Sensex soars past 16k…Nifty ends @ 4850

Indian markets repeated last Tuesday’s stellar performance today as well with another spectacular rally. After five straight sessions of lackluster show, investors suddenly swung into action with full force. The result was a secular surge in stocks, spurred by a combination of local and external factors. There was no stopping the risk rally today. If anything, the advance only got better and better as the session wore on. The icing on the cake was that the two main indices closed near their session highs with a full flourish.

What was heartening about today’s spurt was that not for a minute did the markets look like losing any steam. As a result, the Indian equity benchmarks managed to blow past important psychological levels. While the NSE Nifty comfortably breached the 4,800 mark the BSE Sensex surpassed 16,100. But, for a second successive session, the broader indices stole the thunder from their Large-Cap peers. The market breadth was extremely favourable today.



The fact that the frontline indices opened at day’s low and closed near day’s speaks volumes about today’s powerful rally. News of progress in eurozone leaders’ efforts to tame a long-running debt crisis, coupled with reports of an in-principal approval to the GST set the markets ablaze early on.

Market sentiment flared up further after reports stated that Moody's Investor Service has upgraded India's short-term foreign currency rating from 'speculative' to 'investment' grade.

Market participants are also hoping that the upcoming results season will turn out to be better than expected. The biggest trigger could come from the RBI at its January 24 policy meeting. The buzz of an impending CRR cut has been doing the rounds for quite some time. What the central bank says about the outlook on interest rates will also be crucial.

The Rupee has recovered some of the lost ground of late while FIIs have been steadily increasing their bets on the Indian equities. The euro held a one-day gain versus the dollar amid optimism that Europe’s leaders are taking steps to resolve the long-running debt crisis.

Finally, the Sensex ended at 16,165, up 350 points or 2.2% from the last close. It earlier touched a day's high of 16,180 after opening at a day's low of 15,898.

The Nifty settled at 4,850, up 107 points. It hit a day’s high of 4,856 and a day’s low of 4,768.

Among the 30 constituents of the Sensex, M&M, Hindalco, L&T, Jindal Steel, Reliance Industries and SBI were among the major leaders. On the other hand, TCS and Gail India ended in the negative terrain.

The Small-Cap index and the Mid-Cap index outperformed the Large-Cap peers, rising by 2.6% and 2.2%, respectively.

On the BSE, 2137 stocks advanced while to 671 shares declined; only 105 stocks remained unchanged.

All the BSE sectoral indices ended in the green. The BSE Realty index was the top gainer, up 4.2%. The BSE Capital Goods index gained 3.5%, while the BSE Banking index was up 3.1%. Metals, Auto, Oil & Gas, Power and Consumer Durables indexes rose 2% or more.

Meanwhile, the India VIX on the NSE fell by 6.5%. The index closed at 24 after being as low as 23.96. It had opened at day’s high of 25.68.

Anant Raj Industries, Aptech, Uttam Galva, Kale Consultants, Reliance Industrial Infrastructure, Jai Corp. and Infinite Computer hit 20% upper circuits.

Everonn, 3i Infotech, Alfa Laval, PSL, Dishman Pharma, DB Realty, Kesoram Inds, Triveni Turbine, IRB Infra and IVRCL were up 10% to 18%.

M&M Financial, Mahindra Lifespaces, Alfa Laval, State Bank of Travancore, IOB, Cummins India, Sterling Holiday, Everonn, IndusInd Bank, Reliance Industrial Infrastructure and Indswift Labs witnessed unusual jump in their trading volumes.