UPWARD MOMENTUM CONTINUES

Barometer gauges added some more ground in comparison to early deals as funds and retail investors continued buying in equities. Bounce back of technology stocks along with the prominent gains of the Consumer Durable (CD), Realty and Metal counters aided the benchmark 30 share index of Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE)-Sensex- in surpassing the psychological 17600 level. Similarly, the widely followed index of National Stock Exchange (NSE)-Nifty- was oscillating near the high point of the day, which was above the 5350 crucial mark. The broader indices, for second consecutive session, outperforming the larger peers as both midcap and smallcap index accumulated gains of over a percentage points each.

Prop up from the global indices mainly protracted the optimism of the Indian equity benchmark indices for the second consecutive session of the new quarter and fiscal year. Overnight, surge of S&P 500 to four year's high combined with mostly positive Asian peers, buoyed the sentiment at Dalal Street on Tuesday. Asian stocks rose for a third day and South Korea's won strengthened after data on China's services industries and U.S. manufacturing beat estimates. China's non-manufacturing purchasing managers' index climbed to 58 in March, a six-month high, official data show.

Back on the home turf, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 17,611.83, up by 133.68 points or 0.76%. The index has touched a high and low of 17,628.26 and 17,570.27 respectively. There were 24 stocks advancing against 6 declines on the index. The overall market breadth on BSE is in the favour of advances which thumped declines in the ratio of 1543:616, while 95 shares remained unchanged.

The broader indices were outperforming benchmarks; the BSE Mid cap and Small cap indices shot up by 1.09% and 1.25% respectively.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, CD up by 1.68%, Realty up by 1.61%, Metal up by 1.54%, Oil & Gas up by 1.43% and Bankex up by 1.38%. While, IT down by 0.11% remained the lone loser on the index.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hindalco up by 2.39%, Sterlite Industries up by 2.28%, RIL up by 1.80%, SBI up by 1.74% and Tata Steel up by 1.70%.

On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki was down by 0.74%, Hero MotoCorp down by 0.72%, TCS down by 0.62%, M&M down by 0.30% and Sun Pharma down by 0.22%, were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, in a stern communication to the Coal ministry, the Power Ministry has stipulated that all entities that have been allocated coal blocks by the government should sell power through competitive bidding. Entities failing to do so, will face action that can lead to the cancellation of their licenses. The order holds true even for all those who have already been allotted coal blocks for power sector IPPs (Independent Power Producers).

As per tariff policy, all distribution companies (DISCOMS) are required to sign Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) through competitive bidding and the coal block allocatees are also expected to participate in the same.

However, it was observed that a number of entities were not passing the benefits of low-cost coal to the end users, as they were fixing the sale price of power without any competitive bidding.

The communication comes close on the heels of a draft CAG report that is said to have estimated a loss of Rs 10.76 lakh crore to government due to allotment of about 155 coal blocks without auction to private and public sector companies during 2004-2009. The power sector is said to be facing heat of an acute coal shortage and high international coal prices for many months now.

The S&P CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,356.00, higher by 38.10 points or 0.72%. The index has touched a high and low of 5,361.15 and 5,344.45 respectively.  There were 41 stocks advancing against 9 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Cairn up by 3.90%, JP Associates up by 3.83% , Hindalco up by 2.55%, Sterlite Industries up by 2.47% and  Sesa Goa up by 2.28%.

On the flip side, TCS down by 1.23%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.08%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.86%, M&M down by 0.65% and HCL Technologies down by 0.49% were the major losers on the index.

Most of the Asian markets were trading in the green; Hang Seng gained 0.46%, Jakarta Composite surged 1.24%, KLSE Composite added 0.24%, Seoul Composite firmed up by 0.84%.

On the flip side, Nikkei 225 lost 0.65%, Straits Times declined by 0.21% and Taiwan Weighted plunged by 1.47%.

Markets in mainland China will remain closed for a three day public holiday starting from Monday on account of Qingming Festival and will reopen on Thursday.