Nifty ends above 8850, Sensex up 184 pts; Hero falls 5%

03:30pm Market close

The Sensex ended up 184.38 points or 0.6 percent at 29320.26 and the Nifty was up 59.75 points or 0.7 percent at 8869.10.  About 1622 shares advanced, 1301 shares declined, and 203 shares were unchanged.

HDFC was up 3 percent while Tata Power, TCS, Cipla and ICICI Bank were top gainers in the Sensex. Hero Motocorp dragged 5 percent. Among the losers were Sesa Sterlite, ONGC and Bajaj Auto.

02:55pm Interview

Real estate companies in Mumbai get a boost as the BMC proposes a new 20-year development plan and recommends a substantial increase in FSI to a maximum of 8. This is positive for companies with large land parcels in the city like DB Realty, Bombay Dyeing and Oberoi Realty.

Discussing the details, NM Gattu, CFO of DB Realty, said the saleable potential goes up due to higher FSI.

02:30pm Crude at 2-month high

Since the end of January, all attention turned to decline in oil rig count in the United States and the recent Brent price spike is on account of just that, is the word coming in from Vandana Hari, Asia editorial director at Platts. She says oil production levels is also putting a downward pressure on West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude.

According to her, the rally in oil futures is also on the back of short-covering. A lot of extremely short positions got built in December and January, which is when the news of US rig position came in and though right now there is oversupply, investors realise that 6-8 months down the line, the situation will be a lot more balanced, she adds.

Going ahead, if the Russian economy improves, demand situation will get better, says Hari. However, she adds that at the moment it is a little difficult to predict whether European demand will pick up.

02:00pm Market Check

The market gained further in afternoon trade supported by banking & financials, FMCG, power and technology stocks. The Sensex climbed 221.03 points to 29356.91 and the Nifty rose 63.05 points to 8872.40.

About 1564 shares have advanced, 1250 shares declined, and 199 shares are unchanged on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Marc Faber says valuations are no longer compelling in India. He is not inclined to buy indian equities at this stage and says the Greek problem is more political than economic.

HDFC topped the buying list, up more than 3 percent. ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, ITC, TCS, L&T, Tata Motors, M&M, NTPC, Tata Power, Coal India and GAIL gained 1-2 percent. However, ONGC, Bharti Airtel and Sesa Sterlite fell 1-3 percent.

Hero Motocorp dropped over 5 percent post promoters sold 3.5 percent stake or 71 lakh shares in multiple blocks between Rs 2,664 to Rs 2,718 a share. Promoters hold 36.4 percent stake post this block deal.

Defence stocks like Bharat Electronics and BEML rallied 4-10 percent post Prime Minister's push for the sector. Speaking at the Aero-India show, Narendra Modi committed to doubling output in defence manufacturing with preference to be given to 'Made in India' defence products.

In global markets, Nikkei raced to a multi-year high on low volumes as key markets like China and South Korea remained closed for the Lunar new year. Brent crude hit a 2-month highs of USD 63 a barrel on short covering as well as concerns regarding unrest in Libya.

European markets were trading with strength today. Greece surged 3 percent as government will submit loan extension request to eurozone today.