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Sensex hits 5-1/2 week high

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Last Updated : Mar 04 2014 | 11:55 PM IST

Key benchmark indices further strengthened and hit fresh intraday high in early afternoon trade as US index futures surged indicating higher opening of US stocks later in the global day after US stocks settled sharply lower on Monday. A sharp recovery of rupee against the dollar also supported domestic bourses. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex was currently well above the psychological 21,000 mark, having alternately moved above and below that mark so far during the session. The Sensex hit highest level in 5-1/2 weeks. The Sensex was up 188.41 points or 0.9%, up about 195 points from the day's low and off close to 5 points from the day's high. The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong.

GAIL (India) hit 52-week high. Metal stocks rose across the board.

The market edged higher in early trade. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex regained the psychological 21,000 mark. It hovered in positive terrain in morning trade. It extended gains and hit fresh intraday high in mid-morning trade. It further strengthened and hit fresh intraday high in early afternoon trade.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 198.53 crore on Monday, 3 March 2014, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.

At 12:20 IST, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 188.41 points or 0.9% to 21,135.06. The index rose 195.89 points at the day's high of 21,142.54 in early afternoon trade, its highest level since 24 January 2014. The index dropped 6.26 points at the day's low of 20,940.39 in early trade.

The CNX Nifty was up 54.75 points or 0.88% to 6,276.20. The index hit a high of 6,277.40 in intraday trade. The index hit a low of 6,215.70 in intraday trade.

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The BSE Mid-Cap index rose 59.24 points or 0.91% to 6,539.98, outperforming the Sensex. The BSE Small-Cap index rose 55.23 points or 0.86% to 6,504.39, underperforming the Sensex.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On BSE, 1,337 shares gained and 896 shares fell. A total of 131 shares were unchanged.

Among the 30-share Sensex pack, 25 stocks rose and rest of them fell. ICICI Bank (up 2.69%), AXIS Bank (up 2.25%) and Tata Power Company (up 2.17%) edged higher from the Sensex pack.

GAIL (India) rose 2.81% to Rs 379. The stock hit 52-week high of Rs 379.15 in intraday trade.

Metal stocks rose across the board. Sesa Sterlite (up 2.38%), JSW Steel (up 1.24%), Hindalco Industries (up 3.89%), Hindustan Zinc (up 1.25%), Bhushan Steel (up 0.28%), Jindal Steel & Power (up 0.52%), Tata Steel (up 1.22%), Sail (up 1.45%), National Aluminum Company (up 0.61%) and Hindustan Copper (up 1.2%) gained.

Zuari Global rose 0.75% to Rs 67 after one of the company's promoters bought an additional 0.52% stake in the firm through a bulk deal on BSE on Monday, 3 March 2014. Zuari Global's chairman Saroj Kumar Poddar acquired 1.54 lakh shares, or 0.52% equity, of the company at Rs 66.49 per share on BSE on Monday, 3 March 2014.

As on 31 December 2013, Saroj Kumar Poddar held 5.32 lakh shares, or 1.81% equity, in the company. Indian promoters held 38.59% in Zuari Global while total promoter holding stood at 64.04%.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee reversed intraday losses against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 61.88, compared with its close of 62.04/05 on Monday, 3 March 2014.

Markit Economics will unveil the result of a monthly survey on the performance of India's services sector for February 2014 tomorrow, 5 March 2014. The HSBC Services Business Activity Index increased from December's 46.7 to 48.3 in January 2014.

Reserve Bank of India next undertakes monetary policy review on 1 April 2014. Citing price pressures, the Reserve Bank of India raised its key lending rates by 25 basis points after Third Quarter Review of Monetary Policy for 2013-14 on 28 January 2014.

Asian stocks were mostly lower on Tuesday as investors weighed the crisis in Crimea and ahead of the National People's Congress annual meeting in China starting tomorrow. Key benchmark indices in China, Indonesia, Taiwan and South Korea were off 0.16% to 0.55%. Key benchmark indices in Singapore, Japan and Hong Kong rose 0.47% to 0.98%.

Investors are considering signs of a global economic recovery against tension in the Crimea after Ukraine said Russia has 16,000 troops onto its soil and that Russian forces are threatening to seize its warships. Crimea, where ethnic Russians comprise the majority, has become the focal point of Ukraine's crisis after an uprising triggered last month's ouster of President Viktor Yanukovych. Ukraine has mobilized its army and called for foreign observers after Russian forces took control of the peninsula. Russia, which keeps its Black Sea fleet at Sevastopol, raised its key interest rate yesterday as asset prices plummeted.

A meeting of China's lawmakers to set economic policy and growth targets begins tomorrow, 5 March 2014. The latest meeting of the legislature, the first to be overseen by President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang, comes as leaders pledge to give markets a "decisive" role in the economy. Investors will be watching the National People's Congress (NPC) meeting for clues to the next steps to fix local-government finances, charge market prices for natural resources, rein in shadow-banking risks, free up deposit rates and open up state businesses to private investment.

Australia's central bank reiterated that it's likely to maintain a period of record-low interest rates and renewed a reference to the currency's strength. Governor Glenn Stevens and his board kept the overnight cash-rate target at 2.5%, saying in a statement that housing prices have increased significantly and the Aussie remains high by historical standards.

Trading in US index futures indicated that the Dow could gain 127 points at the opening bell on Tuesday, 4 March 2014. US stocks sank the most in a month, joining a global selloff in equities on Monday, as investors sought havens on concern that Russia's military presence in Ukraine could lead to a larger conflict.

Data in the US Monday showed manufacturing expanded at a faster pace than projected in February, a sign the industry was beginning to overcome bad weather across much of the country. The Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing index rose to 53.2 in February from 51.3 a month earlier. Readings above 50 signal expansion. A separate report indicated consumer spending rose 0.4% in January after a 0.1% gain the prior month.

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) next undertakes monetary policy review on 18-19 March 2014. After a monetary policy review, the FOMC on 29 January 2014 announced it will reduce monthly bond purchases by another $10 billion to $65 billion.

In Europe, a policy meeting of the Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) will be held on Thursday, 6 March 2014, in Frankfurt to decide euro zone interest rates. European Central Bank President Mario Draghi recently signaled the central bank's March policy meeting could be critical in determining whether the ECB will provide additional stimulus to shore up the nascent euro-zone economic recovery.

A two-day meeting of Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will be held on Wednesday 5 March 2014 and Thursday 6 March 2014 to decide interest rates in UK. Policy rates are expected to remain unchanged at record low. The UK's central bank slashed interest rates to record low of 0.5% at the height of the financial crisis in 2009.

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First Published: Mar 04 2014 | 12:15 PM IST

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