Sensex gains 200 points as rupee recovers; Banks lead

Markets ended on a positive note this Friday with benchmark index Sensex surging over 200 points  on back of recovery in rupee that gained nearly 50 paise against the US dollar.

India's efforts to curb imports, improve exports and attract greater remittances may help it almost fully fund its Current Account Deficit this fiscal, and also help the rupee recover to 61-level against the US dollar in the next 6-12 months, a Barclays report said on Friday.

The 30-share Sensex ended up 203.97 points to trade at 18,516.91 and the 50-share Nifty rose 63.30 points at 5,471.75 levels.

The broader markets gained with mid-caps and small-caps rising 0.7-0.9 per cent on the BSE.

The market breadth was positive. Out of 2,468 stocks traded, 1,341 stocks advanced while 976 stocks declined on the BSE.

RUPEE

The rupee strengthened on back of dollar selling in today’s trades. At 4pm, the rupee was quoting at Rs 64.11 compared with previous close of Rs 64.63.

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GLOBAL MARKETS

Asian stocks rose, paring the benchmark equity gauge’s biggest weekly decline in two months, after reports from Europe to the U.S. boosted confidence in the economic recovery and the yen weakened against the dollar.

Japan’s Nikkei was up 2% to 13,660, Singapore’s Straits Times fell 0.02% to 3,088, China’s Shanghai Composite index was down 0.5%  at 2,057 while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 0.1% to 21,863 today.

European stocks fell, extending the biggest weekly drop in two months, before reports on euro-area consumer confidence and American home sales. Asian shares gained and U.S. index futures fluctuated.

France’s CAC declined 0.4% to 4,042, Germany’s DAX shed 0.02% to 8,396 while UK’s FTSE was down 0.1% to 6,458.

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STOCK MOVERS

Domestically, barring realty index, rest all gained with consumer durable, capital goods, auto, bankex, and oil & gas leading rise on the BSE.

The gainers included bank shares such as BHEL rising 8%, Jindal Steel gained 4%, Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra rose 3-4% while Tata Power added 4.2% on the BSE.

The laggards were Bharti Airtel declining 2%, Hindalco Industries shed 2%, Sterlite Industries shed 1.7%, NTPC was down 1.6%  on the BSE.

The key notable movers included counters such as Hexaware Technologies gained 2% on reports that Baring Private Equity Partners Asia will buy out a controlling stake in the company for for about Rs 2,600 crore ($400 million).

Diamond Power Infrastructure was locked in the upper circuit of 20% with no sellers on the counter after the company fixes record date for 1:3 bonus issue.

The company has fixed August 27, 2013 as the Record Date for the purpose of issue of bonus shares in the proportion of one equity share for every three existing equity share of the company, Diamond Power Infrastructure said in a BSE filing.

Tech Mahindra moved higher by 7%, extending its previous day’s 3% gain, after the information technology firm said overseas investor bought additional stake in the company through open market purchase.