Markets end in the green amid choppy trades; Bluechips gain

Benchmark shares indices ended higher, amid a choppy trading session, led by index heavyweights ITC and Reliance Industries.

Further, the European Central Bank slashed interest rates on Thursday to lift the euro zone economy and stunned financial markets by reducing its main refinancing rate to zero from 0.05%.

The S&P BSE Sensex gained 94.65 points to end at 24717.99 and the Nifty50 rose 24.05 points to end at 7510.20.

The broader markets ended mixed with BSE Midcap index inching up by 0.1% and the Smallcap index slipped 0.2%.

Meanwhile, participants are keenly waiting for the Index of Industrial Production data for January due to be unveiled today.

In the currency front, the rupee depreciated 11 paise to 67.18 against the US due to higher demand for the dollar from importers.

Asian shares rose on Friday, on track for weekly gains, shrugging off global losses logged after the European Central Bank eased aggressively but suggested it was running out of room to cut interest rates even if other stimulus options remained.

The muddled message sent European bond yields surging and snuffed out a nascent rally in risk sentiment overnight, leaving Asian share markets initially at a loss on how to react.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.8%, poised to gain 0.8% for the week, while Australia ended up 0.3%. Japan's Nikkei erased earlier sharp losses and ended up 0.5%, though still fell 0.4% over the week.

Back home, shares of real estate companies ended higher on the bourses after the Rajya Sabha on Thursday passed by voice vote a real estate regulation Bill, aiming to protect homebuyers from erring developers besides bringing transparency in the sector.

Among the individual stocks, Zandu Realty soared 8%, while Ajmera Realty & Infra India and Kolte-Patil Developers rallied 5% each.

DLF, Housing Development & Infrastructure (HDIL), Phoenix, Indiabulls Real Estate, DB Realty, Anant Raj Industries, Oberoi Realty, Sobha and Godrej Properties were up between 2%-4% on the BSE.

"The passing of the long-pending Real Estate Regulatory Bill, which was being hotly debated and second-guessed for far too long, is an unequivocal victory for the Indian real estate sector.

"Its enactment as a law will almost single-handedly revamp the way this sector works across the board, from developers to end-users and investors, to lending institutions and government agencies involved in the buying and selling of property.

"It is by far the most decisive step the sector has taken towards transparency and reaching towards the kind of standardized processes, procedures and accountability guidelines that the industry requires to progress says Anuj Puri, Chairman & Country Head, JLL India.

Reliance Industries declared an interim dividend of Rs 10.50 per fully paid-up equity share of Rs 10 each.

The stock gained 0.4%. Further, India hopes to unlock gas and oil resources worth almost $40 billion by simplifying licensing rules and offering price incentives to recover gas from difficult offshore fields. Capital Goods majors like BHEL and L&T ended lower ahead of the IIP numbers for the month of January.

The Index of Industrial Production is expected to be low on account of slow rise in manufacturing growth and the recent Jat agitation in Haryana.

Shares of select public sector undertaking banks witnessed selling pressure after credit rating agency Crisil downgraded its ratings on the debt instruments of eight public sector banks on expectation that the asset quality problems being faced by PSBs will remain acute and continue through most of the next fiscal.

HDFC Bank has chosen five start-ups it will work with to strengthen their web, mobile and payment offerings. Shares of HDFC Bank and HDFC gained around 1%. Oriental Bank of Commerce, IDBI Bank, Allahabad Bank, Indian Overseas Bank and Andhra Bank were down more than 1% each. State Bank of India, Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Canara Bank and Union Bank of India were down less than 1% each, while Bank of Baroda ended flat on the NSE.

Welspun India moved higher by 8% after the company announced second interim dividend of 60% for the financial year 2015-16. Shares of Torrent Power and Finolex Industries ended higher by over 2% each, hitting their respective 52-week highs on the BSE.

Thirumalai Chemicals gained by 11.5% after the company announced interim dividend of Rs 6 per share for the current financial year.

Image: Bombay Stock Exchange. Photograph: Kind courtesy, BSE