Nifty Extend Gains, Ends Higher By 0.5%

The Indian markets, which opened their trades on a negative note today, rebounded from the day’s low around noon and finally closed with decent gains. Both the Sensex and Nifty closed higher by 0.49% and 0.50% respectively.

Among the sectoral indices, IT and Power zoomed up to close higher by nearly 1%, helping the markets to extend their gains. Except for Metals, all the other indices closed in positives. Realty, Tech, Bankex and Consumer Durables finished with over 0.75% gains. The Metals index was beaten down by investors, and closed 1.48% lower.

The peer Asian markets closed on a mixed note today. The Nikkei and Shanghai closed down by 0.70% and 0.68% respectively, while Hang Seng was marginally higher by 0.15%.

The European markets continue to trade in the negative territory, with the CAC, DAX and FTSE down by 0.50%, 0.14% and 0.39% respectively. Investors seem to be in profit booking mode. There is also uncertainty over the US Federal Reserve's policy decision due on Thursday, Sept 13. The markets are priced for fresh stimulus, while economists give only a 60% chance of a third round of quantitative easing coming in as soon as this week.

Dow Jones Futures is currently trading higher by 21 points or 0.16% at 13258, indicating a positive sentiment in the US markets.

Back home, most of the IT stocks gained momentum in the last hour of the trade. Hexaware Tech and Core Education & Technologies jumped by 3.98% and 6.80% respectively. Others like Infosys, TCS and Tech Mahindra also closed higher by over 1% each.

Index heavyweight BHEL and ITC closed with gains of 1.56% and 1.04% respectively. Coal India, Hero MotoCorp, and HUL closed in negatives, with losses in the range of 0.50%-1%.

The shares of Sesa Goa and Sterlite Industries tumbled by 6% and 3.75% respectively after Goa, a key iron ore producing state in India, temporarily suspended all mining activities.

The market breadth, which indicates the overall health of the market, remained on the positive side for the day. Out of the 3300 stocks traded on the BSE, 1756 advanced, 1407 declined and 137 were unchanged.

We expect the markets to remain volatile for tomorrow as investors across the globe would be tracking the release of the IIP data as also the Federal Reserve meet on Thursday.