Sensex ends on a firm note

The S&P BSE Sensex gained 115 points to end at 24,338 and the Nifty50 climbed 42 points to close at 7,404.

Markets finished the volatile session on a firm note led by strong buying in upstream oil companies following a sharp spike in the crude oil prices. 

Strength in the global equities coupled with a strong rupee aided the rally.  

On the other hand, healthcare shares lost ground after reports stated that the US government has made it mandatory for all active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) to be manufactured locally.

The S&P BSE Sensex gained 115 points to end at 24,338 and the Nifty50 climbed 42 points to close at 7,404.

However, BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices underperformed the larger peers and lost between 0.2%-1%. The market breadth ended weak with 1,069 advances versus 1,574 declines.

"The markets would take away today’s trading session with one relief that the Nifty is back above the 7,400 mark, after yet another volatile session. The second half saw good bout of short covering in stocks, however, the market breadth remained negative for the day. The indices also didn’t breach yesterday’s low which is also a mild positive indication," said Kunal Bothra, Head-Advisory, LKP Securities.

"For the next couple of day’s if the Nifty doesn’t breach 7,350, then I believe that a rally till 7,550 is possible, however its likely to be a rough ride. The conundrum in this market is to find the stocks and sectors, which may atleast not correct significantly. That’s a bigger issue to solve at this point, as all sectors are witnessing extreme selling pressures at regular intervals,” he added.

Meanwhile, the two-day India Investment Summit 2016 started with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley highlighting the opportunities India offers to investors and sought investment in sectors like road, highways, oil & gas, urban infrastructure and railways.

The Budget Session of Parliament will commence on February 23 that will focus largely on the financial business of the government, which will present the general budget on February 29.

GLOBAL MARKETS

European and Asian markets surged after a weak US services data dampened hopes of a further rate hike by the Federal Reserve in the near future which in turn hammered the dollar and spurred a rise in the oil prices.

Hang Seng and Shanghai Composite gained between 1%-2%.

However, Japan’s Nikkei lost nearly 1% as yen strengthened against the dollar. European markets followed the suite with CAC 40, DAX and FTSE 100 trading higher between 0.5%-1.5%.

CRUDE OIL

US crude oil futures were trading higher at $32.68 per barrel, up 40 cents from the previous session while Brent crude was trading at $35.47 per barrel up 43 cents from the previous close.

STOCKS & RESULT IMPACT

Back home, Oil exploration majors ended higher after international crude oil prices soared 30% from its 12-year low. Cairn India, ONGC and Oil India gained up 6%.

Index heavyweights Infosys, L&T and HDFC twins contributed to the rise and jumped between 0.5%-2%.

Tata Motors gained nearly 0.5% after CLSA maintained 'buy' call on Tata Motors. However, it has cut target price to Rs 460/share.

Bajaj Auto slipped 2% after the sales declined 2% to Rs 5,564 crore as against Rs 5,657 crore in December 2014.

However, the company posted a 5% growth in net profit at Rs 901 crore for the quarter ended December 2015. 

Meanwhile, Tata Steel ended the session lower on caution ahead of the quarter earnings.

Hexaware Technologies surged 5% after the company reported 14% growth in consolidated net profit at Rs 99.4 crore for the quarter ended December 2015 compared with Rs 87.3 crore in the same quarter last year.

Healthcare shares lost ground after reports stated that the US government has made it mandatory for all active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) to be manufactured locally. Lupin, Cipla and Dr Reddy’s Lab slipped up to 4%. Lupin is due to post its results tomorrow.

Wockhardt cracked 11% after US FDA has made 9 observations for which appropriate reply would be submitted to inspecting authority in due course.

Sunteck Realty climbed 2% after KKR and Co. Lp decided to invest around Rs.150 crore to fund its upcoming luxury residential projects in Mumbai’s Bandra Kurla Complex.

Lakshmi Machine Works gained over 2% after the company posted 41.8% increase in its net profit in the December quarter to Rs.63.49 crore compared with Rs.44.78 crore a year ago.

Pfizer gained 1% after the net profit jumped 120% in the December quarter toRs.40.34 crore compared with Rs.18.37 crore a year ago.