Indian stock markets, which appeared to be wandering on a directionless trajectory through the morning trades, witnessed some renewed buying interests in real estate and oil counters during the afternoon session which abetted the frontline indices to snap second straight session on a positive note. Apart from concluding the session with gains of around half a percent, the benchmarks also managed to re-capture the crucial 5,550 and 18,500 support levels despite the volatility that prevailed amid thin trades. Investors remained cautious in the early session as the reports that government' net tax collection plunged sharply by 48% in May, adding to the evidence that corporate earnings are slowing. However, the benchmarks bounced back from early weakness as the wilt in international crude oil prices which declined well below the $100-a-barrel level, eased concerns over the lingering inflationary pressure. The optimistic trends from European counterparts coupled with recovery in some of the ruffled Asian peers too supported sentiments in the domestic markets. Meanwhile sustained buying from foreign institutional investors since the start of previous week has also improved the morale of local investors, who largely remained on the sidelines as they lacked conviction to open fresh long positions amid the growing uncertainties. The NSE's 50-share broadly followed index Nifty, added around half a percent point and settled just above the crucial 5,550 support level while Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensitive Index, Sensex gained seventy five points and closed marginally below the psychological 18,500 mark. By the end of trade, the broader markets settled on a firm note and comfortably outclassed their larger peers. The midcap index climbed 0.77% while the smallcap index amassed 0.65%. On the sectoral front, the high beta Realty counter remained the top gainer in the space as it went home higher by 1.64% as majors like HDIL and Unitech surged by 5.87% and 1.04% respectively. Another counter that remained amid the thick of things was Oil and Gas which soared by 1.28% as bellwether Reliance Industries made its presence felt after surging by close to 2% followed by around 1.50% gains in HPCL. While another close to 2% rally in IT heavyweight Infosys too pulled the markets higher. On the other hand, only Capital Goods and FMCG packs languished at the bottom of the table with 0.48% and 0.16% losses after majors like L&T and Hindustan Unilever deposed 1.11%, and 2.14% respectively.
On the global front, Asian markets settled on a mixed note today. After commencing on a soft note, benchmarks in China and Japan managed to climb higher and close with over half a percent gains. The European equities too traded with a positive bias as France's CAC advanced 0.65%, and Germany's DAX gained 0.45% and London's FTSE 100 added 0.14%. On the other hand, the screen trading for US index futures indicated that the Dow could open on a positive note.
Earlier on Dalal Street, the benchmark got off to a negative opening in line the Asian peers that largely remained influenced by overnight laceration on the Wall Street on lingering worries over economic recovery prospects amid the recent slew of weak economic data. The frontline indices see-sawed around the neutral line through the morning session as investors remained reluctant to open positions amid the growing uncertainties over market's near term outlook. However, the key indices shrugged all the pessimism in the afternoon session and managed to break the range bound trend by capitalizing on the momentum. But some bouts of profit booking in the dying hour of trade ensured that the markets settled off their intraday high levels, extending the uptrend for second straight session. The markets advanced on weak volumes of over Rs 0.78 lakh crore while the turnover for NSE F&O segment also remained on the lower side compared to Monday at over 0.67 lakh crore. Market breadth remained negative as there were 1533 shares on the gaining side against 1256 shares on the losing side while 121 shares remained unchanged.
Finally, the BSE Sensex gained 75.51 points or 0.41% to settle at 18,495.62 while the S&P CNX Nifty rose by 24.10 points or 0.44% to settle at 5,556.15.
The BSE Sensex touched a high and a low of 18,545.95 and 18,351.24, respectively. The BSE Mid cap and Small cap index was up by 0.77% and 0.65% respectively.
The top gainers on the Sensex were Jaiprakash Associate up 2.12%, Reliance up 1.93%, Infosys up 1.91%, Cipla up 1.88% and Tata Steel up 1.37%.
On the flip side, Hindustan Unilever down 2.14%, Hero Honda down 1.28%, L&T down 1.11%, Wipro down 0.97% and Bharti Airtel down 0.58% were the top losers on the index.
Meanwhile, Germany, India's biggest trading partner in Europe and one of the largest foreign investors in India, signed four bilateral agreements in the fields of science and technology, vocational education, medical research and nuclear physics with Asia's third largest economy. Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel and India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh held extensive talks on issues including war on terror and security in the Asian subcontinent as well as prevailing political climate in the Middle East and Libya.
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and Helmholtz Association (HGF), Germany have signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on translational efforts in biomedical research for a period of next five years. The MoU will provide for active translational efforts in biomedical research particularly in infectious diseases with long term capacity building for researchers and scientists. The other areas identified under the MOU are Oncology and Biomedical research related to health.
While, welcoming his German counterpart Katherina Reiche in his office, Union Minister of New and Renewable Energy, Dr Farooq Abdullah appreciated the large scale deployment of solar energy systems, especially on the rooftops of houses in Germany. He highlighted the problem of lack of electricity and access to energy in remote areas in India and the efforts undertaken to address the issue. He said there is a large scope for greater co-operation between the two countries in the field of developing renewable energy resources, technologies, manpower, etc.
Both the G4 nations which have been supporting each other's bids for permanent seats on the United Nations Security Council, also stressed on speeding up the process of the UN reforms. Germany, which has forged close ties in the field of research and development with India, also has robust economic ties with India given the fact that its annual bilateral trade currently pegged at $21 billion and the two countries have set their sights on further augmenting trade volumes to $29 billion by 2012.
The major gainers on the BSE sectoral space were Realty up 1.64%, Oil & Gas up 1.28%, IT up 1.24%, Health Care (HC) up 1.12%, and TECk up 0.95%.
The only losers in the BSE sectoral space were Capital Goods (CG) down 0.48% and FMCG down 0.16%.
The S&P CNX Nifty touched high and low of 5,570.10 and 5,507.80, respectively.
The top gainers of the Nifty were Sun Pharma up 2.41%, Reliance up 2.33%, Tata Steel up 2.05%, JP Associate up 2.05% and Cipla up 1.85%.
On the flip side, Hindustan Unilever down 2.56%, Hero Honda down 1.64%, L&T down 1.26%, ACC down 1.10% and Wipro down 0.91% were the major losers on the index.
European markets were trading in mix. France's CAC 40 up by 0.59%, Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.19% and Germany's DAX advanced by 0.66%.
Asian equity indices finished the day's trade on mixed note on Tuesday as investors remained on the safer side amid concern over a slowing US economy. Hong Kong shares edged lower in the trade on Tuesday, led by coal counters, playing catch-up after a long holiday weekend to weak overseas markets that remained on the back foot. However, Shanghai Composite ended with a gain of over half a percent but lingering worries over the potential for further monetary tightening limited the market's rise.
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