Sensex Hits 14-Month High At 19K

The Indian markets have opened on a strong note today ahead of the Cabinet meet, which will decide on further reforms to bring the economy on its growth track. This has boosted the market sentiment, with the Sensex touching a new 14- month high of 19000, while Nifty is trading higher by 1.10% at the 5786 levels.

All the BSE sectoral indices are trading positive. Bankex, Realty and Consumer Goods are leading with gains of 1.80%, 1.65% and 1.26% respectively. Others like Oil & Gas, Power, PSU, FMCG, etc. are trading higher by nearly over 1% each.

From media reports, it appears that the government may consider the Companies Bill, raising FDI cap in private insurance and empowering the interim pension regulator. The decision on these major sectors may keep the markets in gains as we had seen in case of the earlier decisions.

The Indian rupee too continued to appreciate, rising by 23 paise to 51.93 against the US dollar. The recent announcement of major reforms by the government has raised hopes of an improvement in the economy. The reforms discussion in today's Cabinet meeting is expected to provide further strength to the rupee ahead today.

The other Asian indices Nikkei and Hang Seng are trading higher by 1.06% and 0.20% respectively. The Shanghai market is closed on account of a public holiday.

Back home, Realty stocks like DLF, HDIL and Sobha Developers are leading the index with gains of over 2% each. Banking stocks are also trading higher, with Axis Bank and ICICI Bank as the leading index gainers, up by 2.68% and 2.53% respectively. Other stocks in the group like Federal Bank, HDFC Bank, IDBI Bank, Kotak, PNB, SBI and YES Bank are also all trading higher by over 1%.

Telecom stocks are in gains on news that the Delhi High Court has granted a stay on a government order seeking telecom firms to stop offering 3G services via roaming agreements. Stocks like Tata Teleservices, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications and Idea Cellular are trading higher in the range of 1.2%-2.05%.

Oil marketing companies' stocks too are up on the back of the fall in crude oil prices yesterday. Oil & Gas majors BPCL, Gujarat State Petronet and Indian Oil Corp are trading higher by over 2% each. HPCL is leading the index with gains of 4.06% at Rs 324.10.

The market breadth, which indicates the overall health of the market, is positive. On the BSE, 1445 shares have advanced, 686 shares have declined and 105 shares are unchanged.

We expect the markets to remain firmly positive for today.