Nifty closes above 5700; Q2 earnings drive L&T, TCS up 2%

Indian shares closed higher with the BSE Sensex gaining more than 100 points on Monday, recouping Friday's losses. Indian rupee, which fell 2 percent in previous two sessions, too gained 29 paise to 53.54 against the US dollar (at 15:35 hour IST).

Overall the market remained volatile ahead of expiry of October contract on Thursday. The 50-share NSE Nifty rose 32.90 points to close at 5,717.15, helped by ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Reliance, L&T and TCS.

Meanwhile, the 30-share BSE Sensex advanced 111.13 points to 18,793.44.

Investors have also been waiting for the RBI policy, which is scheduled for October 30. This was another reason that keeping the markets in a ranged since last two weeks.

Market Analyst Ambareesh Baliga feels the RBI policy would be most important for the Nifty to cross the 5800 hurdle. ''In case we have cut of even 25 bps I think that would be enough for the markets to cross that hurdle of 5,800 and move up more towards 6,000 levels closer to Diwali,'' he adds.

Indian shares continued to trade higher despite weak global cues. The 30-share BSE Sensex gained 109 points at 18,791, helped by ICICI Bank, TCS, Larsen & Toubro, Reliance Industries and Bharti.

Meanwhile, the 50-share NSE Nifty managed to hold the 5700 level, rising 30 points to 5,714.

Shares of engineering conglomerate Larsen & Toubro (L&T) gained more than 2 percent and also touched a new 52-week high of Rs 1,668 after it reported a growth of 42.5% year-on-year in its net profit of Rs 1,137 crore for the quarter ended September 2012, helped by an exceptional gain. The company managed to beat street expectations on every count.

Software services exporter TCS retained its top position in the buying list with gaining more than 3 percent after strong numbers in the July-September quarter.

Country's largest private sector lender ICICI Bank rose 2 percent ahead of second quarter earnings on Friday this week. HDFC Bank was up 1.3 percent while its rival State Bank of India fell 0.5 percent.

Private oil & gas producer Reliance Industries went up 1.4 percent. Utility vehicle maker Mahindra & Mahindra, telecom operator Bharti Airtel and power producer NTPC rallied 1.6 percent each.

Cigarette major ITC remained lower with 1.5 percent losses on profit booking. Housing finance company HDFC fell 0.7 percent after second quarter earnings .

Commercial vehicle maker Tata Motors was down 0.7 percent. Diversified conglomerate Jaiprakash Associates gained 2 percent.

Indian equity benchmarks remained rangebound, though they extended gains in afternoon trade with the BSE Sensex gaining 100 points due to further buying in TCS, Reliance Industries and Bharti Airtel. Cigarette major ITC fell 1.4 percent and commercial vehicle maker Tata Motors lost 0.8 percent.

The BSE benchmark was up 106.09 points to 18,788.40 and the NSE benchmark rose 26.25 points to 5,710.50 amid choppy trade. Even the Indian rupee rose by 16 paise to 53.67 against the US dollar.

India's largest software services exporter TCS topped the buying list, gaining 3 percent following strong numbers in the July-September quarter reported by the company. Infosys was up 0.4 percent.

Top private sector lender ICICI Bank rallied over 2 percent while its rival HDFC Bank was up over 1 percent. PSU lender State Bank of India remained down with 0.25 percent losses.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries extended gains to 1 percent and telecom operator Bharti Airtel gained 1.6 percent.

Shares of Bajaj Auto, Mahindra & Mahindra, Dr Reddy's Labs and NTPC were up 1.7 percent each. Cipla and Tata Power climbed 1.3 percent each.

Steel producers Jindal Steel and Sterlite Industries were down 1 percent each.

Bank of Baroda fell nearly 2 percent on asset quality concerns. The bank has reported better-than-expected numbers in the quarter ended September 2012 but its non-performing assets increased during the quarter.

The broader markets were flat as the market breadth was neutral.

Indian shares bounced back with the NSE Nifty reclaiming the 5700 level, helped by Reliance Industries and ICICI Bank. TCS, Bharti Airtel, HDFC Bank and L&T too led the support.

The 30-share BSE benchmark rose 67.37 points to 18,749.68 and the 50-share NSE benchmark was up 16.30 points at 5,700.55.

Suresh Mahadevan, MD & Head of Indian Equities of UBS Securities believes Indian equities can move upwards if the Reserve Bank eases rates and the government continues with its reform drive.

Country's largest private sector lender ICICI Bank extended gains to 2 percent ahead of quarterly earnings on Friday. Its rival HDFC Bank was up 0.8 percent. Public sector lender State Bank of India trimmed losses to 0.2 percent from 1 percent.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries rebounded with 0.7 percent gains. Even capital goods majors recovered from day's low while telecom operator Bharti Airtel rose 0.8 percent.

Top software services exporter TCS rallied 2 percent while its rivals Infosys and Wipro gained 0.2 percent. Drug producers Cipla and Dr Reddy's Labs gained 1.5 percent each.

Cigarette major ITC remained top loser with 1.5 percent losses on profit booking. Earlier the stock had rallied on strong numbers.

Shares of Tata Motors, Jindal Steel and Sterlite Industries fell 0.8 percent each.

Advancing shares outnumbered declining by a ratio of 709 to 631 on the National Stock Exchange.

Indian shares were trading marginally lower amid volatility, weighed down by auto, metals and capital goods stocks. However, the rise in technology, private banks and healthcare stocks has limited the downside.

The market, which has been volatile since two weeks, will continue to choppy ahead of expiry on Thursday, say experts. The 30-share BSE Sensex slipped 41.62 points to 18,640.69 and the 50-share NSE Nifty lost 20.50 points to 5,663.75.

Hemant Thukral of Aditya Birla Money expects the October series to close at around the 5650-5680 levels. "I do not see market giving away 5600 levels within this expiry. Even going forward in November series the way 5500 and 5600 puts are placed, I have a feeling that Nifty will form a bottom around 5550," he said.

Country's largest lender State Bank of India was down 1 percent while its rivals ICICI Bank gained 0.8 percent and HDFC Bank rose 0.3 percent.

Cigarette major ITC and commercial vehicle maker Tata Motors were down 1.5 percent each.

Engineering conglomerate Larsen & Toubro and state-run power equipment maker BHEL dropped 0.9 percent each.

Among metals stocks, Sterlite Industries, Jindal Steel, Hindalco and Tata Steel plummeted 0.8-1.6 percent.

Drug producers Dr Reddy's Labs and Cipla fell 1.3 percent while Sun Pharma lost 1 percent.

Country's largest software services exporter TCS retained its top position in the buying list, rising nearly 2 percent after higher-than-expected numbers in Q2.

The BSE Sensex opened marginally lower on first day of the week following weak Asian cues, reacting to the worst fall seen by the US markets in last four months on Friday. The BSE benchmark fell 43.24 points to 18,639.07, weighed down Reliance Industries, ITC, SBI and L&T.

Meanwhile, the 50-share NSE Nifty lost 16.55 points to 5,667.70, which has been in rangebound ahead of expiry on Thursday and RBI's policy meet on October 30.

The Dow Jones shed 205 points on Friday following disappointing earnings by General Electric and McDonald. Asian markets were down 0.5-0.8 percent.

Back home, software services exporter TCS gained 2 percent after better-than- expected numbers in the quarter ended September 2012 . The company maintained its lead at the top of India's software services exporters with a 44% year-on-year (7% quarter-on-quarter) rise in net profit at Rs 3,512 crore, helped by new deal wins. Analysts on average had expected a net profit of Rs 3,383 crore for the quarter.

Ultratech Cement too rose 2 percent after results.

Reliance Industries went down 1 percent, continuing the fall since announcement of quarterly earnings.

SBI, ITC, Hindalco, Sesa Goa, Tata Steel, BHEL, Axis Bank, JSPL, JP Associates and Reliance Infrastructure were down in early trade.

L&T declined 1 percent ahead of earnings. Analysts expect strong set of numbers from the company .

The CNX Midcap Index was down 32 points to 7,872 as about two shares declined for every share advancing on the National Stock Exchange.

In the second line shares, Peninsula Land, JK Lakshmi Cement, Oberoi Realty and ING Vysya Bank gained 1.5-6 percent after strong results while weak quarterly earnings pushed GSFC, IFCI, NIIT and Indian Bank down 1-4 percent..

Kingfisher Airlines plunged 5 percent after the Directorate General of Civial Aviation (DGCA) has suspended company's flying licence.

UB Group companies like United Spirits and UB Holdings were down 1-2 percent.

Exide Industries shed another 1.5 percent following lower than expected numbers on Friday.