Monday, 25 November 2013

Markets snap three days losing streak; Nifty recaptures 6,100 mark

Boisterous benchmarks, snapping three days of continuous fall, showcased an enthusiastic performance on Monday, by rallying close to two percentage points and breaking lots of psychological levels in their northbound journey. Sentiments remained up-beat since beginning, as key bourses opened with a huge gap on the up-side and there appeared not even an iota of profit booking in the session as the benchmarks managed to fervently gain from strength to strength with investors continuing hunt for fundamentally strong stocks. Frontline indices managed to end near intraday high and settle above their crucial 6,100 (Nifty) and 20,600 (Sensex) levels. Sentiments got bolstered on hopes that easing of global crude oil prices following a landmark deal between Iran and world powers would help India reduce its current account deficit and contain inflationary pressures. Some support also came in from E&Y’s report that India has emerged as the most attractive investment destination surpassing neighbouring China and the US, due to relaxation in FDI norms to boost investor sentiments.

Rally in pharma and realty sector too boosted the investors’ moral, as the Cabinet is likely to take a decision on relaxing FDI norms for the housing sector and reducing foreign direct investment cap to 49 percent in critical areas of the pharma segment. Shares of oil and gas companies including oil marketing companies were trading higher by around 4% as global oil prices declined following the deal with Iran. Meanwhile, shares of offshore oil service providers viz. Aban Offshore, Dolphin Offshore Enterprises India, Global Offshore Services etc. also edged higher on reports that the oil ministry is planning to kick-start the tenth round of New Exploration and Licensing Policy in January 2014.

Global cues too remained euphoric with the US markets making a positive closing of the passing week with S&P 500 reaching new record closing high above 1,800 on upbeat economic reports. Moreover, most of the Asian equity markets ended higher with investors rejoicing the news that Iran reached an agreement with the Western powers after five days of talks in Geneva and agreed to limit its nuclear program. European markets too opened in the green with news that western powers and Iran struck a historic nuclear deal on November 24.

Back home, there was broad based buying witnessed in the markets and apart from the blue chips, the broader markets too participated strongly in the rally. Appreciation in Indian rupee too supported the sentiments. The partially convertible rupee was trading at 62.45 per dollar at the time of equity market closing, against the Friday’s close of 62.83 on the Interbank Foreign Exchange on the back of dollar sale by exporters and banks. Some support also came in from rally in cement stocks like Ambuja Cements and ACC. Both, gained after Ambuja Cements received shareholders’ approval at an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) held on November 23, 2013, to buy a 24% stake in Holcim (India) from Holderind International for Rs 3500 crore, and for the subsequent amalgamation of Holcim (India) with it.

The NSE’s 50-share broadly followed index Nifty rose by around one hundred and twenty points to end above its psychological 6,100 level, while Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensitive Index -- Sensex surged around three hundred and ninety points to reclaim the psychological 20,600 mark.

Moreover, broader markets too traded with traction and snapped the day’s trade in the green with gain of around a percentage point. The market breadth remained in favour of advances, as there were 1,438 shares on the gaining side against 1,013 shares on the losing side, while 165 shares remained unchanged.

Finally, the BSE Sensex surged by 387.69 points or 1.92%, to settle at 20605.08, while the CNX Nifty gained 119.90 points or 2.00% to settle at 6,115.35.

The BSE Sensex touched a high and a low of 20626.15 and 20326.66, respectively. The BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.13%, while the Small cap index gained 0.97%.

The top gainers on the Sensex were BHEL up 5.22%, ICICI Bank up 5.07%, L&T up 3.97%, ONGC up 3.70%, and SBI up 3.69%, on the flip side Infosys down 0.65%, NTPC down 0.46%, and Dr Reddys Lab down 0.07%, were the only losers on the index.

On the BSE Sectoral front, Capital Goods up by 3.82%, Bankex up by 3.63%, Realty up by 2.28%, PSU up by 2.26%, and FMCG up by 2.10%, were the top gainers, while IT down by 0.05%, was the only loser on the sectoral front.

Meanwhile, as per the global consulting firm Ernst & Young (EY) survey, India has emerged as the most attractive investment destination for overseas investors surpassing neighbouring countries such as China and the US mainly on the back of relaxation in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) norms.

The survey, based on the assessment of about 1,600 senior executives from large companies across 70 countries, highlighted that sharp currency depreciation and opening up of FDI in various sectors have made the country a favorable investment destination. Further, owing to the prevailing macro-economic pressure and heavy debt burden, several Indian companies are looking to divest non-core businesses, which have created a large opportunity for foreign players vying for a greater role in Indian market. On country wise, the US, France and Japan have emerged as top three investors likely to invest in India particularly in sectors like automotive, technology, life sciences and consumer products.

Furthermore, the survey highlighted that despite the challenges the country's economy has faced in the recent past, global investors’ outlook for India remains positive. Indian companies reflect optimising operations to deliver cost reduction and a concerned focus on job creation. Around 38 percent of the respondents felt that M&A volumes in India are expected to improve over the next 12 months. Conversely, Indian corporate entities have also started looking at developed markets for making acquisitions. EY survey has ranked Brazil and China at second and third positions in most attractive investment destinations followed by Canada and the US at fourth and fifth positions.

The CNX Nifty touched a high and low of 6,123.50 and 6,035.95 respectively.

The top gainers on the Nifty were BHEL up by 5.43%, ICICI Bank up by 5.22%, BPCL up by 4.39%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 4.20%, and State Bank of India up by 4.14%, On the other hand, NTPC down by 0.70%, Infosys down by 0.50%, Hindalco Industries down by 0.17%, and Lupin down by 0.10%, were the only losers.

The European markets were trading in green, France's CAC 40 was up by 0.40%, Germany's DAX was up by 0.84%, and United Kingdom's FTSE 100 was up by 0.32%.

The Asian markets barring Shanghai Composite and Hang Seng concluded Monday’s trade in green with Japanese stocks ended within a whisker of a fresh 2013 high, as a deal with Iran pushed the yen to its lowest level against the dollar in six months. Hong Kong businesses are expecting annual economic growth of between 2 and 4 percent in the next two years. The Business Prospects Survey conducted by the General Chamber of Commerce is more pessimistic than the chamber’s own forecast of four to five percent growth. Industrial production in Taiwan fell unexpectedly last month. The Ministry of Economic Affairs Taiwan stated that Taiwanese Industrial Production fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 0.78%, from 1.06% in the preceding month.


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