Sensex at six-week closing high; RIL, L&T top gainers

The 30-share Sensex ended up 165 points at 29,044 and the 50-share Nifty gained 54 points to close at 8,834.

Benchmark share indices ended higher on Monday led by index heavyweight Reliance Industries while capital goods shares rallied led by L&T after it signed a MoU with France-based AREVA for nuclear power project.

Further, the government will release data for March consumer price inflation later today.

The 30-share Sensex ended up 165 points at 29,044 and the 50-share Nifty gained 54 points to close at 8,834.

In the broader markets, the BSE Mid-cap index edned up 0.3% while the CNX Mid-cap index ended up 0.2% at 13,651 after hitting a record high of 13,690.

The BSE Small-cap index ended up 0.8%.

"Reliance Industries seems to be gradually edging higher ahead of fourth quarter earnings while capital goods shares were in action amid stock specific news. Further, fundamentally sound stocks in the broader markets which had not participated in the rally are witnessing buying interest at current levels," said, Prakash Diwan, Director, Altamount Capital Management.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers in equities to the tune of Rs 363 crore on Friday, as per provisional stock exchange data.

ECONOMY

Consumer inflation probably edged up in March for the fourth straight month from a record low in November, as heavy rains drove up food prices.

Consumer prices likely rose to 5.5% in March from a year earlier compared with February's 5.37%, according to a Reuters' poll of economists.

SECTORS & STOCKS

Except Auto and Realty all other sectoral indices on the BSE ended in positive zone. Consumer Durables, Capital Goods and Healthcare indices were among the top gainers.

Reliance Industries ended up 2%. The stock has extended gains for the fifth straight session on media reports that the company has discovered massive gas reserves at MJ-1 block in its KG-D6 basin.

In the capital goods space, L&T ended up 2.2% after it announced the signing of MoU with France-based AREVA for cooperation to maximise localization for the EPR Nuclear Power Plant coming up at Jaitapur in Maharashtra.

BHEL rose 3.4% after the company said it has commissioned second unit of Dainik Bhaskar Power Ltd's 2x600MW thermal power project located at Dhabra in Jangir Champa District of Chhattisgarh. Mortgage lender HDFC ended up 1%.

The company got RBI clearance to raise up to USD 500 million (about Rs 3,100 crore) as Exteral Commercial Borrowing (ECB) to fund its business growth.

It has also cut home loan rates by up to 20 basis points to 9.9% ONGC's acquisition of 10 per cent stake in a giant Mozambique gas field had helped the seller make a neat profit of $ 1.5 billion or over 62 per cent of the purchase price.

The stock ended 0.7%.

FMCG majors ITC and Hindustan Unilever ended up 1.4-1.6% each ahead of the consumer price inflation data.

GAIL ended down 1% after Credit Suisse downgraded the stock to “underperform” from “neutral” saying that India’s LNG demand has fallen with a drop in oil prices, which has hit GAIL’s gas trading business.

Sun Pharma gained 2.7%. Sun Pharma board approved allotment of equity shares to shareholders of erstwhile Ranbaxy Labs.

Metal shares remained subdued after data showed that China's imports contracted by 12.7% in March 2015 compared to the same month last year. Hindalco, Sesa Sterlite ended down 0.6-1.4% each.

In the mid-cap space, Sequent Scientific surged nearly 17% after the company said it has allotted 1.1 million warrants at a price of Rs 475 per warrant convertible into the same number of equity shares to promoter group entities on preferential basis.

Indag Rubber ended in 20% upper circuit after the company reported a robust 50% year-on- year (yoy) jump in its standalone net profit at Rs 9.48 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2015 (Q4).

The market breadth on the BSE was positive with 1,670 gainers and 1,040 losers.