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Nifty ends above 5,350 led by banks

March 02, 2012 16:18 IST

BSEKey share indices ended marginally higher, amid a volatile trading session on Friday, led by bank shares.

The Sensex after trading in a range of 17,732 and 17,504, finally ended at 17,637 - up 53 points.

Nifty ended up 20 points at 5,359.

In Asia, the Nikkei hit fresh seven month closing high following a ECB liquidity operation.

The index ended up 0.7% at 9,777. Shanghai Composite added 1.4% to 2,460.

Foreign institutional investors sold shares worth a net Rs 126.52 crore on Thursday according to provisional data available with the exchanges.

Meanwhile, the rupee fell to a three-week low on Friday afternoon as high global oil prices spurred demand for dollars.

BSE realty index slipped 2.3% at 1,846. PSU and FMCG shares also saw some selling pressure and were down nearly half a per cent each. Meanwhile, BSE bankex managed to gain 1.4% at 11,996.

ICICI Bank was the top contributor among Sensex stocks and accounted for 25 points gain in the Sensex.

DLF from the Realty pack tumbled by over 5% at Rs 204 extending its previous day's 5% loss, on report that the Canadian research firm Veritas said the accounting practices of the realty major is "conflicting" and pointing at gaps in its business model — charges the company termed "mischievous and presumptive".

"It is a matter of concern when a heavyweight stock like DLF breaks 10-12 per cent in the past few trading sessions.

It will be a matter of worry for the traders if it breaks below Rs 194 levels," said Anil Manghnani, Chairman, Modern Shares & Stock Brokers.

ONGC shed 2.2% at Rs 281 after LIC backed out of the bidding process which started on Thursday.

On the other hand, Sun Pharma added 3% at Rs 566. The stock touched an all time high of Rs 570 earlier in the day.

Among other pharma stocks, Lupin Limited rallied 1.5% to Rs 489 on back of huge volumes. The stock had touched a lifetime high of Rs 518 in morning trades.

ICICI Bank and Jindal Steel added 2% each.

Among other gainers were SBI, Bharti Airtel and NTPC.

Larsen & Toubro bagged new orders valued at about Rs 1,306 crore across various business segments in February. Shares of the company added 1.6% at Rs 1,299.

Bajaj Auto slipped 1.5% at Rs 1,749 after reporting a single digit 5% year-on-year rise in February vehicle sales at 343,777 units, its slowest sales growth in past few months.

India's second-largest motorcycle maker had sold total 326,874 units during the same month of previous year.

JP Morgan raised target price of Reliance Infrastructure to Rs 715 from Rs 575 and maintained its overweight rating. The company's key businesses are turning around, albeit gradually, the Wall Street bank said. The stock ended margianlly higher at Rs 614.

Mphasis tanked by 9% at Rs 392 reporting 18% year-on-year (y-o-y) drop in net profit at Rs 185 crore for the quarter ending January 31, 2012 (Q1).

Analysts expected a net profit of Rs 203 crore from the mid-cap IT firm. The company had posted a net profit of Rs 227 crore in the corresponding period last year.

BSE market breadth was marginally positive. Out of 3,023 shares traded 1,490 stocks advanced while 1,406 stocks declined.

Markets will remain open on Saturday from 11.15 am to 12.45 pm as a special trading session.

For Rediff Realtime News on Sensex, click here

Sohini Sen in Mumbai
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