Sensex ends up 137 pts; RIL leads

During the session,Sensex climbed 286 points to touch a high of 20,452,but profit booking at the higher levels erased some of the early gains. On Friday,the index lost 95 points.

The National Stock Exchange’s wide-based 50-share Nifty Index too rose by 0.66 per cent to settle at 6,105.80.

Analysts said better-than-expected second quarter numbers by FMCG major HUL,bumpy trade data for September and positive news from the conference of G-20 finance ministers and central bank governors in South Korea boosted the investor confidence.

“Robust export data,good quarterly result show by India Inc and positive happening on global currency valuation front helped the market to start the week on a strong note,” SMC Wealth Management Chairman DK Aggarwal said.

Auto,metal and pharma stocks led the rally,while the IT FMCG and technology stocks were under pressure.

Hindustan Unilever,which posted a 32 per cent jump in Q2 profit,rose 1.36 per cent. However,ITC saw selling pressure and finished 1.1 per cent down,dragging the BSE FMCG Index in the red.

“With quarterly results pouring in and F&O expiry week we expect more volatility in the coming days,” IIFL Research Head Amar Ambani said.

Reliance Industries,that holds the maximum weight in the Sensex,rose 0.82 per cent to close at Rs 1,090.35.

Metal stocks also attracted smart buying and Hindalco that jumped 4.3 per cent was the biggest gainer in the Sensex pack.

Sterlite rose 2.4 per cent,Jindal Steel 1.5 per cent and Tata Steel 0.70 per cent.

Financial stocks too were in demand,with HDFC rising about 2 per cent,SBI 1.22 per cent and ICICI Bank 0.91 per cent.

Other major gainers of the session included,ACC that rose 4 per cent,Tata Motors 2.8 per cent,Cipla 2.34 per cent,TCS 2.26 per cent and Bharti Airtel 1.14 per cent. DLF rose 0.92 per cent and L&T 0.65 per cent.

However,Wipro and Infosys lagged behind and ended in the red,erasing the early gains of the Sensex. Wipro plunged for the second consecutive session after the IT firm posted a weak second quarter numbers on Friday.

Wipro ended 4 per cent lower and was the biggest loser in the BSE-30 pack. Infosys declined 1.11 per cent.

Other losers include HDFC Bank that dropped 0.45 per cent and BHEL 0.30 per cent.

A sustained buying by the Foreign Institutional Investors also aided the recovery. Overseas fund houses have infused a whopping USD 24.48 billion in Indian stocks so far this year and analysts believe that inflows will keep going up in coming days.

“India has become the favourite spot for FIIs as here they see better growth opportunities compared to the other markets,including developed nations,” Reliance Mutual Fund’s head of equities Sunil Singhania said.

Meanwhile,India’s exports shot up by an annual 23.2 per cent in the September to touch the two-year high of USD 18.02 billion. Imports,on the other hand,grew faster by 26.1 per cent to USD 27.14 billion in the same month.

On the global front Asia ended in the green after Group of 20 finance ministers and central bank governors agreed on Saturday to boost cooperation on rebalancing the world economy to help defuse tensions that sparked fears of trade conflicts.

Key indices from China,Hong Kong,Singapore,South Korea and Taiwan ended in the green while only from Japan closed lower after yen hit a 15-year high against the dollar.

European stocks too displayed a firm trend. The CAC was up by 0.55 per cent,the DAX by 0.67 per cent and the FTSE by 0.53 per cent in the afternoon trade.