Current Market View

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

BSE Sensex up 0.9 pct; lenders, telecoms rise

MUMBAI (Reuters) – The BSE Sensex rose for the sixth straight session on Tuesday, gaining 0.9 percent, as attractive valuations spurred investor buying following a weak showing so far this year. Lenders and telecoms firms lead the gains.
At 11:17 a.m. (0547 GMT), the 30-share BSE index was up 0.87 percent at 19,107.92 points, with 27 components advancing.
Market breadth was positive with gainers outpacing losers 1.1 to 1, while 119 million shares changed hands on the BSE.
"India had underperformed all this while, and is now just catching up. Also, crude oil prices are not rising for now, which is supporting stocks," said Neeraj Dewan, director of Quantum Securities.
The benchmark index is still down 6.8 percent year to date, as foreign funds withdrew $1.3 billion from Indian stocks .
The broader MSCI's measure of Asian markets other than Japan is down only 0.9 percent in 2011.
Shares in real estate firm DB Realty jumped as much as 20 percent, after testing an all-time low earlier in the session. It later eased to 18.8 percent.
Indian mobile carriers have seen call prices stabilising after a vicious price war in late 2009 sent them tumbling. They are betting on a pick up in premium third-generation data services, launched recently, to help grow their margins.
Sector leaders Bharti Airtel and Reliance Communications were up 2.5 percent and 3.1 percent respectively. Smaller rival Idea Cellular gained 3.2 percent.
"Telecom stocks are available at reasonable value right now, but the upside is not very high from current levels in the immediate future," said Dewan.
On Monday, JPMorgan upgraded Bharti Airtel to "overweight" from "neutral", citing expectations of pricing stability in the India wireless segment from second half of fiscal year 2012.
Financials gained on expectations that India's economic growth story was here to stay. Leading lenders State Bank of India, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank gained between 0.1 percent and 1.3 percent.
The 50-share NSE index was up 0.8 percent at 5,732.90 points.
The MSCI's measure of Asian markets other than Japan was up 0.4 percent, while Japan 's Nikkei slipped 0.1 percent.
STOCKS ON THE MOVE
* Airline companies rallied as crude prices cooled off slightly. Brent crude fell for a third day running as Libyan rebels gained ground against embattled leader Muammar Gaddafi, boosting expectations supplies from the nation may be restored quicker than expected.
Carriers Jet Airways, SpiceJet and Kingfisher Airlines were up between 0.9 percent and 1.5 percent.
* Aptech was up 2.1 percent to 99.60 rupees, after the software education services provider said it plans to expand in Africa, Russia and Eastern Europe.
MAIN TOP THREE BY VOLUME ON BSE
* DB Realty on 2.7 million shares
* IFCI on 1.9 million shares
* LIC Housing Finance on 1.8 million shares

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