Markets on the recovery path; Sensex moves up by over 100 points

Indian markets seem to be on the recovery path along with their Asian peers, most of whom are now trading in green. The sentiments have strengthened ahead of the Rail budget likely to be presented within an hour. The general expectation is that there won't be any hike in fare for the eighth consecutive year. Meanwhile, the rate sensitive banking pack has taken the lead today despite a rise in inflation and is being closely followed by FMCG and CD sector while IT pack has suffered severe jolt after a heavyweight Mphasis reported an extremely weak first quarter numbers. The metal sector too is trading weak in tandem with their global counterparts. The oil & gas sector too has improved on the back of decline in international crude prices. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 17,738.43, up by 106.02 points or 0.60%. The index has touched a high of 17,801.02 and 17,589.57 respectively. There were 19 stocks advancing against 11 declining one's on the index.

The broader indices too were showing sign of recovery, the BSE Mid cap and Small cap indices were up by 0.43% and 0.58% respectively.

The top gaining sectoral indices were, bankex up by 1.66%, FMCG up by 1.47%, CD up by 0.96%, HC up by 0.78 and Oil & Gas was up by 0.77%.

On the other hand, IT down by 0.67%, Metal down by 0.48% and TECk down by 0.30% were the losers.

The top gainers on the BSE were, Tata Motors up by 3.38%, ICICI Bank up by 3.10%, SBI up by 2.53%, JP Associates up by 2.35% and ITC was up by 2.24%.

Tata Power down by 2.54%, Hindalco Inds down by 2.02%, Reliance Inds down by 1.75%, Hero Honda down by 1.41% and Bajaj Auto down by 1.36% were the top losers on the index.

Meanwhile, continuing the strong run seen in recent months, India's gem and jewellery exports registered a growth of almost 22% in January compared with $2.33 billion in the year ago period. Total exports of gem and jewellery stood at $2.86 billion in the month under review, showed the data compiled by the gem and jewellery export promotion council of India (GJEPC).

The GJEPC said that demand from developed countries was recovering leading to greater pace in growth of exports.  Also, the industry has been actively trying to diversify both - the direction of its exports and the basket of goods offered by it. It expects the strong show to continue going forward. "We are witnessing good demand for gems and jewellery exports from the US, European and Gulf markets. In fact, we are expecting the jewellery exports to surpass the target of $30 billion by end of the current financial year," said the Chairman of the GJEPC Chairman Rajiv Jain.

Looking at the sub segments, exports of cut and polished diamonds were the highest contributor to growth recording an expansion of 23.44% in the month under review. The export of gold jewellery increased by 15.38% and that of coloured gemstones registered growth of 3.8%, showed the data released by GJEPC.

The gem and jewellery industry, being heavily export dependent, was red in the first half of the last fiscal, but the sharp growth seen in the following months helped the industry end the fiscal 2009-10 on a green note. In fact, gem and jewellery was one of the few industries which ended up recording positive growth in 2009-10 in exports. 

The S&P CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,305.75, up by 43.05 points or 0.82%.The index has touched high of 5,326.85 and 5,263.85 respectively. There were 35 stocks advancing against 15 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Tata Motors up by 3.68%, ICICI Bank up by 3.03%, SBI up by 2.72%, ITC up by 2.69%, Suzlon was up by 2.31%.

The top losers of the index were Tata power down by 3.02%, Hindalco down by 2.17%, Hero Honda down by 1.73%, Reliance Infra down by 1.54% and Maruti Suzuki was down by 1.32%.

All the Asian markets were trading in green; Shanghai Composite was up by 0.15%, Hang Seng  gained 1.60%, Taiwan Weighted added 0.94%, Jakarta Composite was up by 0.18%, KLSE Composite gained 0.29%, Nikkei 225 was up by 0.54% and Straits Times was higher by 1.13%.

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