MARKETS EXTEND GAINS

Buoyed by positive developments in euro zone, the local bourses have extended their gains for the sixth day in a row. Moreover, recovery in rupee and firming trend in Asian markets too supported the sentiments. On the global front, European Union agreed to lend up to 100 billion euro to Spanish banks after Spain's request last weekend while, Chinese markets were also providing strength to regional bourses after country's exports beat market expectation. Back home, infrastructure space remained quite strong for another day of trade on report that the government is working on mechanism to quickly release dues of infrastructure companies. GVK Power, IVRCL, Lanco Infratech and Adani Power were up more than 2%. Moreover, sustained buying in most of the key heavyweights along with broader indices supported BSE's -- Sensex -- and NSE's -- Nifty -- to regain their crucial 16,850 and 5,100 mark respectively. Meanwhile, the Indian rupee appreciated 27 paise to 55.15 as against the US dollar also aided the sentiments. The broader indices too were going neck to neck with benchmarks. The market breadth on the BSE was positive; there were 1,136 shares on the gaining side against 381 shares on the losing side while 60 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex opened at 16,804.89; about 84 points higher compared to its previous closing of 16,718.87, and has touched a high of 16,893.81 while low remain its opening.

The index is currently trading at 16,866.72, up by 147.85 points or 0.88%. There were 27 stocks advancing against only 3 declines on the index.

The overall market breadth has made a strong start with 72.04% stocks advancing against 24.16% declines. The broader indices too were trading on firm note; the BSE Mid cap and Small cap indices rose 0.94% and 0.99% respectively.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, Power up by 1.84%, Metal up by 1.82%, CD up by 1.49%, Bankex up by 1.45% and Realty up by 1.43%. While, there were no losers on the index.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sterlite Industries up by 3.83%, Tata Power up by 3.35%, Bajaj Auto up by 2.05%, GAIL up by 1.94% and ICICI Bank up by 1.81%. While, Cipla down by 0.21%, ONGC down by 0.10% and ITC down by 0.08% remained the few losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, to offset the impact of high import costs, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia has urged Coal India (CIL) to adopt a 'coal pooling formula' which calculates the pricing of coal by combining the prices of imported and domestic coal.

Montek Singh asked the state-owned coal utility to step up the supplies to power producers and to go for imports, in case of shortfall in domestic production.

In the backdrops of coal supply not keeping up to demand of supplementing power generation, Montek Singh has suggested 3 ways; first, Coal India to keep time delivery, second, production from captive mines, given to private and public sector companies, should be increased & third, to import coal.

Coal India is the single largest coal producer in the world. Its production during 2011-12 was 431 million tonne (mt) and during the current fiscal it was projected to 462 mt.

The S&P CNX Nifty opened at 5,096.70; about 28 points higher compared to its previous closing of 5,068.35, and has touched a high and a low of 5,124.45 and 5,095.35 respectively.

The index is currently trading at 5,114.35, higher by 46.00 points or 0.91%. There were 48 stocks advancing against 2 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Sterlite Industries up by 4.37%, Reliance Infra up by 3.54%, Tata Power up by 3.34%, JP Associates up by 3.29% and Bajaj Auto up by 2.12%.

On the flip side, HCL Tech down by 0.29%, and Cipla down by 0.11% remained the only losers on the index.

All the Asian equity indices were trading in the green; Shanghai Composite advanced 5.05 points or 0.22% to 2,286.49, Hang Seng Index jumped 353.12 points or 1.91% to 18,855.46, Jakarta Composite climbed 28.11 points or 0.73% to 3,853.44, KLSE Composite advanced 8.78 points or 0.56% to 1,579.40, Nikkei 225 surged 157.53 points or 1.86% to 8,616.79, Straits Times Index soared 41.10 points or 1.50% to 2,778.99, KOSPI Composite Index garnered 29.81 points or 1.62% to 1,865.45 and Taiwan Weighted ascended 90.04 points or 1.29% to 7,089.69.