Indian stock markets reversed early losses to end at their 12-week highs on Wednesday, amid firm European cues, led by index heavyweight Reliance Industries following the commencement of its buyback offer.
The 30-share Sensex ended up 121 points at 17,314 and the 50-share Nifty ended up 42 points at 5,241.
On November 9, 2011 the Sensex had ended at 17,362 and the Nifty had ended at 5,289 on November 8, 2011.
________________________________________________
(Updated at 14:41hrs)
Markets have rebounded in the late noon deals on the back of firm European cues and sustained buying visible in the auto, capital goods and metal stocks. The Sensex is up 73 points at 17,266 and the Nifty has advanced 20 points to 5,220 levels.
According to Derivatives Strategist, Shshank Mehta, Shah Investor's Home Ltd, "We believe that the bullish undertone in the market is intact. We see intermediate support at 5,175-5,185 levels and strong support at 5,130, below which we advise caution to traders with long positions. On the upside, we believe the first target for Nifty will 5,245-5,255, a break-out above this can take Nifty to near psychological level of 5,300."
Meanwhile, the European markets are trading higher. The CAC 40 index is up 33 points or 1% at 3,333 levels, DAX has gained 49 points to 6,506 levels and FTSE is up 44 points at 5,725 levels.
Back home, among the Sensex stocks, Tata Power is the top gainer. It is followed by Jindal Steel, Hindalco, Tata Steel, index heavyweight Reliance Industries HUL, BHEL, Gail India and Cipla are also among the gainers.
At the same time, Coal India is the top loser among the Sensex stocks. The stock has slipped 2.5% to Rs 317 extending its previous day’s 3% fall, on revoking a recent increase in coal prices under the Gross Calorific Value (GCV)-based system due to opposition from consumers. ONGC, ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, HDFC, Airtel, ITC, Infosys, TCS, NTPC and DLF are also among the laggards.
Auto, capital goods and metal stocks are witnessing buying. The BSE Auto index has jumped 2% or 189 points to 9,430 levels buoyed by encouraging sales figures by Maruti Suzuki, Mahindra & mahindra and TVS Motors in January. Ashok Leyland is the top gainer in this space, up 4.4% at Rs 29. Cummins India, Hero MotoCorp, Maruti Suzuki, Mahindra & Mahindra and Tata Motors have also added 2-3% each.
Capital Goods stocks are on the buyers radar after witnessing selling pressure in the past two trading sessions. The BSE Capital Goods index has jumped nearly, 2% to 10,041 levels. Crompton Greaves is the top gainer, up 7% at Rs 142. Lakshmi Machine Works, Punj Lloyd, Suzlon Energy, Alstom projects and L&T are also trading higher.
However, Consumer durables, IT, PSU, FMCG and banking stocks continue to witness some amount of the selling pressure. BSE Consumer Durable index is the top sectoral loser, down over 1% at 5,838 levels. IT index is also down 0.4% at 5,752 levels.
Among the individual stocks, IVRCL Ltd has moved higher by 6% at Rs 53.65 on reports that the company is in talks with a clutch of foreign investors to sell one of its road projects in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
The broader markets are trading on a firm note. The BSE mid-cap index is up 1% or 57 points at 5,928 levels and the small-cap index is up 1.5% at 6,558 levels.
The overall breadth is positive as 1,710 stocks are advancing while 1,001 are declining.
