Sensex Closes Over 18000 Mark

The Indian markets opened on a positive note today, gained some momentum in the last hour of the trade and closed on a strong, positive note. The Sensex and Nifty closed with gains of 0.73% and 0.66% respectively. While the Sensex ended above the 18000 mark, Nifty too managed to close above the crucial 5400 level.

The muted IIP data was weighed down by the positive global cues, and the much-awaited ruling by the German court came in positive. The ruling was in favour of the ECB’s plan of buying the struggling countries bonds in the secondary market.

Among the sectoral indices, Metals and Auto zoomed up and closed higher by nearly 2.14% and 1.26% respectively. Except for Pharma and Power, all the indices closed in the green. Capital Goods, IT, Consumer Durables, Realty and Tech closed with gains of over 0.80%. On the other hand, the Pharma and Power indices were beaten down by investors and closed lower by 0.98% and 0.43% respectively.

The peer Asian markets closed on a strong positive note, with major indices like Hang Seng, Nikkei and Shanghai higher by 1.08%, 1.70% and 0.86% respectively.

The European markets have gained momentum and have climbed to their highest levels in the last 14 months. The CAC, DAX and FTSE are trading up by 0.20%, 0.86% and 0.67% respectively. The German court rejected complaints against the Euro zone's new bailout fund and allowed its ratification under certain conditions. The approval of the ESM is a vital part of a European Central Bank's plan to curb the rising Euro zone debt crisis by buying struggling countries' bonds in the secondary market.

Dow Jones Futures is currently trading higher by 64 points or 0.48% at 13357, indicating a positive sentiment in the US markets.

Back home, most of the Metals stocks gained momentum in the last hour of trade. SAIL and Jindal Steel jumped by 3.37% and 3.79% respectively. Tata Steel, JSW Steel, Sesa Goa and Sterlite Industries also closed higher nearly by 1.5% each.

Index heavyweight BHEL closed with losses of 1.64% at Rs 197.35. Others like Cipla, NTPC and GAIL India were also down by 2.73%, 2.18% and 1.66% respectively.

Tata Motors has jumped by 5.27% to Rs 262.80 after the news that the company has begun to set up operations in Indonesia through its wholly-owned subsidiary, PT Tata Motors Indonesia.

The market breadth, which indicates the overall health of the market, remained on the positive side for the day. Out of the 3336 stocks traded on the BSE, 1763 advanced, 1446 declined and 127 were unchanged.

We expect the markets to remain positive for tomorrow as investors across the globe would be tracking Federal Reserve's meet. Investors are quite optimistic that the Fed will announce some stimulus measure to boost growth in the economy.