Nifty extends gain on expiry day, Sensex touches 29K; Infy up 2%

1:59 PM Bank Nifty gains: Bank Nifty has reclaimed its 21,000-mark and is now 40 points away from its record high.

1:45 PM Equities in ‘euphoric’ zone: Global brokerage Bank of America Merrill Lynch, today said positive global cues have lifted Indian equities this year but returns may be muted from here on as it set a Sensex target of 29,000 for December this year.

According to BofAML’s global emerging market (GEM) strategists Ajay Kapur and Ritesh Samadhiya, from near panic levels in late 2016, global equities are now entering ‘euphoric’ zone and may take a breather.

“In India, while we expect longer term business cycle to improve in next 2-3 years, we see near-term returns capped from here on, due to possible near-term reversal of global wave, residual impact of globalisation, rich valuations and continued risks of earnings downgrades,” BofAML said in a research note.

1:32 PM Sensex touches 29,000: The Sensex touched the 29000-mark and has gained 146 points at 29011.02. Meanwhile, Nifty is up 48 points at 8975.10. The market breadth continues to narrow. About 1,339 shares have advanced, while 1,257 have declined. Around 198 shares remain unchanged.

1:15 PM Housing finance cos: Dipen Sheth, Head-Institutional Research, HDFC Securities, says that with the current government in power, “politics and economics will converge” and the government’s expansion of social sector schemes will benefit housing, agriculture and rural infrastructure sectors.

In an interview with CNBC-TV18, Sheth said the broking house has always been bullish on housing finance companies recognized by the National Housing Bank (NHB). Moreover, with the news of debt mutual funds getting more headroom to invest into them, this could bring in additional liquidity into the sector.

Structural change in the sector has already taken place with encouragement from the government for the housing sector.

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The market extended its gains during the afternoon session after clocking its 52-week high on the Nifty, driven by Infosys, HDFC Bank and Bharti Airtel.

The Sensex was up 118.56 points at 28983.27, while the Nifty rose 39.90 points at 8966.80. The market breadth narrowed as 1,321 shares advanced, 1,241 declined while 191 shares remained unchanged.

Telecom stocks continued to be the top gainers on Sensex and the Nifty on the back of reports of consolidation in the sector.

IT stocks too have witnessed a gain on the indices, with TCS and Infosys surging almost 2 percent.

Indian Hotels was on the investors’ radar after N Chandrasekaran was elected as the chairman of the firm. The stock staged a recovery from its fall of over one percent. The stock is now up 0.21 percent.