Week Ends On A High Note, Nifty Up 100 Points

The Indian markets saw a good trading day, surging handsomely. Positive sentiments abounded, with good profits for investors. The Sensex and Nifty surged by almost 2% by day's end and closed just under the 17700 and 5350 levels respectively.

All the sectors closed trades in the green zone. Among the leading indices were Capital Goods, Realty, Metals and Bankex, all gaining more than 2%. Others like IT, Consumer Durables, Teck, Oil & Gas and Auto also closed higher.

The global markets are trading higher after the ECB President Mario Draghi backed up his promise to do whatever it takes to defend the euro, and announced a new and potentially unlimited bond-buying program aimed at lowering painfully high borrowing costs for stressed member states.

The peer Asian markets also closed positive. Hang Seng and Shanghai closed up by 2.99% and 3.56%, while Nikkei gained 2.15%. China’s top economic planners approved another batch of major infrastructure-investment projects yesterday, bolstering the more than two dozen subway and urban-rail initiatives announced a day earlier.

On a similar note, European markets are continued their winning momentum. The major indices, FTSE, CAC and DAX, are trading higher in the range of 0.1%-1.2%. The stocks rose, extending the biggest rally in a month, as investors awaited the US payrolls and unemployment data.

Dow Jones Futures is currently trading 31 points or 0.23% up at 13306, indicating a positive sentiment in the US markets.

Back home, the 30 BSE stocks closed in the positive territory. Tata Steel was the leading gainer, higher by 5.75% at Rs 370.80 per share. ICICI Bank, Tata Motors and L&T saw gains in the range of 4%-5%. Other stocks like BHEL, SBI, HUL, Bajaj Auto, Infosys, RIL, Cipla and Coal India were up between 1%-4%. Wipro, ONGC, M&M, NTPC, TCS, etc. closed with marginal gains.

The shares of Deccan Chronicle closed trades higher by 9.98% at Rs 13.45. The company has put its Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Deccan Chargers up for sale and has started receiving bids for the same.

Aurobindo Pharma gained 3.31% to close at Rs 123.25 after the company announced receiving final approval for Amlodipine Besylate and Benazepril Hydrochloride capsules.

The market breadth, which indicates the overall health of the market, remained on the positive side. Out of the 3329 stocks traded on the BSE, 2056 advanced, 1140 declined and 133 remained unchanged.

We expect the markets to remain volatile for next week. Some media reports say that the petrol price may see a hike in the next 2-3 days, which might fuel inflation. Further, the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) number for the month of Aug 2012 is expected to be released on 14th Sept. On the global front, investors will be watching for the US non-farm payrolls report, which is key for the markets.

Next week will also see the FOMC’s two-day meeting, which could drive the market in either direction. The million-dollar question of whether the Fed will launch the third round of quantitative easing might be answered in the meet.