Sensex ignores Fed concerns to rise for 2nd day; oil stocks up

 Firm buying in late afternoon helped Indian shares to record gains for a second straight session today as domestic investors shrugged off a widely anticipated US rate hike while defensive buying in oil counters offset selling in banking stocks.

Market benchmark Sensex ended 170 points up at 25,320.44 while the broader Nifty reclaimed the crucial 7,700-level ahead of the start of a two-day US Federal Reserve meeting, where the central bank is likely to raise interest rate for the first time in nearly a decade.

Sentiment also took a turn for the better with firm European stocks, brokers said.
"We have seen a defensive buying in the market just before the Fed meet. We feel the market has already factored in the rate hike expectations of a 25-basis point," said Vinod Nair, Head Fundamental Research at Geojit BNP Paribas Financial.

Opening in green despite mixed Asian cues, the key indices went into sluggish mode on continued deadlock over the GST bill and rising November retail inflation to 5.41 per cent.
Later, investor sentiment perked up on a positive opening in Europe on slight recovery in oil prices as bouts of value-buying in consumer durables, auto, energy, FMCG, realty, industrial and healthcare sectors supported the rise.

The 30-share Sensex settled at 25,320.44, showing a gain of 170.09 points or 0.68 per cent over its previous close.

The broader NSE Nifty reclaimed the key 7,700-mark to end at 7,700.90, up 50.85 points or 0.66 per cent.

From Sensex constituents, RIL ended 2.14 per cent higher and ONGC rose 2.06 per cent, supported by a rebound in global crude oil prices from near 11-year lows.

Among other gainers, Lupin surged 2.44 per cent, HUL rose 2.28 per cent and Tata Motors gained 2.04 per cent.
The broader markets too remained firm as investors indulged in widening bets and the BSE small-cap index rose 0.69 per cent and while mid-cap gained 0.56 per cent.

On the other side of the spectrum, ICICI Bank dropped 1.04 per cent, while SBI rolled down by 0.18 per cent.

Sectorwise, BSE consumer durable index gained the most by rising 1.50 per cent, followed by auto (1.31 pc), FMCG (1.05 pc), realty (0.93 pc), oil&gas (0.73 pc), capital goods (0.50 pc) and healthcare (0.43 pc).

Overseas, Asian markets ended mixed amid caution ahead of highly anticipated US Federal meeting while European shares rose from losses in the previous session led by gains in stocks of financial firms, automakers and commodity producers.

Key indices in Asia, China, Hong Kong and Japan moved down by 0.17 per cent to 1.68 per cent while Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan moved up by 0.02 per cent to 0.41 per cent.

Indices in Europe such as France, Germany and the UK were quoting higher between 1.65 per cent and 2.27 per cent.

Back home, of the 30-share Sensex, 16 scrips ended higher.
Other major gainers were Tata Motors (2.04 pc), HDFC (1.38 pc), Maruti (1.11 pc), Bajaj Auto (1.07 pc), Hero MotoCorp (1.04 pc), Axis Bank (1.03 pc) and ITC (0.84 pc).

However, Wipro fell by 1.53 per cent followed by NTPC 1.17 per cent, ICICI Bank 1.04 per cent, GAIL 0.78 per cent, Vedanta 0.77 per cent, Coal India 0.70 per cent and Dr Reddy's 0.59 per cent.

Among BSE sectoral and industry indices, consumer durables rose by 1.50 per cent, followed by auto 1.31 per cent, energy 1.24 per cent, FMCG 1.05 per cent, realty 0.93 per cent, industrials 0.87 per cent, oil&gas 0.73 per cent and finance 0.45 per cent, while telecom fell by 0.22 per cent, followed by metal 0.22 per cent, utilities by 0.06 per cent and teck by 0.06 per cent.

The market breadth remained negative as 1,584 stocks ended lower, 1,062 closed higher while 203 ruled steady. The total turnover rose to about Rs 2,572.26 crore from Rs 2,424.96 crore yesterday.