Friday January 11, 11:49 AM
Indian shares end higher amid buying in blue-chips; RIL, ICICI lead gains
MUMBAI (Thomson Financial) - Indian shares closed higher Friday as investors bought blue-chips, even as they continued to sell mid- and small-caps in volatile trade.
The Bombay Stock Exchange's 30-share Sensex recovered from yesterday's losses, gaining 245.37 points or 1.19 pct to 20,827.45, while the National Stock Exchange's 50-share S&P CNX Nifty closed up 43.15 points or 0.70 pct to 6,200.10.
'All sector leaders like ICICI and SBI from the banking, ITC (0372.HK - news) from FMCG, and Reliance Industries from the oil and gas sectors were the key scrips which kept the market up today. Midcaps and small caps came under pressure because of continued profit booking since the last 2-3 trading sessions,' said Gurudatta Dhanokar, technical analyst & derivatives strategist at Almondz Global Securities.
Among the 30 companies that make up the benchmark index, 15 advanced led by ICICI Bank Ltd, which touched a 52-week high of 1,450.00 rupees during the day before retreating to 1,439.90, a 6.13 pct gain over yesterday's close. The largest private-sector lender in the country has risen 12.02 pct since last Friday.
Reliance Industries Ltd, the country's biggest company by market cap, also rose 3.34 pct to 3,128.15 rupees.
Cement company ACC Ltd lost the most among the fifteen BSE-30 losers, shedding 4.32 pct to 898.00 rupees.
However, in the broader market, 2,091 declines outnumbered 739 advances and 34 shares were unchanged due to heavy selling in the mid and mainly small-cap companies.
Of the 13 sectoral indices on the BSE, only 5 closed in the green. The banking index was the biggest gainer led by Axis Bank, which surged 7.46 pct to 1,167.45 rupees. The stock was upgraded by brokers after the bank reported upbeat third-quarter figures.
Software firm Infosys Technologies Ltd, which declared its third-quarter results today, was down 1.38 pct to 1,580.10 rupees. For the quarter to end-December, Infosys' net profit rose to 12.31 bln Indian rupees from 9.83 bln rupees last year and 11.0 bln rupees in the preceding quarter. Revenues grew to 42.71 bln rupees from 36.55 bln last year.
Krupal Maniar, a research analyst with ICICI Securities said the company's volume growth -- including acquisitions -- fell short of market expectations, as it grew by only 5 pct, lagging market expectations of 6.0-6.5 pct growth.
Of the 18 companies in the BSE IT index, 14 declined led by Moser Baer, which dipped 4.27 pct to 289.25 rupees. Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, the country's biggest software exporter, however, gained 1.47 pct to 989.05 rupees. The share had touched a 52-week low yesterday at 867.00.
ICICI was also the top Nifty gainer rising 5.81 pct to 1,435.00 rupees while ACC Ltd, which shed 4.28 pct to 898.70 rupees, lost the most.
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