Sensex, Nifty close at record highs; metal, banking stocks gain

Photo: Indiacsr.com

Mumbai, Tuesday, January 20, 2015: Rising for the fourth straight session, India’s equity markets closed at record highs, led by gains in metals and banking companies. 

Investors also hoping that the European Central Bank may announce a 550 billion euro ($640 billion) bond purchase programme on 22 January, Bloomberg reported. 

Earlier in the day, the National Stock Exchange’s Nifty index rose as much as 1.84%, or 157.20 points, to hit a record high of 8,707.90 points, while the Sensex rose as much as 2.01% or 567.28 points to 28,829.29 points. 

At the close of trading, Sensex was up 1.85%, or 522.66 points at 28,784.67 points, while the 50-share CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange was up 1.69%, or 144.90 points, at 8,695.60 points. 

“There has been a lot of optimism after RBI’s rate cut last week, and the reforms process is also expected to catch up speed, propelling the market to new highs,” said Dipen Shah, head of private client group research at Kotak Securities Ltd. 

“If the government announces further fiscal reforms, within or outside of budget, valuations can rise further,” added Shah. 

The sentiment was also upbeat as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said India is projected to outpace China by growing 6.5% against the 6.3% growth expected for its northern neighbour in fiscal year 2016-17—the third year of the Narendra Modi government—becoming the fastest growing major economy in the world. 

Among the gainers, Housing Development Finance Corp. Ltd (HDFC) rose 5.8% to its record high of Rs.1,250.50, Sesa Sterlite Ltd rose 5.4% to Rs.203.50 and Tata Steel Ltd rose 4.5% to Rs.402.10. 

Among the losers, Gail India Ltd fell 1.9% to Rs.432.05 and Tata Power Co. Ltd fell 0.9% to Rs.82.05. Among sectoral indices, the BSE metal index was the top sectoral gainer, up 3%, followed by the Bankex, FMCG, oil and gas and realty indices, which were up 1.8%, 1.7%, 1.3% and 1.2% respectively. BSE Teck and auto indices were up 0.7% each while the capital goods, healthcare and IT indices were up 0.5% each. 

Metal shares were the key gainers in Tuesday’s trade.

“The metal index went up as Chinese growth rate was better than expected,” said Shah of Kotak. Jindal Steel and Power Ltd rose 3% to Rs.155.4, JSW Steel Ltd 3% to Rs.1,005.40, Hindalco Industries Ltd 3% to Rs.144.4 and Hindustan Zinc Ltd 0.8% to Rs.161.60. 

Kesoram Industries Ltd rose 20% to Rs.137.30 and MRF Ltd 0.1% to Rs.39,494.65 after The Economic Times reported that MRF is in advance discussions with BK Birla flagship Kesoram Industries Ltd to acquire its main tyre unit out of the two of Birla Tyres for a value that’s far higher than the market capitalization of the entire diversified Birla conglomerate. So far in 2015, the Sensex has gained 4.67%, while foreign institutional investors have bought $155.7 million from local equity markets and bought $2.02 billion from the debt market.

Courtesy: Live Mint