Markets Cheer With Team India To Close on a Positive Note

Although the markets snapped their 8-day winning streak on Friday, they resumed their winning streak today, as the Sensex ended at 19,702 up 281 points, and the Nifty closed up 82 points at 5,908. The bourses opened higher today on the back of positive US jobs data and Asian stocks, currently at 3-year highs. Earlier in the day, the Sensex, although firmly in the green since opening, touched its intra-day low of 19,449, post which a recovery was seen. Range-bound trade dominated till the late morning session, but closer to noon, heavy buying on the IT, consumer durables and metal counters propelled the markets, which touched the day's high of 19,730. With the impending corporate earnings season, the markets were upbeat, with analysts expecting the Q4FY11 results to outperform the previous quarter, and healthy advance tax collections, witnessing the highest growth rate since 2008, indicating encouraging fiscal results as well. The Auto index also moved up nearly 2% today at 9,527, with Mahindra & Mahindra topping the index at Rs 744 up 5%, followed by Amtek Auto at Rs 156 and Maruti Suzuki at Rs 1,201 both up 2%. Bharat Forge and Exide Industries were also up 2% each. With 2,437 advances and 477 declines, the market breadth was extremely positive. Most major Asian markets closed in the green today. On the European front, major indices were trading flat, with the UK's FTSE 100 quoting at 6,024 up 0.2%, France's CAC 40 down 0.1% and Germany's DAX at 7,185.