The benchmark indices ended the last day of May series on a positive note. This rally was led by shares of capital goods, metal, banking, oil & gas exploration and select power companies. Good results from L&T and M&M were also supportive for the markets.

This series was a magnificent series for the markets; in this series the Nifty posted the biggest percentage gain ever. Both the equity benchmarks surged 25% each in this series. Among the sectors, Realty, Metal, Bank and Capital Goods indices were the highest percentage gainers, went up 43.5%-68%.

In May series, Reliance Infrastructure, Kotak Mahindra Bank and India Infoline shot up over 80%. Reliance Capital, Ranbaxy Labs, Unitech, Indiabulls Real Estate and DLF gained 60-75%. Tata Steel, Hindalco, JSW Steel, SAIL, L&T, ICICI Bank, SBI and Suzlon went up 40-60%. However, Tata Communication was down around 10% and Cipla fell around 7%. ITC and HUL were the other losers.

Ambareesh Baliga of Karvy Stock Broking said, "The Nifty should be in broad range of 3,800-3,900 to around 4,500 in the June series." He said, "We could see a correction which could take it to the levels of 4,000-4,100 initially and possibly post that we could see levels of around 3,800-4,000, that should be a good level to again start buying."   

The 50-share NSE Nifty crossed the 4350 level during the day. It closed at 4337.10, up 1.43% or 61.05 points over previous close. The 30-share BSE Sensex closed 186.37 points or 1.32% higher at 14,296.01.

L&T was up 2.32%, as the company's Q4 net profit rose 3.23% to Rs 998 crore and net sales went up 23.99% to Rs 10,608.2 crore. Its Operating profit margin (OPM) also improved to 15% versus 13.9%.

Commenting on the today's results, Baliga said that M&M and Larsen had clearly surprised the markets with their earnings. They were quite good.

Largest steel company in the public sector, SAIL reported 10.55% decline in Q4 sales at Rs 12,057.79 crore and 37.5% decline in net profit at Rs 1,486.68 crore. Its OPM was also down 7.31% at 17.49% versus 24.8%. However, the stock gained 6.58% despite weak numbers.

L&T was up 2.32%, as the company's Q4 net profit rose 3.23% to Rs 998 crore and net sales went up 23.99% to Rs 10,608.2 crore. Its Operating profit margin (OPM) also improved to 15% versus 13.9%.

Commenting on the today's results, Baliga said that M&M and Larsen had clearly surprised the markets with their earnings. They were quite good.

Largest steel company in the public sector, SAIL reported 10.55% decline in Q4 sales at Rs 12,057.79 crore and 37.5% decline in net profit at Rs 1,486.68 crore. Its OPM was also down 7.31% at 17.49% versus 24.8%. However, the stock gained 6.58% despite weak numbers.

Sectoral indices

The BSE Metal Index surged 283.16 points or 2.76%, to 10,549.95, as SAIL, JSW Steel, Sterlite and Tata Steel were up 2.8-6.6%.

Buying was also seen in the banking space, Kotak Mahindra, ICICI Bank, SBI and HDFC Bank went up 2-3.5%. The BSE Bankex rose 1.81% or 145.43 points, to 8,162.73.

In the capital goods space, ABB, Siemens, L&T, Punj Lloyd and BHEL were up 1.9-3.5%. Respective Index gained 196.26 points or 1.74% at 11,448.72.

Among the realty stocks, Indiabulls Real shot up 10.56%. Puravankara Projects was up 4.96% and DLF gained 1.78%. Respective Index closed 1.74% or 61.17 points higher at 3,577.94. However, Unitech lost around 1%.

Power stocks also charged up; GVK Power, NTPC, Power Grid Corp, Suzlon Energy, Tata Power and Reliance Power went up 0.9-3.5%. The BSE Power Index rose 1.28% or 35.73 points, to 2,824.23.

Oil & Gas stocks like ONGC, Reliance Industries and Reliance Petroleum gained 1.4-2%, which helped the respective Index to gain 114.52 points or 1.15% at 10,085.87. However, BPCL fell 2.31%. IOC, Cairn India and HPCL fell 0.5-0.9%.

In the telecom pack, Bharti Airtel surged 3.42%. However, Tata Communication, MTNL, Tata Teleservices and Reliance Communication were down 1-4.7%.

There was a mixed trend in auto space, though the BSE Auto was up 0.60% or 26.44 points, to 4,458.66. Bharat Forge, Maruti Suzuki and M&M gained 2-6.5% while Tata Motors, Hero Honda, Amtek Auto and Ashok Leyland declined 1-3%.

Another company, Mahindra and Mahindra declared its fourth quarter results. The company's standalone net profit was at Rs 418.1 crore versus Rs 221.1 crore on YoY basis. Its standalone net sales were at Rs 3619.2 crore versus Rs 3148.2 crore. The stock was up over 2%.

Among other indices, BSE FMCG, IT and Healthcare indices were down just 0.2-0.4%, to close at 2,091.42, 2,928.15 and 3,483.16, respectively.

Among the broader indices, the BSE Midcap Index was up 0.78% or 38.19 points, to 4,935.56 and the Smallcap Index went up 13.95 points or 0.24%, to 5,811.69.

Total traded turnover increased to Rs 1,22,918.11 crore as against Rs 1,11,068.98 crore in the previous session. It comprised Rs 25,612.47 crore from the NSE cash segment, Rs 90,315.67 crore from the NSE F&O and the balance Rs 6,989.97 crore from the BSE cash segment.

The market breadth was positive; about 1811 shares advanced while 1053 shares declined on the BSE. Nearly 265 shares remained unchanged.

Global cues

Saudi Minister said, "OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) has decided to keep output unchanged." Nymex Crude July contract was up USD 0.07, to USD 63.52 a barrel.

At the time of closing of Indian equities, European markets were trading lower. The FTSE was down 48 points, to 4,368. The CAC lost 31 points, to 3,263 and the DAX fell 56 points, to 4,944.

Among the US futures, the Dow Jones futures were up 41 points, to 8,338 and the Nasdaq futures went up just 5.5 points, to 1,409.50.

Asian markets ended mixed. Seoul Composite was up 2.21% and Nikkei gained 0.13%. However, Straits Times fell 0.57%. Shanghai, Hang Seng and Taiwan Weighted were shut for trade today.