Rediff.com« Back to articlePrint this article

Sensex ends above 26,000 on robust rupee, global cues

Last updated on: August 25, 2015 16:34 IST

The 30-share Sensex ended up 291 points at 26,032 after hitting a high/low of 26,125/25,298 and the 50-share Nifty ended up 72 points at 7,881 after hitting a high/low of 7,925/7,667 in intra-day trade on Tuesday.

Benchmark share indices reversed intra-day losses to end higher amid a volatile trading session on Tuesday, helped by a rebound in global stocks, after the government's call for a special session of Parliament for passage of Goods and Services Tax Bill boosted sentiment.

The 30-share Sensex ended up 291 points at 26,032 after hitting a high/low of 26,125/25,298and the 50-share Nifty ended up 72 points at 7,881 after hitting a high/low of 7,925/7,667 in intra-day trade today.

Among broader markets, the BSE Mid-cap index outperformed the benchmark indices and gained around 2%.

The BSE Small-cap index inched up by over 1%. The market breadth ended weak with 1,499 losers and 1,220 gainers on the BSE.

In other positive news, the Indian Volatility index or VIX, which had spiked up significantly yesterday, ended by almost 4.55% at 26.85 levels.

However, the markets are likely to remain volatile in the near future as they track the market cues emanating from China and ahead of the impending F&O expiry on Thursday.

Further, a day after the biggest-ever plunge in markets, RBI Deputy Governor S S Mundra sought to allay fears saying the problems are transient, driven by interconnectedness of the world economies and that India is capable of dealing with any kind of external shocks.

Rupee

The rupee staged a sharp recovery on expectation of foreign fund inflows tracking a rebound in domestic equities and was headed to its highest intra-day gains since March 2014.

On March 06, 2014 the rupee had gained 64 paise against the US dollar.

The Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan said on Monday that the central bank will not hesitate to use its reserves to curb the volatility in the rupee.

Crude oil

Oil bounced back from heavy losses on Tuesday but global oversupply and worries over the severity of the economic slowdown in China, the world's top commodity consumer, kept prices near 6-1/2-year lows.

US crude, also known at West Texas Intermediate or WTI, was up 65 cents at $38.89 a barrel by 0840 GMT, while Brent was up 60 cents at $43.29.

Global markets

Chinese shares extended losses as investors shunned riskier assets on concerns of economic growth slowdown.

The Shanghai Composite ended 8% lower below the psychological level of 3,000 at 2,965.15.

Shares in Japan also witnessed volatility in intra-day trade to finally end the session 4% lower.

However, shares in Hong Kong and Singapore rebounded to end higher by 0.7% and 1.5%, respectively.

European shares rebounded in Tuesday's trade amid firm cues from US index futures which signalled a positive opening on Wall Street later today.

The Dow and S&P 500 futures were up nearly 4% each. The CAC-40, DAX and FTSE-100 were tradnig 2.7-3.3% higher.

Sectors and Stocks

BSE Realty index zoomed by almost 7% followed by counters like Metal, Oil & Gas, Auto, Banks, Auto, Healthcare and Power, all surging between 1-5%.

However, BSE IT index slipped by over 0.5%. From the realty counters, DLF was up over 3% at Rs 100 after the company raised Rs 375 crore through issue of non-convertible debentures.

The metal stocks rebounded in trades today after reeling under pressure on worries of slowdown in the Chinese shares with Shanghai slipping nearly 5%.

Copper prices tumbled to six-year lows on Monday alongside Shanghai equities on growing nervousness about economic activity and demand prospects in top industrial metals consumer China. Vedanta, Hindalco, SAIL and Hindustan Copper gained between 3-8%.

Shares of mining baron Anil Agarwal-led Vedanta ended higher around 8% after it raised Rs 2,000 crore from State Bank of India, the country's largest lender, via non-convertible debentures (NCDs).

In the oil space, the heavyweights RIL and ONGC gained between 1-2%, while oil marketing companies such as BPCL, HPCL, IOC and OIL rose around 2% each due to lower crude oil prices.

Banking shares also witnessed some buying demand on account of short-covering. ICICI Bank, SBI, Axis Bank and Yes Bank surged between 2-4%.

Other notable gainers included Tata Motors, Coal India, NTPC, Axis Bank, GAIL and RIL.

On the losing side, HDFC, Maruti Suzuki, TCS, Hero Moto and ITC gained between 0.0.3-2%.

Smart movers

Shares of Amara Raja Batteries (ARBL) surged by 10% to Rs 1,082, also their lifetime high on the BSE.

Ruby Mills was up over 8% at Rs 359 on the Bombay Stock Exchange after the company in a release informed that it's board will meet on August 31, 2015 to consider and recommend allotment of bonus shares. Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) gained 4% to Rs 395 on the BSE on the back of heavy volumes.

The stock has bounced back by 17% from its intra-day lows of Rs 366 touched in early-morning trades on the BSE.

Glenmark ended higher by over 6% on plans to launch generic Teneligliptin, a new third-generation oral anti-diabetic drug, at a substantially lower price compared to other Gliptins available in India.

Surabhi Roy
Source: source image