Money on the markets

Banking index gains 1.5 pct

It was a good day for banking counters, as the banking index ended with gains of 1.5 percent in a Mumbai market that ended 200 points higher.

HDFC Bank was the top gainer in the index, ending up 4.15 percent, followed by IndusInd Bank which gained 2.4 percent. Federal Bank was the only stock in the index which ended in red.

The banking index is down 5.5 percent in 2011, while HDFC Bank is down 7 percent, and ICICI is down 7.5 percent during the same period.

Do you think banking stocks are worth buying at this stage?

Banking stocks fall

Bank stocks corrected on Thursday and the banking index ended down 1.2 percent, as the overall market slipped on profit booking.

SBI and ICICI Bank closed down 0.2 percent and 2.3 percent respectively. HDFC Bank and mortgage lender Housing Development Finance lost 0.6 percent.

Yes Bank gained 1.3 percent in trade, the top bankex gainer, while IndusInd Bank slipped 3.6 percent and ended as top loser.

Will you buy these stocks at this stage?

Good day for banking stocks

The BSE Banking index closed 2 percent higher on Thursday while the broader market ended 1.6 pct marginally over the 17,000 mark.

HDFC Bank ended 2.7 pct higher, Axis Bank gained 3.4 pct while SBI shares rose 1.2 pct up.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) may still raise interest rates before a scheduled policy review in July, HSBC had said, after data showed on Monday the economy grew an expected 8.6 percent in the final quarter of fiscal 2009/10.

Do you think the expected tightening in monetary policy may weigh on banking shares?

ICICI Bank rises in weak market

Shares in ICICI, India’s top private sector bank, gained 3.12 percent on Thursday in a market that ended just 33 points higher.

The banking index rose over 1 percent helped by gains in ICICI Bank, which also ended as the top Sensex gainer.

Its shares, which ended at 815 rupees, have gained 145 percent since April.

However, analyst Sudarshan Sukhani says ICICI Bank is likely to underperform, given that it is a beaten down stock.

Would you put your money in this stock, or wait for a correction?

Sensex gains 1 pct led by Infosys, ONGC

The Sensex added 148 points on Friday to close at 15,378 as investors remained optimistic after better than expected quarterly results.

The benchmark’s rise was led by Infosys Technologies, ONGC and Tata Steel, which were up in the range 2-6 percent.

Tata Motors stood out with a near 10 percent rise.

The auto index outperformed the other sectoral indices with gains of over 5 percent. Bharat Forge jumped over 14 percent, Amtek Auto gained 10.8 percent and Maruti Suzuki ended 6.3 percent higher.

The realty index ended 4.2 percent higher, while the metal index gained 2.4 percent. Prominent gainers in these sectors were and DLF and Tata Steel which gained over 6 percent each.

The Bankex was the only index to close in the red (down 0.9 percent). Stocks like ICICI and SBI registered a drop of over 1 percent each.

Counters like Axis Bank, Maruti Suzuki, Jindal Steel, Crisil and GAIL touched their 52-week highs today.

Market ends flat

The stock market got off to a quiet start this week, with the benchmark index closing just 21 points higher at 14,786 ahead of the annual budget next week.

The Sensex was up 1.3 percent at one point, but investors booked profits to take advantage of the rise.

Tata Motors, which ended down 7.7 percent, and Sterlite Industries which gained 5.6 percent, were the top loser and gainer respectively.

The BSE Info Tech Index struggled in trade and ended down over 2 percent as shares in Infosys and TCS dropped over 2 percent. The BSE consumer durables and realty indices were among the top sectoral gainers of the day.

The Bankex gained 1.2 percent with shares like Union Bank of India, Axis Bank and Yes Bank posting decent gains. ICICI Bank, however, slipped 0.75 percent.

Stocks like Central Bank of India, Yes Bank, BEML, Biocon and Dabur India continued their good run and registered their 52-week highs.

The focus now moves to the Budget next week. Do you think market participants will be nervous till then?

Profit-taking caps Sensex rise

The BSE Sensex seesawed today, mainly on account of profit-booking after the benchmark closed at an almost nine-month high yesterday.

The 30-share sensitive index of the Bombay Stock Exchange swung from an intra-day high of 14,994 to an intra-day low of 14,608, and finally closed 34 points up at 14,874. The fifty-share Nifty ended 0.10 percent down at 4525. The main contributors to the benchmark’s rise were HDFC, Tata Steel, ICICI Bank and SBI.

On the sectoral front, the BSE Realty Index shed 2 percent, followed by the Power Index which ended 1.6 percent lower. The BSE Consumer Durable Index, however, ended higher at 2.6 percent.

FIIs bought net $131.5 million in shares and sold $38 million in debt.

Data released today showed India’s infrastructure sector output grew 4.3 percent in April from a year earlier.

On the global front, Asian stocks edged lower after a buoyant session the day earlier, hitting a 2009 high on recovery hopes.

With investors cheering improving economic data across the globe, do you think the Sensex will cross 15,000 tomorrow?

Sensex falls 1.4 percent, led by ICICI

The BSE Sensex closed 1.4 percent lower on Wednesday as investors booked profits ahead of the fourth phase of India’s general elections on Thursday.

The benchmark closed 178.33 points down at 11,952.75 while the Nifty ended 1.01 percent lower at 3625.05. The Sensex fall was led by ICICI Bank, HDFC, ITC and Tata Steel.

On the sectoral front, the BSE realty index shed nearly 3.7 percent. This was followed by the banking index which ended lower by 2.9 percent. All other indices also ended the day in red.

On the global front, world stocks approached a 2009 high, helped by positive results from BNP Paribas and euro zone data which showed signs of improvement. But concerns over U.S. banks results were expected to weigh on investors minds.

In Wednesday’s trade, FIIs bought net $140 million in India shares and sold $37.50 million in debt.

Do you think the election results next week would further rein in the Sensex?

Sensex choppy on mixed bag of results

The BSE Sensex closed 0.74 percent lower on Wednesday as weak Asian markets dampened sentiments and investors booked profits for a third session.

The benchmark erased early gains and closed 80.57 points down at 10,817.54, while the Nifty ended 1.04 percent down at 3330.3.

The fall in the Sensex was led by L&T, ONGC, BHEL and SBI.

On the sectoral front, the BSE Realty Index lost nearly 4.6 percent. This was followed by the BSE Consumer Durable Index which was down 3.9 percent. However, the BSE FMCG Index bucked the trend and gained 0.18 percent.

Cement maker ACC posted better-than-expected 23 percent rise in quarterly profit on strong sales volumes. The stock ended 5.2 pct higher at 645.75 rupees.

Outsourcer Wipro beat expectations with a 4 percent rise in profit, although it forecast a fall in June quarter revenue. Shares in Wipro ended 2.7 percent higher at 281.65 rupees.

Globally, there was an air of caution amongst investors despite U.S. Treasury Secretary Geithner saying most U.S. banks had adequate capital to keep lending.

Sensex up 1.5 pct, Tech Mahindra jumps after winning Satyam bid

A rally in global markets today saw the BSE Sensex swing from being briefly negative in early deals to over 11,000 in the last hour of trade, before closing 1.5 percent up at 10,967.

The big news of the day was Tech Mahindra winning the bid for fraud-hit Satyam Computer.

Tech Mahindra will pay $351 million for 31 percent preferential allotment of new shares in the firm.

Shares in Satyam closed 3.6 percent higher at 48.85 rupees. It was the top traded stock on BSE with volumes of over 56 million shares.

Tech Mahindra jumped 12.3 percent, whereas Larsen & Toubro, which has an about 12 pct stake in Satyam, closed 0.5 percent lower.

The other top Sensex stocks included Tata Motors (up 12 percent) and Tata Steel (8.3 percent).

The BSE Metal Index was the best performer amongst sectors, ending 5.5 pct up followed by the Banking index which ended 5 percent higher.