Markets end with gains, all sectors in green

The Indian markets, which opened with gains of about 0.5%, ended the day on a high with gains of over 1%. The rupee appreciated against the USD and stands at 49.88/dollar. Media reports are suggesting that the Railway Budget, which is due tomorrow, will not contain any fare hikes. We believe that today’s gains may have discounted the inflation numbers due tomorrow.

Other Asian indices remained positive throughout, ending the day with gains. The Hang Seng and Shanghai both closed with highs of over 0.8%, while Nikkei was marginally up.

The European markets also opened in the positive, and have extended their morning gains. The DAX and CAC have gained nearly 1%, and FTSE is up by 0.7%.

Dow Jones Futures is currently trading 0.56% or 72 points up at 13038, indicating a positive sentiment in the US market.

Back home, all the sectoral indices closed in the green. The Metals index was the top gainer, up by 3.01% by the end of the day. Oil & Gas and Realty were also up by more than 2% each. The Power, CG, PSU and FMCG indices all gained by over 1%. Auto, which underperformed the broader market, was marginally up.

Among the Sensex stocks, Sterlite Industries kept adding a few points in every session and closed with gains of 5.06%. GAIL India was also up by 4.50%. Both Jindal Steel and ONGC gained by more than 2%. RIL surged for the second day, and was up by 2.72%. BHEL, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Steel and Hindalco all were up by more than 2%. M&M, on the other hand, lost 1% as the company is cutting back on tractor production. Wipro was down over the news of the stake sale. Bajaj Auto, Tata Motors and ICICI Bank were also marginally in losses.

In other stocks, United Breweries rallied by 13% for the second consecutive day. Manappuram Finance was up by 13.70%, and was the top gainer in the ‘A’ group stocks. GMR Infra also surged by 12.46% by the end of the day’s business.

The financial shares of Biocon tanked by 6.31%, as the licensing agreement between Pfizer and Biocon has been called off.

Natco Pharma has surged by 0.94% over the news of the compulsory license. New listing candidate BCB gained 0.70 points to touch Rs 25.70. The new issue, Olympic Cards, has seen subscriptions below expectation. At the time of writing this note, the subscription on the BSE was shown as 0.9x. The issue is now closed.

The overall market breadth remained positive. Out of a total of 3386 stocks traded on the BSE, 1970 (58%) advanced, 1285 (38%) declined and 131 (4%) remained unchanged.

The markets have closed in the positive for the last two days. Yesterday, the markets witnessed high volatility despite a positive closing. We would like to advise our readers to take note of the two key events that will keep the markets alive. One is the Union Budget, and the other one is the RBI's monetary policy review. Besides, the inflation data will be watched by the markets tomorrow.

With regard to the Union Budget, which is due on Friday, Mar 16, we advise our readers to keep visiting our website for key updates on the budget. On the budget day itself, we will cover the budget live, and will guiding our readers on sector-specific investments.