Sensex advances 57 points on hopes of economic reforms

The Sensex rose by 57 points on persistent buying in capital goods, IT and banking stocks as rejection of no-trust motion against the government bolstered hopes of more reform measures.

Higher global advices coupled with sustained capital inflows also boosted the market sentiment.

The BSE barometer resumed higher at 18,510.94 and shot up further to 18,567.68 before ending at 18,517.34, showing a net gain of 56.96 points, or 0.31 per cent. Yesterday, it was up by 131.06 points or 0.72 per cent.

The NSE 50-share Nifty also moved up further by 12.95 points or 0.23 per cent to finish at 5,627.75.

Smart rise in heavyweights like ITC, Infosys, L&T, HDFC Bank, SBI and Mahindra & Mahindra mainly supported the Sensex surge while fall in Tata Motors, ICICI Bank and RIL restricted the rise to some extent, a broker said.

An attempt by former UPA ally Trinamool Congress to bring a no-confidence motion against the government over FDI in retail failed today in the Lok Sabha for want of requisite numbers, which supported the uptrend, the broker said.

"In the coming days, market sentiment would depend on how parliamentary winter session proceeds," Amar Ambani, Head of Research, IIFL said.

Capital goods, IT, Teck, FMCG, PSU and banking stocks firmed up on good buying enquiries.

State Bank of India was the biggest gainer among 30-Sensex scrips with gains of 1.89 per cent after the government said it will recapitalise PSU banks to meet Basel III norms. Private bank HDFC Bank rose over 1 per cent while FMCG major ITC gained 1.17 per cent.

Hindustan Copper surged by 11.33 per cent to Rs 266.30 after the government announced plans to divest 4 per cent equity in the company.

Asian stocks ended higher as a preliminary survey showed China's manufacturing may grow this month. Key benchmark indices in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea rose in the range of 0.82 per cent to 1.56 per cent, while China's Shanghai Composite fell 0.72 per cent.

Overall, 16 out of 30 Sensex-based scrips closed in the green while others finished in the red.

Among sectoral indices, the BSE-Consumer Goods rose by 1.07 per cent and BSE-IT by 0.85 per cent while BSE-Oil&Gas eased by 0.49 per cent.

"Renewed buying was seen in select banking stocks like HDFC bank and SBIN on hopes of Banking Bill being passed in the current Parliament session," Nidhi Sarswat, Sr Research Analyst, Bonanza Portfolio, said.

"The no confidence motion, as expected, has been rejected. LIC is allowed to raise stake to 30 per cent in companies from 10 per cent which will help address the key concern of fiscal deficit. This being the single largest factor along with indirect revenue targets exceeding, seems good for the market," Kishor P Ostwal, CMD, CNI Research said.

Engineering major L&T moved up by 1.72 per cent, Infosys by 1.55 per cent, M&M by 1.21 per cent and Sterlite Ind 1.09 per cent. Wipro gained 1.08 per cent, NTPC 1.05 per cent and HDFC Bank 1.03 per cent.

However, Tata Motors dipped by 2.49 per cent, ICICI Bank by 1.03 per cent and RIL by 0.52 per cent.

European markets were trading higher in their early trade as its indices in France, Germany and London inched up by 0.27 per cent to 0.73 per cent.

The market breadth remained positive with 1,431 stocks gaining ground while 1,366 settling with losses.

The total market turnover declined further to Rs 1,931.18 crore from Rs 1,954.27 crore yesterday.

Meanwhile, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) picked up shares worth Rs 182.59 crore yesterday, as per the provisional data issued by stock exchanges.