Stock and Business news

Throughout the day both Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensex and National Stock Exchange’s Nifty were volatile.

BSE Sensex opened up by 101 points as compared to last day closing of 13,887. Sensex touched an intraday high of 14,028, up 141 points and an intraday low of 13,819, down 209 points from intraday high.

Among the gainers, Realty Index gained 4.18 per cent, BSE Healthcare Index gained 2.99 per cent and BSE FMCG Index zoomed up 2.79 per cent.

Whereas Bharti Airtel down 5.58%, NTPC down 2.10%, HDFC down 1.70%, Grasim Industries down 1.66 and ACC down 1.63% were among top losers of the day.

Ranbaxy Laboratories gained maximum in the trading day up 20.24%. Ranbaxy management had yesterday announced the exit current CEO and MD Malvinder Singh from company board.

NSE Nifty closed down 12.15 points or 0.29 % with an intraday low of 4205.10 and an intraday high of 4270.05

Out of 2,816 traded stocks on BSE, 2451 registered gain, 333 declines and rest were unchanged.

Key indices gained their lost positions today, after initial session of profit booking as index heavyweights trimmed losses.

Realty, auto, pharma and FMCG stocks led the sectoral charts whereas oil & gas remained a little subdued. Tier II, III stocks continued to outperform the market.

Banking stocks were also up on hopes that declining interest rates will improve credit growth.

Passive global markets also kept the markets under control.

At 12:08 pm (IST), the BSE 30-share Sensex gained 119 points at 14,006 and NSE Nifty stood at 4,261, up 22 points.

According to Nirmal Bang report, “If Nifty maintains above 4160 then for the May expiry there is a possibility that Nifty can retest 4600 levels. Markets are forming a base at every lower level before giving a fresh breakout, which is a very positive sign for the Indian market.”

“For intra-day, resistance for Nifty is placed at 4320, if Nifty maintains above 4320 in coming days then once again we could witness buying interest in the frontline stocks. A major weakness can be seen only if Nifty slips below 4160-4110 level,” the report added.

Reports of North Korea carrying out a nuclear examination led to decline in major Asian indices.

The Kospi in Seoul fell following the news, but has since recovered to some extent. Other Asian stock indices, blocking the Japan’s Nikkei were also mostly down.

Ranbaxy Laboratories gained 17% after Malvinder Mohan Singh quitted from the ranks of Chairman, CEO and MD of the company with immediate effect.

Atul Sobti, presently Ranbaxy’s CEO, has been nominated as CEO and MD. The scrip hit a high of Rs 260.6 and low of Rs 222.25 on NSE.

ICICI Bank gained 2% to Rs 713, Axis Bank remained up by 2% to Rs 774.

Following a comfortable victory of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA), Bombay Stock Exchange Benchmark Sensex was trading two percent higher on Tuesday.

By 12:03 p. m., the 30-share BSE index was up 2.1 percent at 14,586.98 points, after starting up 3.3 percent and then falling as much as 3.1 percent.

Twenty stocks advanced while in the broader section, gainers led losers 2 to 1 on heavy volume of 351.1 million shares.

Foreign funds, which have pumped about four billion dollars into the Indian market since mid-March, will be encouraged to invest more with a stable government that is not shackled by former allies such as the communists.

The 50-share NSE index was up 1.2 percent at 4,375.50.

The strong win of the UPA is expected to enable the Government to push economic reforms such as privatisations and freer foreign investment rules to boost slowing growth, but the biggest one-day surge in almost two decades on Monday was seen as overdone.

Market analyst Sunil Shah said that investors need to be cautious at this moment and should not be swayed by the movements in the market.

“We saw market going down by 500 points and then recovered but the thing is before taking a next decisive trend, upward movement, market is going to remain little volatile. So investors have to be very cautious, and do not get swayed by these movements. Stick to good fundamentals, stick to good companies. And use every fall as an opportunity to enter into the market. Because I see Indian market will emerge as a safe haven,” Shah said.

Investors are also expected to extend its gains on Tuesday.

“In today’’s market scenario yesterday’’s profit booking is going on. I hope that it will rise. Market is going up and down, it will sustain and would go up,” said Sharad Kumar, an investor.

A few investors standing outside the BSE also said that when Manmohan Singh will be elected as leader, reforms are expected to take precedence over everything.

“Yesterday was a complete change. The market was expecting some sort of coalition whereby the Left may support from outside but now that its almost clear mandate for the Congress and Manmohan Singh in the saddle, one expects reforms to take precedence over every other thing,” said Ramesh Prasad, another investor.

Export-led IT sector, which include outsourcers such as the Infosys Technologies and the Wipro, fell, as a jump in the rupee’’s value against the dollar would affect their profitability.

Australian stocks were on the rise Tuesday, taking their lead from hopeful indicators in housing and banking in the United States - and a rise in the price of oil.

The ASX 200 gained 80 points, more than 2 per cent, after the opening bell.

Mining giant BHP Billiton Ltd, the biggest company on the exchange and its largest oil producer, put on 2.7 per cent in value while resources rival Rio Tinto Ltd gained 3.6 per cent.

The good news in the US helped lift the benchmark Dow Jones Industrial Average by 235 points, its biggest one-day gain in more than a month.

The Sensex continued its strong rally on the back of continued buying interest witnessed across index pivotals.

Investors were aggressively buying capital goods, auto, metal and banking stocks on hopes of reforms while at the same time IT stocks were being ditched on worries that increasing Indian currency could strike profit margins

Secondline stocks also backed the upmove.

BSE Midcap Index was up 4.92 per cent and BSE Smallcap Index advanced 3.42 per cent.

Among the sectoral indices, BSE Realty and Capital goods rallied over 11% each, Bankex gained more than 9.56%, Metal zoomed 7.02%, Auto increased over 6.37% each, while IT lost 8.11% and FMCG remained down by 3.93%.

At 12:55 p. m., the 30-share index Sensex was at 14,573.34, up 289.13 points, or 2.02%. The index touched an intra-day high of 14,757.82 and low of 13,834.13.

Meanwhile, National Stock Exchange’s Nifty was at 4,386.85, up 63.70 points, or 1.47%. The broader index touched a high of 4,464.90 and low of 4,167.65.

The broader market remained strong, with gainers outnumbering losers 1845:667 on BSE.

According to Sharekhan report, “The overnight gains in international markets and positive opening in most of the Asian indices in ongoing trades may help the local market advance further. Among the key indices, the Nifty can see an up- move till 4410 levels and has a key support at 4250 levels in the near-term. The Sensex has a likely support at 14100 and may face resistance at 14450.”

The top gainers’ list included Reliance Capital, which surged 21.84%, L&T up 15.19%, RCom zoomed 13.52%, SBI gained 13.02%, DLF increased 11.73% and ICICI Bank jumped 10.75%.

The major losers in the Sensex included Infosys, which shed 11.01%, Wipro lost 7.83%, TCS dipped 6.12%, ITC declined 5.72%, HUL dropped 4.42%, and RIL declined
2.75%.

Asian stocks surged with increase in confidence among US homebuilders, an increase in oil rates and a fall in bank borrowing costs stoked hopefulness that the global economic system is making recovery.

Nikkei surged 251.60 points to trade at 9,290.29, Hang Seng index increased 515.78 points to trade at 17,538.69 and Shanghai Composite zoomed 21.33 points to trade at 2,674.11.

Indian Stock markets opened with huge gap on Monday and both benchmark indices hit the upper circuit within first few minutes of trade. BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty witnessed a decent rally and the trading was halted for 2 hours.

As the trading resumed, Stock markets again hit the upper circuit. BSE Sensex was up by 17.24 per cent at 14272. NSE Nifty gained 17.33% or 636 points to close at 4308. SEBI has halted trading for the day as stock markets hit the upper circuit twice.

UPA government has won the General Elections and will form a stable government. Industry experts and Market Analysts expect that many sectors will benefit as economic reforms will continue. India should be able to continue its growth story as stable Congress led government will offer much better leadership for coming years.

Five years back, when Sonia Gandhi was about to become Prime Minister, the stock markets reacted negatively and hit lower circuit twice. After the market reaction, Sonia Gandhi decided to offer the seat to Dr. Manmohan Singh.

Market experts were expecting stock markets to gain today, however, no one expected the markets to lock twice in upper circuit. Many stocks managed to gain over 20% today, however some missed as there wasn’t much room for trading.

The trading volumes were lower as the stocks had hit higher circuit and there weren’t many sellers in most of the counters. 18 May, 2009 will be the day traders will remember for years to come.

India’s main stock market is booming after the people gave a thumping mandate in favour of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) in the Lok Sabha polls, dispelling fears of a fractured mandate.

The main stock market leapt by nearly 15 percent on Monday, triggering a temporary trading halt, after the ruling coalition sealed a decisive election victory that calmed fears of political uncertainty.

The Indian rupee gained by moving more than two percent to four-month highs against the dollar while the benchmark bond yields fell as the win boosted hopes a strong coalition would be able to push through economic reforms that would boost the much needed foreign investment in the country.

The investors and market analysts are upbeat and believe that the Congress-led UPA government will push the reforms needed to boost the economy in times of recession and will provide a stable government.

“I am overjoyed for the simple reason that we have been facing a lot of problems for the last two years when the market was down. The government has come with a thumping majority and the government will come up with further reforms. They will come up with banking reforms, they will come up with infrastructure benefits, and they will come up with public sector divestment. So the overall trends for the long term market are bullish, because the government will rule for five years,” observed Manish Debrawal, a Market Expert.

The investors are hopeful that the Congress led UPA will now fast track the process of economic reforms without any pressure, which in turn will boost the economy.

“When in 2004 the UPA government was formed with the Left Front support, then because of the Leftists, the markets had fallen by over 800 points. The picture is completely different in today’’s scenario. The new government will be without the Lefts” support. So the reform bills in the insurance, foreign direct investment and banking sector which had been blocked by the Left will now be tabled and passed in the parliament, which is very good for the overall economy and from the market point of view,” opined Siddharth Kuwala, an investor.

Indian markets gained 4 per cent Tuesday despite a steep 2.3-per-cent fall in the country’s industrial output during March.

The key Bombay Stock Exchange’s 30-share sensitive Sensex index gained 475.04 points, or 4.07 per cent, in volatile trading to close at 12,158.03.

The rally was backed by Reliance Industries and Infosys Technologies, the two firms together have a weight of nearly 30 per cent in the index.

Shares of Reliance Industries, a manufacturing conglomerate and India’s biggest company by market value, jumped 5.32 per cent, their highest in nearly eight months.

Infosys, the country’s second-largest computer-services provider, climbed 5.51 per cent.

Similarly, the broader 50-share S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange gained 3.56 per cent, rising 126.50 points to 3,681.

Data showing a steeper-than-expected fall in industrial output in March pulled the markets from the higher level in early afternoon trade. But the markets regained strength later Tuesday.

Figures released by the government showed that the industrial output fell 2.3 per cent, mainly on account of poor performance by the manufacturing sector, which contracted by 3.3 per cent.

Asian stocks slid from a seven?month high, led by banks and mining companies, as HSBC Holdings Plc said 2009 will be a “tough” year and metal prices fell. London? based HSBC said charges for impaired loans rose in all customer groups and regions during the first quarter.

China’s export slump worsened in April, making it harder for the government to revive the world’s third?biggest economy. Overseas sales declined 22.6 percent to $91.94 billion from a year earlier, the official Xinhua News Agency said. Imports fell 23 percent. April’s export decline compared with March’s 17.1 percent slump. The median forecast of 19 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News wasfor a 15.3 percent drop.

China’s urban fixed?asset investment climbed 30.5 percent in the first four months from a year earlier as the government pumped money into building railways, oil pipelines and low?cost housing. The gain compared with a 28.6 percent increase in the first three months and the 29.1 percent median estimate of 16 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News.

U.S. stocks dropped from a four?month high after the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index traded at the most expensive level in seven months Capital One Financial Corp., U.S. Bancorp and BB&T Corp. tumbled at least 7.5 percent on plans to sell shares to repay government bailout funds. American Express Co. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. slid at least 8 percent following a 23 percent surge in a measure of financial stocks last week. General Motors Corp. dropped 11 percent after saying bankruptcy is more probable than previously thought.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said he’s encouraged by U.S. banks’ plans to raise capital after government stress tests and indicated firms need to conduct further internal exams to identify other risks.

The Fed will help keep the U.S. dollar strong by containing inflation, and will withdraw credit from the financial system in a “timely” way, Bernanke said. He reiterated that he’s “certain” the dollar will be the main reserve currency for the “foreseeable future.”

The swine flu strain that has sickened people in 30 countries rivals the severity of the 1957 “Asian flu” pandemic that killed 2 million people, scientists said. Swine flu has been confirmed in 4,694 people, according to the WHO, the health agency of the United Nations. Sixtyone people have died, including 56 in Mexico, three in the U.S., and one each in Canada and Costa Rica, health officials said. The U.S. confirmed 2,618 cases in 44 states

Indian stock markets are expected to open positive. Though intraday may go down but will recover at the end.

According to Angel Broking’s Market Outlook report, if NIFTY trades lower than 3583 during the first half-an-hour of trade, then there are chances that it may correct up to 3506 -3457.

The trend determining level for the day stood at 3583 / 11777.

If NIFTY trades higher than the said level in the first half-an-hour of trade, then investors may see a further rally up to 3632/11933.

But, if NIFTY trades below 3583 / 11777 during the first half-an-hour of trade, it may see correction up to 3506 -3457 / 11527 – 11372.

Alex Mathew, head, research centre, Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services said that Nifty has the major support at 3,510 and 3,485 levels.

He advised investors to follow up a cautious approach as the major technical indicators are showing weakness.