India : Sensex ends higher for 4th day, Nifty above 8800 on global rally
Equity benchmarks closed rangebound session on a positive note Monday following the rally in global peers ahead of central bank meetings in the US and Japan.The 50-share NSE Nifty held psychological 8800 level throughout the session, up 28.55 points at 8808.40.
The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 35.47 points at 28634.50 while the broader markets outperformed benchmarks, up over half a percent.
Experts say investors remained on sidelines as they cautiously waited for the outcome of two-day Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan’s meetings later in the week.
The US Federal Reserve is unlikely to raise interest rate anytime this year. It might look at raising rates by middle of next year, Herald Van Der Linde of HSBC feels.
He says he does not expect even Bank of Japan to come out with any big bazooka or significant increases in asset purchases. While Japan is on a path to recovery, they are still way below their inflation target, he feels.
According to him, after the equity rally since March, a big move of volatility is expected in the next couple of months. He says the downside risk to India will be low as compared to other markets like Thailand and Indonesia.
Asian markets ended higher with the major ones like Nikkei, Hang Seng and Shanghai rising 0.7-0.9 percent. European stocks were higher on rally in oil markets and ahead of the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting this week. France’s CAC and Germany’s DAX gained 1.4 percent while Germany’s DAX rose 0.8 percent at the time of writing this article. Brent and US crude oil futures were up over a percent.
Back home, Infosys closed flat amid volatility after sources told CNBC-TV18 that there is high possibility of Infosys cutting FY17 revenue growth guidance.
TCS retained its top position in the buying list on Sensex, up 2 percent. The IT major and others (Tech Mahindra, HCL Technologies) are in talks to buy majority stake in US-based HCI Group, reports CNBC-TV18 quoting unnamed sources.
ICICI Bank gained 1.6 percent as its subsidiary ICICI Prudential Life Insurance’s Rs 6,057-crore IPO opened for subscription today. State Bank of India was up half a percent as sources say chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya may get extension for 1 year.
Reliance Industries, Tata Motors, ONGC, L&T and M&M gained 0.3-1 percent while ITC, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Maruti, HDFC, Hero Motocorp and Bajaj Auto fell 0.5-1.5 percent.
The market breadth remained positive as about 1486 shares advanced against 1250 declining shares on the BSE.
