Sensex rises 310 points, Nifty tops 17,700; Kotak Mahindra Bank jumps 5%; IT stocks slip

Bulls continued their dominance at Dalal Street on Tuesday as the benchmark equity indices settled higher for the seventh session in a row. Positive global cues and buying in index heavyweights such banking and financials pushed the markets higher. However, a dip in IT majors ahead of Q4 earnings capped momentum. For the day, the 30-share pack BSE Sensex jumped more than 311 points, or 0.52 per cent, to close at 60,157.72, while the NSE's Nifty 50 added 98.25 points, or 0.56 per cent, to 17,722.30. Broader markets rose in tandem with headline peers as BSE midcap and smallcap indices added half a per cent, each. Fear gauged India VIX fell 2 per cent to slip below 12-level. The feel-good factors like interest rate status quo by the RBI, robust GST collections and mixed economic growth numbers are giving investors the ammo to bet on domestic stocks. While IT stocks tumbled ahead of earnings announcements, metals and banking stocks led the broad market rally, said Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail), Kotak Securities. "Technically, on intraday time frames the market is holding higher high and higher low formation and after a sharp pullback rally it is comfortably trading above the 50-day SMA which is largely positive. For the trend-following traders, 17,650 would act as a key support level and above the same, the Nifty could move up to 17,800-17,835. On the flip side, below 17,650 a quick intraday correction is likely, which could pull down the index up to 17,550-17,500," he said. On a sectoral front, Nifty IT stocks topped among the laggards, dropping more than a per cent. Nifty Realty and Consumer Durable indices also settled in the red. Nifty Metal index jumped 2 per cent, whereas Nifty Financial Services, FMCG and Realty indices added a per cent, each. In the Nifty50 pack, Kotak Mahindra Bank surged 5 per cent over the mounting expectations of MSCI rejig. JSW Steel jumped 4 per cent. Eicher Motors, Bajaj Auto and Tata Steel rose 3 per cent each, while ITC and ICICI Bank increased 2 per cent each. Among the losers, result-bound IT companies including Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys dropped 2 per cent each, whereas HCL Technologies dropped over a per cent. Tech Mahindra, Wipro and Asian Paints were also among the other top laggards. The domestic equity indices showed resilience and remained in positive territory, primarily led by banking and auto stocks on the expectation of strong quarterly earnings following robust business updates. The forthcoming CPI inflation data due on Wednesday is expected to remain below the RBI’s upper tolerance level, said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services. "Meanwhile, in the United States, inflation is projected to decline further from its current level of 6 per cent. The US inflation figures, along with the FOMC meeting minutes, are likely to exert a dominant influence on the global market trend," he said. A total of 3,659 shares were traded on BSE on Tuesday, of which 2,246 settled with gains. 1,301 stocks ended the session lower, while 112 shares remained unchanged. A total of 333 shares hit their upper circuit, whereas 93 tested the lower circuit levels for the day. In the broader markets, Neogen Chemicals and Reliance Power surged 15 per cent, each, on the back of heavy trading volumes. DB Realty jumped more than 13 per cent. Shilpa Medicare soared over 12 per cent after it received USFDA approval for Psoriatic Arthritis Drug. Trident gained 7 per cent after strong business updates. On the other hand, Rossari Biotech tanked more than 8 per cent as BSE sought clarifications from the company over heavy volumes. Welspun Enterprises tanked 6 per cent, while Brightcom Group tanked 5 per cent for the day. MCX, ABB India and Graphite India were down 4 per cent, each.

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