set up a panel on Thursday to suggest ways to resolve the Minimum Alternate Tax dispute, seem to have also reassured the jittery investors.
One would have to wait and see whether this morning's strength is merely a technical pullback from oversold positions or whether the the Nifty has actually formed a short-term bottom around the 8000 levels.
RUPEE
The rupee has recovered against US dollar and hit intraday high of 63.97 on fresh selling of the dollar by exporters and banks. The rupee had dipped below the 64-mark to end at 20-month low of 64.23 in Thursday's trades on sustained capital outflows by foreign funds amid concerns over MAT.
GLOBAL MARKETS
Asian shares are holding firm on Friday on signs global bond markets are stabilising after a big selloff and sterling jumped about 1% after UK exit polls forecast the ruling Conservatives taking the most seats in parliament.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was little changed while Japan's Nikkei ticked up 0.2% from one-month low hiton Thursday.
Investors breathed a sigh of relief after the global bond market rout since late April appeared to have run its course for now.
China's exports unexpectedly fell 6.4% in April from a year earlier, while imports tumbled by a deeper-than-forecast 16.2%, fueling expectations that Beijing will quickly roll out more stimulus to avert a sharper economic slowdown.
SECTORS AND STOCKS
All the sectoral indices are in the green, with the exception of the consumer durables space. The BSE Bankex and BSE Realty index have surged by almost 2%, while the FMCG, Healthcare, IT, Auto, Capital Goods, Metal and oil indices have risen by 1% each. The BSE Consumer Durables index has, however, slipped by almost 3%.
In the banking space, ICICI Bank has surged by 3%, while Yes Bank, Axis Bank, SBI and HDFC Bank have added between 1% and 3% each.
In the auto space, Tata Motors has jumped by more than 4%, while Bajaj Auto, M&M and Maruti have added 2-3% each.
Hero Motocorp and Vedanta are the only losers among the BSE-Sensex scrips.
The market breadth is strong, with 1678 advancing stocks as against 506 declines.