Mumbai April 2:
The BSE Sensex rose for a second week in a row, signalling the overall sentiment was turning bullish, but closed 0.1 percent lower on Friday as investors locked gains after an eight-session rally.
Reliance Industries and financials led the decline, while automakers raced ahead with the sector index gaining 0.7 percent, as they cheered a rise in their monthly vehicle sales. The 30-share BSE index slipped 0.13 percent or 24.83 points to 19,420.39, with 14 components declining. It is up 3.2 percent on the week.
The index had gained 8.8 percent in the last eight sessions. It jumped 9.1 percent in March, posting its best performance since September 2010, as foreign institutional investors (FIIs) turned net buyers of Indian equities after staying net sellers in the first two months of this calendar year.
"The sentiment looks bullish from here -- looking at the last few days of gains and inflows from FIIs," said R K Gupta, managing director of Taurus Mutual Fund. "I do not rule out a small correction, which could be triggered by profit booking, but things are definitely looking up from here." Mehul Dedhia, assistant vice-president of sales at brokerage Sharekhan said the outlook continues to improve but cautious optimism prevails given the unrest in the Middle East and high global crude prices.
In the latest in the Middle East, Libyan rebels fighting Muammar Gaddafi said they would agree to a ceasefire based on conditions. Oil prices rose, with Brent nearing USD 118 a barrel, as investors anticipated US payrolls data later in the session will confirm the improving economic outlook of the world's largest oil importer, with tensions in the Middle East providing support.
India's strong pace of expansion in the manufacturing sector steadied in March, helped by sustained new orders and output, while input prices were at their highest in at least six years, signalling further inflationary pressures, a survey showed. For the year to date, despite the USD 1.6 billion fund inflows in March, as detailed by the provisional data, FIIs remain net sellers of USD 660 million of Indian equities. The banking sector index which had fared better than other sector indexes in the March quarter, shed 0.8 percent. It had gained 12.3 percent in March.
State Bank of India and ICICI Bank dropped 1.8 percent and 0.9 percent. Reliance Industries shed 1.2 percent after rising 2.5 percent in two previous sessions. Higher March sales pushed automakers Maruti Suzuki and Mahindra & Mahindra up 1.7 percent and 0.9 percent, while Tata Motors slipped 0.4 percent shrugging off the rise. Bharat Heavy Electricals rose 2.6 percent ahead of their provisional full-year earnings announcement on Monday.
The top power equipment maker said on Wednesday it had won a USD 1.22 billion contract to set up a 1,980 megawatt coal-fired power plant in northern India. Real estate shares rallied with the sector index rising 2.6 percent, after being the worst performer in the March quarter with an 18.2-percent decline. Top-listed real estate firm DLF gained 1.5 percent.
Shares in Anil Ambani-owned companies rallied, with Reliance Communications gaining 3.7 percent and Reliance Infrastructure rising nearly 1 percent. Reliance power gained 2.4 percent. Advancing shares outpaced declining ones 3.2:1, while 289 million shares were traded on the BSE, slightly higher than their 30-day daily average volume of 279 million shares. Cigarette-to-hotels business ITC was up 0.9 percent, riding on India's strong domestic consumption story. The 50-share NSE index closed 0.1 percent lower at 5,826.05 points.
MindTree gained 2.9 percent at Rs 404.50, after its said Albert Hieronimus, currently the chairman of Bosch Ltd, will join the mid-tier IT firm's board as a non-executive chairman with immediate effect. State-run oil marketing companies such as Hindustan Petroleum Corp, Bharat Petroleum Corp and Indian Oil Corp dropped between 0.4 percent and 1.4 percent, hurt by high crude oil prices. Explorer Cairn India bucked the trend and rose 0.7 percent.
The BSE Sensex rose for a second week in a row, signalling the overall sentiment was turning bullish, but closed 0.1 percent lower on Friday as investors locked gains after an eight-session rally.
Reliance Industries and financials led the decline, while automakers raced ahead with the sector index gaining 0.7 percent, as they cheered a rise in their monthly vehicle sales. The 30-share BSE index slipped 0.13 percent or 24.83 points to 19,420.39, with 14 components declining. It is up 3.2 percent on the week.
The index had gained 8.8 percent in the last eight sessions. It jumped 9.1 percent in March, posting its best performance since September 2010, as foreign institutional investors (FIIs) turned net buyers of Indian equities after staying net sellers in the first two months of this calendar year.
"The sentiment looks bullish from here -- looking at the last few days of gains and inflows from FIIs," said R K Gupta, managing director of Taurus Mutual Fund. "I do not rule out a small correction, which could be triggered by profit booking, but things are definitely looking up from here." Mehul Dedhia, assistant vice-president of sales at brokerage Sharekhan said the outlook continues to improve but cautious optimism prevails given the unrest in the Middle East and high global crude prices.
In the latest in the Middle East, Libyan rebels fighting Muammar Gaddafi said they would agree to a ceasefire based on conditions. Oil prices rose, with Brent nearing USD 118 a barrel, as investors anticipated US payrolls data later in the session will confirm the improving economic outlook of the world's largest oil importer, with tensions in the Middle East providing support.
India's strong pace of expansion in the manufacturing sector steadied in March, helped by sustained new orders and output, while input prices were at their highest in at least six years, signalling further inflationary pressures, a survey showed. For the year to date, despite the USD 1.6 billion fund inflows in March, as detailed by the provisional data, FIIs remain net sellers of USD 660 million of Indian equities. The banking sector index which had fared better than other sector indexes in the March quarter, shed 0.8 percent. It had gained 12.3 percent in March.
State Bank of India and ICICI Bank dropped 1.8 percent and 0.9 percent. Reliance Industries shed 1.2 percent after rising 2.5 percent in two previous sessions. Higher March sales pushed automakers Maruti Suzuki and Mahindra & Mahindra up 1.7 percent and 0.9 percent, while Tata Motors slipped 0.4 percent shrugging off the rise. Bharat Heavy Electricals rose 2.6 percent ahead of their provisional full-year earnings announcement on Monday.
The top power equipment maker said on Wednesday it had won a USD 1.22 billion contract to set up a 1,980 megawatt coal-fired power plant in northern India. Real estate shares rallied with the sector index rising 2.6 percent, after being the worst performer in the March quarter with an 18.2-percent decline. Top-listed real estate firm DLF gained 1.5 percent.
Shares in Anil Ambani-owned companies rallied, with Reliance Communications gaining 3.7 percent and Reliance Infrastructure rising nearly 1 percent. Reliance power gained 2.4 percent. Advancing shares outpaced declining ones 3.2:1, while 289 million shares were traded on the BSE, slightly higher than their 30-day daily average volume of 279 million shares. Cigarette-to-hotels business ITC was up 0.9 percent, riding on India's strong domestic consumption story. The 50-share NSE index closed 0.1 percent lower at 5,826.05 points.
MindTree gained 2.9 percent at Rs 404.50, after its said Albert Hieronimus, currently the chairman of Bosch Ltd, will join the mid-tier IT firm's board as a non-executive chairman with immediate effect. State-run oil marketing companies such as Hindustan Petroleum Corp, Bharat Petroleum Corp and Indian Oil Corp dropped between 0.4 percent and 1.4 percent, hurt by high crude oil prices. Explorer Cairn India bucked the trend and rose 0.7 percent.
