Flat start for Sensex, Nifty edges past 6200; banks lead gains

Indian stock markets opened flat on mixed global cues and may see cautious trading ahead of state election results and winter session of the Parliament, which starts on December 5.

While BSE Sensex opened at 20813, up 0.11%; Nifty at 6190, up 0.23%. But the Nifty soon edged past 6200 led by gains in banking stocks.

“What the market does after consolidation will be the near-term trend for the market,” said Udayan Mukherjee on CNBC-TV18.

Asian shares edged lower and the dollar gave up some of its recent gains against the yen on Monday, as investors cautiously awaited key US data this week and took heart from a decent reading on China manufacturing.The Dow and the S&P 500 dipped in thin holiday trading on Friday, but technology stocks helped lift the Nasdaq to a 13-year high.

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[caption id=“attachment_1168099” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Nifty ends below 6000[/caption]

The rupee opened higher at 62.35 per dollar on Monday, up 9 paise compared to Friday’s closing of 62.44 per dollar. According to Agam Gupta of Standard Chartered, the rupee range for the day is seen between 62.20-62.50/USD.

Gross domestic product (GDP) of September quarter failed to provide any fireworks as the economy grew at 4.8 percent- slightly better than the 4.4 percent growth in the first quarter. Economists, however, worry that the growth is still stuck below 5 percent for the fourth quarter in a row.

Trend in investment by foreign institutional investors, global cues and movement of rupee will be key drivers for the stock market in near-term.

“On Monday, we’ll see the market reacting on GDP numbers on the opening note and considering the Friday’s close, markets are likely to uphold the prevailing positive bias in the next session too.

“For fresh buying, one may consider private banking counters & select midcap stocks as decisive breakout above 6,200 in Nifty would accelerate the pace of rise in the days to come,” said Jayant Manglik, President Retail Distribution, Religare Securities Ltd.

After hitting a four-year low in the first quarter, the economy grew by a higher-than-expected 4.8 percent in the September quarter.

Gross domestic product or GDP rose 4.8 percent in July- September compared with 4.4 percent in the previous quarter.

“A GDP figure that beats expectations should lead to a surge in the equity markets and rupee appreciation. It would also give the RBI some leeway for further Repo rate increases in the future, if required,” said Raghu Kumar, Cofounder, RKSV.

The results of elections in five states - Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram and Rajasthan - will bedeclared early this month. Delhi will go to polls on December 4, while polling will be held today in Rajasthan.

Over the past week, the Sensex has added 574.54 points to clock its first gain after three successive weeks of declines. The index fell 373 points in November, after a record close of 21,239.36 on November 3. Mirroring bullish sentiment, overseas investors poured in Rs 8,000 crore ($1.3 billion) in the Indian stock market

last month. With this, the total foreign investment in the domestic equity market has reached Rs 97,000 crore (USD 17.5 billion) so far in 2013, as per data available with the Sebi.

With inputs from PTI