BSE Sensex, NSE Nifty up 2.0 pct on Moody’s positive credit outlook

BSE Sensex, NSE Nifty up 2.0 pct on Moody’s positive credit outlook

The benchmark BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty rallied for the second week in a row by over 2.0 percent buoyed by across-the-board buying, Moody’s raising country’s credit outlook and speculations that the US Fed may keep interest rates low after weak jobs data.

However, Reserve Bank of India, in its monetary policy on April 7, left the short-term lending rate or repo rate unchanged and also kept the cash reserve ratio and the statutory liquidity ratio static, which weighed on the markets as Sensex closed almost flat on Tuesday.

Later, it continued its upward trend on Moody’s report and hopes of delay in the US interest rate hike. Showing confidence in the Indian economy, global ratings agency Moody’s raised country’s credit outlook to ‘positive’ from ‘stable’ and said an upgrade in its sovereign rating is also possible in the next 12-18 months, giving space for operators and investors to go long.

Another agency, Fitch, announced country’s sovereign credit rating at ‘BBB-‘ with a ‘stable’ outlook.

Market participants expected more capital inflows after weak US jobs data indicated that the Federal Reserve will not be in a hurry to raise interest rates.

All-round buying was seen, as all 12 sectoral indices closed strong with metal, realty, FMCG, consumer durables,

Power, Oil&Gas, IT and Tech segments, leading the pack. The BSE 30-share barometer resumed higher and moved in a positive for the major part of the week in a range of 28,907.81 and 28,221.59 before concluding at 28,879.39, a sharp gain of 619.24 points or 2.19 per cent.

In last two weeks, the gauge has surged by 1,420.74 points or 5.17 per cent. The 50-issue NSE Nifty also jumped 194.10 points or 2.26 per cent to settle the week at 8,780.35. In two weeks, it has zoomed by 438.95 points or 5.26 per cent.

Frenzied buying by retail investors was seen in second-line stocks as their indices outperformed the Sensex.

The BSE Smallcap and BSE Midcap indices closed higher by 6.28 per cent and 3.19 per cent, respectively.

Though the pharma shares were in the limelight till mid-week, selling in last couple of session trimmed gains after Bank of America Merrill Lynch downgraded some of the key pharma stocks.

Among Sensex gainers, Coal India topped the list by climbing 5.73 per cent on reports that the government has lifted the cap on company’s e-auction sales.

Caution prevailed on on the last day of the week ahead of the key economic IIP data for February, which was released after trading hours on Friday, and beginning of the fourth quarter earning season next week.

For the future course of action, traders will be looking for the next week at macroeconomic data, including CPI and WPI to be released on April 13 and 14, respectively.

Investment by foreign funds, global trend and movement of the rupee against the dollar will also dictate the trend in near-term, a broker said.

Foreign portfolio investors picked up shares worth Rs 1,608.18 crore during the week, including provisional data of April 10.

Overall, 23 out of 30 Sensex-based scrips finished with gains. The petro-chem giant and among top heavyweights, RIL, was the top gainer with a rise of 8.28 per cent.

Other major gainers were Infosys (7.41 per cent), Dr Reddy’s Lab (7.20 per cent), Coal India (6.95 per cent), M&M (6.80 per cent), SSLT (6.10 per cent), Tata Steel (5.82 per cent), HUL (5.51 per cent), NTPC (5.27 per cent), SBI (4.46 per cent), Hindalco (4.35 per cent), TCS (4.27 per cent), ITC (4.14 per cent), Bajaj Auto (4.06 per cent), GAIL India (3.82 per cent), Sun Pharma (3.70 per cent), Bharti Airtel (2.33 percent), Tata Power (1.74 per cent), L&T (1.57 per cent) and BHEL (1.32 per cent).

However, HDFC declined by 3.27 per cent, Hero MotoCorp (2.69 per cent), Wipro (2.16 per cent), ICICI Bank (1.44 percent) and Cipla (1.32 per cent). Among the S&P BSE sectoral indices, Metal shot up by 5.68 per cent, Realty (5.66 per cent), FMCG (5.01 per cent), CD (3.93 per cent), Power (3.55 per cent), Oil & Gas (3.44 percent), IT (3.25 per cent), Teck (3.05 per cent) and HC (2.70per cent).

The total turnover at BSE and NSE was at Rs 18,245.26 crore and Rs 94,742.09 crore from Rs Rs 8,236.17 crore and Rs 47,640.57 crore, respectively as against the last truncated week.

Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and National Stock Exchange (NSE) will remain closed on April 14, 2015 on account of “Ambedkar Jayanti”.