Sensex ends above 26,000 led by IT shares

Benchmark share indices ended at record closing highs, amid a volatile trading session on Monday, with IT majors leading the gains ahead of Infosys' first quarter earnings due on Friday. Further, rail-related stocks firmed up today ahead of the Rail Budget to be announced tomorrow.

 

The 30-share Sensex ended at 26,100 mark up by 138 points and the 50-share Nifty closed at 7,787 mark up by 36 points. 

 

Asian Markets

 

Asian shares ended mixed after the extended U.S. market holiday and recent stock gains in the region Asia lacked a cue from the U.S., where Wall Street was closed on Friday due to the Fourth of July holiday. 

 

Japan’s Nikkie dipped 0.3% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index ended flat with negative bias. On the other hand, Straits Times Index rose 0.5% and Shanghai Composite Index ended marginally in green.

 

Expert Say

 

Navneet  Daga added Nifty is still looking good for more upside, intraday correction need to bought into, traders should keep strict watch on levels of 7650 as its stop loss levels for longs. Strong leadership sectors like IT and Pharma is visible suggesting markets could remain strong. Traders can Initiate 7700 long straddle for july series, ahead of the event VIX is likely to bounce and options premium is likely to go up.

 

Local Currency

 

The rupee is trading at 60 against the US dollar as lack of dollar supplies on account of the US markets holiday hurt while caution also prevailed ahead of the budget on Thursday.

 

The strengthening of the dollar against other currencies in global markets boosted by the US jobs report and exerted pressure on the rupee.  

 

Meanwhile, Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 943.19 crore on Friday, 4 July 2014, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.

 

Sectors & Stocks

 

On the sectoral front, barring BSE Oil & Gas, Metal, Consumer  Duarbles indices and BSE Bankex, all other BSE indices ended  in green. BSE IT index led the rally up by 3% followed by Power, Realty and Capital goods indices ended up between 0.2-0.6%.

 

Shares of information technology (IT) companies ended firm on expectation of strong revenue growth during the recently (April-June) concluded quarter.

 

Infosys, TCS and Wipro from the frontline IT stocks ended up between  2-4%.

 

Among Pharma shares, Sun Pharma and Dr Reddy’s Lab gained between 1.5-2% .  Also, Cipla ended marginally in the positive zone. Cipla has decided to invest £100 million in its UK subsidiary over the next few years.

 

In the power space, NTPC and Tata Power ended on a positive note up by 2 % and 3.5% , each.

 

 Tata Power gained after the company signed an option deal to sell a 5% in coal miner PT Kaltim Prima Coal (KPC) to get additional cash flow as well as to reduce its consolidated debt.

 

Furthermore, renewed buying was visible in the metal pack. Sesa Sterlie, Hindalco, and Coal India climbed between 0.6-1%

 

The Realty sector witnessed an upsurge on the back of the promises that Modi-led government would provide financial incentives to developers in order to build low-cost and affordable housing for people.

 

FMCG shares including ITC and HUL ended marginally in green up by 0.5% on the back of increase in inflation and decline in demand.  

 

Shares in the Auto space closed on a higher note. Tata Motors, Hero Motocorp, Bajaj Auto and M&M ended up between 0.2-2.3%. In contrast, its peer Maruti Suzuki lost ground on profit taking.

 

Tata Motors gained after the company decided to work on a strong pipeline of products for the domestic market keeping in view changing customer needs to make the company more profitable over the years.

 

On the flip side, Oil and Gas shares ended in the negative territory after the Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan decided not to raise prices of kerosene and LPG. Gail, ONGC and Reliance lost between 0.5-2%

 

In addition, heavy selling was evident in the financial sector. The key concern lies in the levels of non-performing assets (NPAs). BSE Bankex ended down 1.2%. HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and SBI declined between 0.4-2%

 

Among other shares, Railway related stocks continued their upward march and ended higher, second day in a row ahead of the Railway Budget which is scheduled for tomorrow. The Railway Budget is likely to focus on modernisation and devise new strategies for attracting private investment.  

 

Texmaco Rail & Engineering, Titagarh Wagons and Kalindee Rail Nirman (Engineers) ended up between 5-13% on the BSE. 

 

South Indian Bank ended 6% up to Rs 34.05, after Mohnish Pabrai, a leading US-based fund manager, bought an over one percentage point stake in the private sector bank for Rs 64 crore from the open market.

 

IDFC surged over 7% to Rs 144 on back of heavy volumes after Morgan Stanley raised its price target for the company to Rs 175 from Rs 115.

 

BSE Smallcap index ended in line with the large counterparts up by 0.5%, whereas the BSE Midcap index closed 0.12% higher

 

The market breadth ended positive on the BSE.