Markets Live: Sensex soars 289 points; Nifty crosses 10,800-level

Closing bell

The Sensex rebounded about 290 points, while the Nifty reclaimed the 10,800-mark on robust buying in metal, banking, capital goods and energy stocks ahead of IIP, inflation data to be released later today and Karnataka elections tomorrow.

A firm trend in other Asian markets and positive opening of European shares, tracking overnight gains at the Wall Street, also the bolstered the domestic sentiment.

The BSE Sensex stayed in the positive terrain throughout the day and hit a high of 35,596.15 before closing at 35,535.79 -- a rise of 289.52 points, or 0.82 per cent.

 

The Nifty scaled a high of 10,812.05 before closing up by 89.95 points or 0.84 per cent at 10,806.50.

 

On a weekly basis, the Sensex gained 620.41 points or 1.78 per cent, while the Nifty advanced 188.25 points or 1.77 per cent.

Sensex gainers, losers

BSE sectoral indices

 

 

According to provisional data, domestic institutional investors had bought shares worth Rs 900.69 crore, while foreign portfolio investors sold equities worth Rs 364.88 crore yesterday.

The stock of Asian Paints has gone up about 6 per cent on the back of a strong quarterly performance. Healthy growth in decorative and industrial paints segment has kept the company’s March quarter performance in good stead. Click here to read more

 

 

Nestle India hits all-time high

Nestle India today hit a record high and became the 3rd-largest consumer staples company by market capitalisation. The stock climbed as much as 7.11 per cent to an all-time high of Rs 9,619.7. Read more

 

The Sensex was trading higher by 278.53 points or 0.79 per cent at 35,524.80 and the Nifty up 92.8 points or 0.87 per cent at 10,809.35. Top five Sensex gainers were Asian Paints, Tata Steel, L&T, M&M and YES Bank, while the major losers were Bharti Airtel, Sun Pharma, Hero MotoCorp, Tata Motors and ONGC.

 

Metal, banking, capital goods and oil & gas stocks remained investors' favourite, while consumer durables, realty, healthcare and power succumbed to selling pressure.

 

 

Booster dose for company secretaries

The Securities and Exchange Board of India has mandated secretarial audits for all listed companies and "material unlisted" subsidiaries of such companies. Read more

 

Fortis stake sale

Five of eight directors of the Fortis board voted in favour of the offer made by the Hero-Burman duo for a stake in the company's hospital and diagnostic chain, while three voted for a separate bidder. Click here to read more

 

With oil on the boil, the heat is truly on

US President Donald Trump’s decision to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal will only stoke crude oil prices, which have been on a relentless rise in recent months. Click here to read more

 

The Sensex jumped over 150 points in the mid-session trade tracking Asian peers following an overnight rally in US equities after soft inflation data in the world's largest economy indicated that the Federal Reserve may not increase interest rates at a faster pace.

The BSE index was trading higher by 158.64 points or 0.45 per cent at 35,404.91 and the NSE index up 48.6 points or 0.45 per cent at 10,765.15.

 

“The direction of the markets in a particular session at the moment is determined by specific stock movements due to results. This is because the markets are rangebound,” said Rakesh Tarway, head of research at Reliance Securities.

Investors will also be keenly watching elections in the key southern state of Karnataka.

 

“Till the Karnakata election results are announced, expect the markets to turn a little volatile,” Tarway added.

Investors were also keeping an eye on IIP, inflation data to be published post market hours today.

ArcelorMittal results

First-quarter core profit (EBITDA), the figure most closely watched by analysts, rose 13 per cent year-on-year to $2.51 billion, above the average $2.33 billion expected in a Reuters poll of 10 analysts. Click here to read more

 

 A guide to opening an NPS account online

Click here to view the full text

 

Nifty 50 May Futures (10,773)

Traders with a high-risk appetite can go long now with a stop-loss at 10,760 levels. A strong breach of the current resistance can take the contract higher to 10,800 levels. Click here to read more

 

Promoters' pledged shares in BSE-500 cos

The percentage of pledged promoter (majority shareholder) holdings among BSE-500 companies declined in the March 2018 quarter to 7.4 per cent in comparison to 7.8 per cent in the December quarter. Click here to read more

 

Mphasis shares hit all-time high

Mphasis today hit a record high on strong results. The company shares jumped nearly 13 per cent to their all-time high of Rs 1,123.80.  Read more

 

Gold eases as dollar remains firm

Spot gold eased 0.2 per cent to $1,318.85 per ounce at 0553 GMT, after rising to the highest since end-April at $1,322.76 in the previous session. More on this

 

Telecom stocks plunge

Shares of telecom services providers fell sharply as Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd has unveiled a new post-paid plan to take on bigger rivals such as Bharti Airtel Ltd and Idea Cellular Ltd. Shares of Idea fell as much as 8.1 per cent to their lowest since February 2011, while Airtel declined about 5.8 per cent. More on this

 

NCLAT to decide Binani Cement tussle

The fate of the tussle between UltraTech Cement and Dalmia Bharat-controlled Rajputana Properties for acquiring the stressed asset of Binani Cement will be decided by the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal following the Supreme Court refusal to intervene in the matter at this stage. Read more

 

Buy gold if it touches $1,305/ounce

In the coming week, we expect prices to gradually edge up above $1,325-30, where it could be met with strong resistance. Failure to close above it could lead to a potential break below $1,300 and such a fall could see a sharp decline to $1,278-80 again, which is not our favoured view. Click here to read more

 

Buying in blue-chips ahead of IIP, inflation data to be released post market hours today helped the benchmark indices to continue their uptrend. Traders also remained bullish ahead of Karnataka elections tomorrow.

The Sensex was up 102.76 points or 0.29 per cent at 35,349.03 and the Nifty up 38.5 points or 0.36 per cent at 10,755.05.

Oil & gas,metal, PSU and FMCG stocks found investors' support, while TECk, consumer durables, healthcare and realty succumbed to selling pressure.

Nifty gainers, losers

 

 

 

 

Listed cos told to split CMD post

SEBI has asked listed companies to split the post of Chairman and Managing Director by April 2020. It has also made it compulsory for them to have six independent directors on board, including a women director.  More on this

 

MCA amends Companies Rules, 2014

In a bid to step up corporate governance practices, the government has tightened norms for independent directors so as to ensure that even their relatives do not have a financial relationship with the concerned companies. Click here to read more

 

 

Union Bank hits 12-year low

Union Bank of India hit near 12-year low on bigger-than-expected Q4 loss. Shares of the state-run lender fell as much as 4.9 per cent to Rs 83.25, their lowest since July 24, 2006. Read more

 

Fortis posts biggest intraday loss

Shares of Fortis Healthcare Ltd fell as much as 3.2 per cent to Rs 148, their biggest intraday percentage fall in nearly four weeks. More on this

 

Oil remains near multi-year high

Oil prices on Friday held multi-year highs reached the previous session as looming US sanctions against major oil producer and OPEC-member Iran threatened to tip an already tight market into undersupply. Read more

 

Dollar steps back from 2018 high

The dollar hovered below a 4-1/2-month high against a basket of major currencies as tepid inflation data prompted traders to pare bets of faster US rate hikes. Read more

 

Benchmark indices were trading in the positive zone on optimistic buying in blue-chip stocks ahead of industrial production and inflation data, to be released after market hours today.

The Sensex was up 66.58 points or 0.19 per cent at 35,312.85 and the Nifty up 26.95 points or 0.25 per cent at 10,743.50.

Top five Sensex gainers were Asian Paints, ICICI Bank, Dr Reddy's, Coal India and NTPC, while the major losers were Bharti Airtel, Sun Pharma, Hero MotoCorp, ONGC and Tata Motors.

 

Among BSE sectoral indices, metal, oil & gas, PSU and IT gained the most, while healthcare, auto and TECk succumbed to selling pressure.

 

According to provisionsal data, domestic institutional investors had bought shares worth Rs 900.69 crore, while foreign portfolio investors sold shares worth Rs 364.88 crore yesterday.

Rupee rebounds to 67.11

The rupee rebounded by 21 paise to 67.11 against the dollar in early trade on fresh selling of the US currency by exporters and banks amid a firm domestic equity market. More on this

 

Nikkei hits 3-month high

The Nikkei was up 0.75 per cent at 22,663.08 after brushing 22,714.29, its highest since Feb. 5. The index has gained about 1 per cent this week.  Read more

 

Kishore Biyani-led Future group stocks — Future Consumer, Future Lifestyle Fashions and Future Retail — were the major gainers among retail stocks on Thursday, on re-rating hopes after the Walmart-Flipkart deal. Read more

Asian markets

Asian markets started on a firm footing and the dollar eased as softer-than-forecast US inflation data tempered expectations for faster Federal Reserve interest rate rises this year. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose for a second straight session to near three-week highs. Read more

 

Start-ups can allot shares to staff from Day 1

Start-ups and other unlisted companies can rejoice with the Corporate Affairs Ministry now allowing them to issue ‘sweat equity’ shares to employees even on their joining date. Click here to read more

 

Broker's call

Prabhudas Lilladher

Federal Bank (Buy)

CMP: ₹89.45

Target: ₹128

Click here to view more

 

Day Trading Guide

Given below are supports and resistances for Nifty 50 futures and seven key stocks that can help in your intra-day trading:

₹1989 • HDFC Bank

 

₹1167 • Infosys

 

₹279 • ITC

 

Click here to view the full guide

The 30-share BSE index Sensex gained 134.26 points to 35,380.53 against 35,246.27 and the 50-share NSE index Nifty climbed 42.15 points to 10,758.70 against 10,716.55.

US stocks rally

Wall Street jumped on Thursday, and Apple inched closer to a $1 trillion stock market value, as tepid inflation data eased worries of faster US interest rate hikes this year. More on this

 

Today's stock pick

VRL Logistics (₹429): Buy

Investors with a short-term perspective can buy the stock of VRL Logistics at current price. The stock has taken support at the immediate base level of ₹405 and has risen 5.3 per cent with above average volume on Thursday.  Read more