Sensex ends 74 pts higher, but bulls showing signs of burn out ahead of F&O expiry

The north-bound journey in the stock market continued for the eight straight session with benchmark Sensex ending past 27,800-mark on Tuesday, even as the rampaging bulls showed signs of fatigue in the ensuing rally as investors traded caution ahead of the current month’s F&O expiry this Thursday.[caption id=“attachment_2306880” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  On a roll. Reuters[/caption] Market watchers also feel that with the outcome of Greece debt crisis expected in the next few days, sharp intra-day volatility in local equities cannot be ruled out in the near term. The Sensex today reached the day’s high of 27,882.66, up 153 points, before shedding all its gains on profit-taking to touch a low of 27,666.59, down 63 points. However, the Sensex soon recouped its lost ground and ended the session with gains of 74.16 points or 0.3 percent at 27,804.37. Including today’s gains, the Sensex has added 1,433 points in last eight trading sessions. The broader 50-share CNX Nifty closed at 8,381.55, up 28.45 points or 0.3 percent. Market breadth was almost evenly poised but finally gainers outpaced losers on BSE, as 1,454 stocks advanced, 1,251 scrips declined and 114 were unchanged. “One can expect intra-day volatility to continue in the next few sessions as markets tend to fluctuate during the F&O expiry week, as investors look to square off their position. The last eight session has been backed by recovery in monsoon, but going ahead the sentiment will depend on how monsoon will pan out in the rest of the season. The Greece outcome will also play an important role..as any negative development could trigger flash selling across global markets, including India,” said Dipen Shah, head of private client group research, Kotak Securities. Energy stocks were the major performers that helped the markets sail through in volatile trade. Coal India was the biggest gainers in the Sensex pack, ending 3.8 percent higher at Rs 415.15. Engineering & construction major L&T gained nearly 2 percent to Rs 1,765.05. The stock attracted investors’ attention following a media report that the company is finally readying up plans to list its IT subsidiary L&T Infotech this year after missing chance many times earlier due to poor market conditions. The parent company is looking to raise between Rs 1,600 crore and Rs 1,800 crore by offloading 10-12 percent stake in the IT arm, thereby seeking a valuation of around $3 billion. Also, power generation major NTPC rose 1.5 percent to Rs 139.15. PSU banking stocks were in spotlight today after the government said it would infuse $3 billion capital in state-owned banks towards recapitalisation. Shares of Punjab National Bank jumped nearly 4 percent to Rs 142.95, Bank of Baroda gained 2.5 percent to Rs 150.25 and SBI was up 0.7 percent at Rs 267.65. Frontline telecom company Bharti Airtel saw its shares end 1.2 percent higher at Rs 429.50 on reports Japan’s SoftBank is likely to invest $20 billion along with the Indian telecom major and Foxconn to set up a solar power parks in India.