Sensex on winning streak, climbs for 4th day; Infosys up 5.7 per cent
Mumbai: Markets closed on a positive note for the fourth day as the Sensex rallied nearly 190 points to end at over three-and-a-half month high of 25,816 as investors cheered Infosys' upbeat revenue forecast.
The broader NSE Nifty recaptured the psychological 7,900-mark.Widespread gains built up mood, with IT, realty, technology and FMCG stocks taking the lead.
Investor sentiment has improved in the past few days following positive macroeconomic data, including easing inflation and forecast of an above-normal monsoon this year, sparking hopes of better days for the economy and more rate cuts by RBI.
The country's second-largest IT services company, Infosys, led from the front and surged 5.70 per cent to close at a fresh 52-week high of Rs 1,238.80 after it posted 16.2 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 3,597 crore for the January-March quarter.
Infosys had said it expected revenue for 2016-17 to grow in the range of 11.5-13.5 per cent in constant currency and11.8-13.8 per cent in US dollar terms, in line with industry body Nasscom's estimate of 10-12 per cent for the fiscal.
The stock of TCS tumbled 2.93 per cent in early trade after a US grand jury awarded Epic Systems $940 million in damages against it and another group company Tata America International Corp in a trade secret lawsuit, but recovered ahead of its results due to be released after market hours.
It ended almost flat at Rs 2,522.40, down 0.03 per cent. The country's biggest cigarette maker, ITC, jumped 1.33per cent to Rs 335.35 after reports said the company would resume production at its factories, two weeks after it decided to shut its plants over the government's stringent new packaging rules.
Stock markets were closed on Thursday and Friday on account of 'Ambedkar Jayanti' and 'Ram Navami'. Trading stayed in the positive zone through out the session. The Sensex ended higher by 189.61 points, 0.74 percent, at 25,816.36—its highest closing since January 1 this year.
The 30-share Sensex had gained over 952.91 points in the past three sessions. Also, the NSE Nifty retook the crucial 7,900-mark by rising 64.25 points, or 0.82 per cent, at 7,914.70.
A total of 16 stocks rose out of the 30 in the Sensex pack. Cipla, Bharti Airtel, HDFC, Lupin, NTPC, Tata Steel, Asian Paints, L&T, Wipro, Axis Bank, Tata Steel, HDFC Bank, M&M, Sun Pharma and Hindustan Unilever notched up big gains, rising by up to 2.42 per cent.
Those that lost include Hero MotoCorp, SBI, GAIL, ONGC, ICICI Bank and Bajaj Auto. The BSE realty index jumped the most by rising 4.40 per cent followed by IT 3.09 per cent, technology 2.92 per cent, consumer durables 1.73 per cent and FMCG 1.07 per cent.
Broader markets too kept their forward momentum going, with the mid-cap index advancing 1.26 per cent and small-cap1.11 per cent. Foreign investors net bought shares worth Rs 644.27 crore on April 13, showed provisional data.
Markets will remain closed tomorrow on account of 'Mahavir Jayanti'. Other Asian bourses ended lower and Europe's main stock markets sank at the start of trade today as talks in Doha to curb oil output failed, pushing oil prices down further.
Global benchmark, Brent, for June plunged USD 2.03 cents, or 4.71 per cent, to USD 41.07 a barrel.
