Muhurat Trading: Sensex reclaims 60k, up 296pts, Nifty ends above 17,900

The markets started Samvat 2078 on an upbeat note in the backdrop of a sharp cut in excise duty on fuel prices and a scale down in its bond-buying program by the US Federal stimulus as per expected.

At the end of its two-day meeting, the US Fed said monthly $120 billion purchases of Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities would be trimmed by $15 billion a month.

The BSE Sensex opened at the day’s high of 60,208 and ended 296 points higher at 60,068. The NSE Nifty gained 88 points at 17,917.

The broader markets also ended on a firm note. The BSE Midcap index was up 0.7 per cent at 25,992, and the Smallcap index added 1.4 per cent to 28,901.

“After a great year for equity markets, investors are looking forward to markets continue rising though not at the same pace,” said Dhiraj Relli, MD & CEO, HDFC Securities.

Among the Sensex 30 stocks, Mahindra & Mahindra jumped over 3 per cent to 875, and ITC advanced 2 per cent to Rs 227. Bajaj Auto, Larsen & Toubro, Kotak Bank, Sun Pharma, IndusInd Bank and Nestle India were the other prominent gainers. ICICI Bank, however, slipped 0.7 per cent and was the only notable loser among the Sensex stocks.

Among sectors, the BSE Auto index rallied 1.5 per cent, and the Capital Goods index was up a per cent. All sectoral indices ended on a positive note.

Oil marketing retailers also logged smart gains. HPCL surged 2.5 per cent to Rs 322. Indian Oil jumped 1.5 per cent, and BPCL added a per cent.

In the broader markets, Indian Hotels, IIFL, Hathway Cable, Godawari Power and Supereme Petrotech have rallied 5 per cent each. Eicher Motors has gained 4 per cent at Rs 2,626 after the company reported 9 per cent rise in Q2 consolidated net.

On the other hand, Uflex has shed 6 per cent. Gujarat Alkalies, GSPL, Wabco India and DB Corp were the notable losers.

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