The markets closed marginally higher amid lascklustre trades for the third straight day. The Sensex ended 72 points higher at 18,584; closing around the day's high of 18,622, while the Nifty added 23 points to end the day at 5,565. Meanwhile, the broader markets had a good run through the day retaining most of its gains. At the close, the smallcap index was up 0.7% at 8,425 and the midcap index gained 0.5% at 6,907 outperforming the Sensex which added 0.4%
In a mildly volatile day, the markets started marginally lower shrugging off positive global cues as concerns over rising interest rates and election results continued to push investors to the sidelines.Thereon, the markets moved to register an intra-day low only to recover and trade higher in the green territory tracking mostly firm Asian stocks and higher US index futures. Meanwhile, owing to the buying interest seen in the metal and realty counters in the last half an hour of trade the Sensex touched a high of 18,622. Gaurang Shah, Asst VP; Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services commented that the range bound movement will continue as fund flows have dried up and results season was also not that great.Since the SBI has raised rates by 75 bps, loan disbursements will slow down he added. Demand for home and auto loans may take a hit as people will have to pay higher EMI.Capital expansion plans of companies will get affected going forward.
Among the sectoral indices, Capital Goods was the only index that closed flat with a negative bias while realty and metal saw some renewed buying interest today. The upmove in the metal prices on the London Metal Exchange reflected in the Indian markets which saw JSW Steel, Sesa Goa, Sterlite Industries and Jindal Steel add between 1-3%.The gains in the realty space was lead by D B Realty which zoomed nearly 10% followed by DLF, HDIL, Peninsula Land that gained 1-2%
Among the rate sensitives, Auto posted nearly 1% gain while banking continued to remain subdued at 0.5% in the positive. The stocks that saw some bargain buying in the auto space were Hero Honda, Exide Industries, Amtek Auto which saw 2-3% gains. On the other hand, Bharat Electricals, Thermax, Gammon India and L&T which lost between 1-3% were the draggers in the capital Goods space.
Commenting on the road ahead for the markets, Shanu Goel, Sr.Research Analyst,Bonanza states that Nifty is likely to trade within 5450-5680 range and the outcome of the state elections on Friday is likely to influence the market sentiments."
Among the top Sensex gainers for the day were Hero Honda (Rs 1776) up nearly 3% followed by DLF (Rs 227), Tata Motors (Rs 1208), SBI (Rs 2674), Reliance Infrastructure (Rs 605), Sterlite Industries (Rs 176) and Jindal Steel (Rs 641) added between 1-2%
The losers for the day were NTPC (Rs 177), Tata Power (Rs 1229), ONGC (Rs 300), Maruti Suzuki (Rs 1227) and L&T (Rs 1526) which lost 1% each.
At the close the market breadth was positive. Of the total 2935 stocks traded on the BSE, 1611 stocks had advanced while 1611 declined.
On the commodities front, both the precious metals, silver and gold maintained their upward march for the third straight session today on brisk buying by stockists and speculators, on a firm trend overseas. While silver surged Rs 2,200 to Rs 60,500 per kg, gold rose by Rs 160 to Rs 22,580 per 10 grams.
