Nifty rallies on strong global cues, 3525 eyed

Markets began on a dull note mirroring subdued Asian stocks and remained in a narrow range till afternoon. Mid and small cap stocks tried to catch-up with the frontliners after lying low in the previous trade. There was stock specific action in companies that announced quarterly earnings. National Stock Exchange’s Nifty ended at 3480.75, up 57.05 points or 1.67 per cent from the previous close. The broader index touched high of 3491.35 and low of 3402.90 Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensex ended at 11,329.05, up 194.06 points or 1.74 per cent. The index touched an intra-day high of 11362.88 and low of 11070.33. “As long as overseas cues remain positive, Nifty is likely to touch 3525 levels on Monday. Some more short covering is also expected next week ahead of F&O expiry,” said Vijay Bhambwani, CEO, BSPLindia.com. All the sectoral indices ended in green. The Bankex gained 2.77%, BSE Capital Goods moved up 2.32% and BSE Capital Goods Index advanced 2.04%. BSE Midcap Index outperformed the Sensex ending 1.86 per cent higher while BSE Smallcap Index closed up 1.71 per cent. M&M (6.09%), Bharti Airtel (5.91%), Grasim (5.82%), Axis Bank (5.49%) and Suzlon Energy (5.02%) were the top Nifty gainers. HCL Technologies (-5.30%), Ambuja Cement (-2.24%), Ranbaxy Laboratories (-2.22%), ABB (-1.53%) and Unitech (-1.19%) capped the index gains. Market breadth was positive on the BSE with 1536 advances and 970 declines. Results impact: Maruti Suzuki India reported 18.5 per cent drop in quarterly net profit, missing the forecast, due to higher raw material costs and inventory. Maruti’s net profit rose to Rs 2.43 billion in the fourth quarter ended March from Rs 2.98 billion reported in the same period year earlier. The stock ended flat at Rs 802.25 on the BSE. Ranbaxy Laboratories’ Q1 standalone net sales was down at Rs 802.22 crore against Rs 987.29 crore in the same period a year ago. Standalone net loss was at Rs 777.78 crore against net profit of Rs 103.42 crore during the same period previous year. The share closed 2.42 per cent lower. Cipla’s Q4 standalone net profit was up 40.89 per cent at Rs 252.9 crore from Rs 179.5 crore in the same quarter a year ago. Standalone net sales was up10.08%, to Rs 1,235.2 crore from Rs 1,122.1 crore. The scrip closed 3.59 per cent higher.