Nifty Ends At Lifetime Closing Highs, Sensex Gains Almost 500 Points

Indian shares got off to a strong start to a truncated week. A historic mandate to the Bharatiya Janta Party in the state of Uttar Pradesh helped the NSE Nifty 50 index scaled an all-time intra-day high of 9,122.75. The 51-share index ended higher by 1.71 percent to 9,087. This is the Nifty's highest ever level on a closing basis, surpassing the 8,996 that it had on March 3, 2015.

The S&P BSE Sensex gained nearly 500 points to end at 29,442. The index has closed at its highest level since March 5, 2015. The benchmarks extended their gains to the second day.

The advance-decline ratio was skewed in favour of the buyers. 1,016 stocks ended the session with gains while 626 stocks declined. 294 stocks remained unchanged.

Sharmila Joshi of sharmilaJoshi.com said the Nifty could extend its current up move to 9,200. She said the market will now wait for the Fed’s move on interest rates, where a 25 basis point hike has been factored in.

She advised investors to keep some cash in hand in case of any correction.

Gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs) saw a net outflow of Rs 46 crore in February, taking the total to Rs 695 crore in the first 11 months of the current fiscal, primarily on account of profit booking.

The outflow meant asset under management (AUM) of gold funds plunged by 10 per cent so far in the current financial year.

Trading in gold ETF segment has been tepid during the last three financial years. They had witnessed an outflow of Rs 903 crore, Rs 1,475 crore and Rs 2,293 crore in 2015-16, 2014-15 and 2013-14, respectively.

Source: PTI

Shares of Rajesh Exports Ltd. gained as much as 3 percent to Rs 556 after the company won an export order worth Rs 783 crore from the United Arab Emirates. The order for a designer range of gold and diamond studded jewellery and medallions is expected to be completed by July 2017.

With this order, the company's total order book stands at Rs 37,241 crore.

Shares of Sun Pharmaceutical Ltd. gained as much as 6.75 percent to Rs 729.05 after the U.S. FDA declared that it will lift the import alert imposed on the company's Mohali facility. The facility will then be removed from the Official Action Initiated (OAI) status, the company said in an exchange filing.

The lifting of the import alert will allow Sun Pharma to supply approved products from the Mohali facility to the U.S. market.

The company’s research arm SPARC Ltd. also surged 6.66 percent to Rs 345.70.

Higher prices of minerals and crude oil products lead to a surge in wholesale inflation in February, taking it to the highest level since November 2013.

The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) rose 6.55 percent in February compared to a year ago, showed data released by the government on Tuesday morning. WPI inflation has risen rapidly over the last few months from 3.68 percent in December to 5.25 percent in January and over the 6 percent now.

Click HERE, to read more.

Shares of Pennar Industries Ltd. gained as much as 4 percent to Rs 43 after the company won orders worth Rs 202 crore across business verticals, the company said in an exchange filing.

• The company has received an order for under frame and modular toilet from the Integral Coach Factory along with an order for CRF sections from BEML.
• The company also received orders from Module Mounting Structures from Tata Power, Adani Power among others
• The company's engineering services division has also received orders from JSW Steel.

Positive sentiment following the verdict of state elections along with lower oil prices pushed the Indian Rupee to a near one-year high on Tuesday. The gains in the currency match those in the equity markets where the benchmark Nifty surged to a record high as it kicked-off trade after a long weekend.

Click HERE to read the entire story.

Shares of Bharti Airtel Ltd. were trading lower by 1.22 percent at Rs 360.45 after 2.9 million shares changed hands in a single block deal.

Shares of the company rose as much as 17.1 percent, the most since December 27, 2016 to Rs 82 after the Income Tax Tribunal quashed orders related to a tax demand of Rs 33.14 crore related to the previous tax assessment years.

The company will not have to pay any interest or penalty related to the tax demand, the tribunal added.

Aviation maintainence software provider Ramco Systems Ltd. surged as much as 6.15 percent to Rs 371.15 after it won an order from New Zealand-based Ravensdown Aerowork to automate and unify the maintainence and overhaul operations of Ravensdown's fleet, the company said in an exchange filing. The value of the contract remains undisclosed.

As part of the engagement, Ramco will be providing its maintenance & engineering, supply chain, MRO sales, manufacturing, fixed asset management, AP invoicing, general accounting modules for efficient management of systems and processes.

The rupee soared 42 paise to 66.18 against the dollar on increased selling of the U.S. currency by exporters and banks amid higher foreign inflows following BJP's resounding win in Uttar Pradesh and positive IIP numbers.

Forex dealers said that a weakening dollar against other currencies overseas and domestic stock markets zooming to new highs with the NSE Nifty 50 index hitting a record 9,122.75 points in opening trade kept the rupee going.

Furthermore, industrial production bouncing back in January, expanding by 2.7 per cent year-on-year too supported the rupee, they added.

The rupee gained 11 paise on Friday to close at a fresh 4-month high of 66.60 against the dollar on renewed selling by exporters and banks.

Shares of jewellery company Gitanjali Gems Ltd. snapped a four-day losing streak to gain as much as 9.6 percent to Rs 69.40 after news that its wholly-owned subsidiary Nakshatra World Ltd. had filled its Draft Red Herring Prospectus with the Securities and Exchanges Board of India as well as the Exchanges for its IPO.

India’s economy is growing relatively faster and the political dispensation is stable and strong, Chief Investment Officer of Alchemy Investment Management Hiren Ved told Bloomberg News over the phone.

The government is expected to pull-off reforms with relative ease, he added.

Ved believes that most of the market has priced in the expected 25 basis point rate hike by the U.S. Federal Reserve and that the focus will now return to corporate earnings.

Expecting a strong double-digit growth for the Nifty in 2017, Ved believes that the strategic divestment of state-owned companies will be one of the key factors to watch out for.

Indian shares opened at record highs after Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP secured a thumping victory in the country’s largest state. The resounding mandate to the party is seen as a vote of confidence for Modi culling questions around his popularity among the masses.

The S&P BSE Sensex gained as much as 2.1 percent to 29,561 – a fresh 52-week high for the index. While the NSE Nifty 50 index jumped 2.1 percent as well to 9,122.75 – a new life-time high for the 50-share index.

• Coal India: Central Coalfields decides not to proceed with buyback offer
• Oil India to hold board meet on March 20 to consider share buyback
• Alkem Labs: Baddi facility receives three Form 483 observations from the U.S. FDA
• Canara Bank sells stake in Can Fin Homes for Rs 754 crore
• NBCC (India): Bags an order worth $35 million from Government of Mauritius
• IL&FS Transportation: Sells stake in Andhra Pradesh Expressway Ltd. for Rs 140.37 crore
• Gitanjali Gems: Files DRHP to list subsidiary Nakshatra World Ltd.
• Bharat Financial Inclusion: Macquarie bought 7.66 lakh shares on March 10. (NSE)
• Bank of Baroda: Board to consider fund raising plans today

For a complete list of stocks to watch, click HERE!

• Arun Jaitley takes on additional charge as defence minister
• SEBI relaxes some rules under the schemes of arrangement provision
• Comptroller and Auditor General of India contradicts Air India's claims of operating profit
• India's forex reserves rose $1.2 billion to $364 billion

Good Morning!

The Singapore traded SGX Nifty, an early indicator of Nifty’s performance in India is pointing to the Nifty opening above the 9,000 mark for the first time in over two years. The Bharatiya Janata Party winning a handsome majority in the state of Uttar Pradesh and surpassing market expectations has fueled this optimism.

U.S. stocks traded near record highs before a likely rate hike by the U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday. Asian equities too, climbed close to the highest point of the year on expectation of a rate hike in the U.S. The Yen stood at 114.84 per dollar as of 7 a.m. in Tokyo.

Crude oil held its losses, trading below $49 a barrel signifying record crude inventories.

Expectations of a rate hike by the U.S. Federal Reserve are at 100 percent, according to futures rates tracked by Bloomberg.

Also Read: Nifty 50 Sets Its Sight Beyond 9,000 But The Upside May Be Limited