Nifty ends above 5900, DB Realty crashes 17%, IT stocks rally

The Indian markets closed in the green today, its second consecutive gain after ending in the red for eight straight sessions. In the run up to the Budget, the market has been consolidating since the last ten days and now there is a small uptick after the market ended in green on Tuesday.

“The general expectations are that it will be a capital market friendly Budget. The finance ministry has been moving around the globe and has been positive about the domestic economy and the expectations on that front are reasonably positive,” Krishna Kumar Karwa, MD, Emkay Global Financial Services, said in an interview to CNBC-TV18.

Karwa expects the Nifty to hold 5,900 levels till the Budget.

While the Sensex ended about 0.28 percent higher at 19615, the Nifty ended 0.18 percent higher at 5932.95.

State Bank of India fell 1.53 percent and remained the biggest loser among public sector banks. Karnataka Bank fell 5 percent . On the other hand biggies in the private sector banking space - ICICI Bank and HDFC - were up nearly 1 percent each.

UB group stocks fell on news that banks will look at ways to liquidating assets pledged with them as collateral for Kingfisher loan. United Breweries crashed 9.20 percent to Rs 643.05 and United Breweries Holdings was quoting at Rs 70.25, down 9.94%. United Spirits was the most active share on the exchanges, falling 5 percent.

After rebounding in early trade, DB Realty suffered at the hands of investors following its alleged link with the CBI-Unitech fiasco. The stock fell 17 percent to Rs 83.35. Realty major DLF also closed 3 percent lower while Unitech closed flat at Rs 28.

Shares of software services exporters rallied with Tata Consultancy Services hitting a record high, on hopes earnings will look up in fiscal 2014 on the back of an improving global economy.

Gains came a day after industry body, the National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom), forecast exports from the software services sector will grow 12-14 percent in 2013/14 to as much as $87 billion.

Infosys shares gained 1.26 percent, while HCL Technologies rose 4.29 percent.

TCS shares gained 1.54 percent, earlier hitting an all-time high of Rs 1,441.65 , after Nielsen, best known for its TV ratings, increased the size of its contract with India’s largest software service exporter to $2.5 billion from $1 billion.

“This reinforces TCS’s positioning further in the large deal market and improves confidence in FY14 growth,” HSBC said in a note dated on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, India posted its second highest ever monthly trade deficit of $20 billion in January, worsening from a $17.7 billion deficit in December, piling pressure on a widening current account deficit and limiting scope for the RBI to cut interest rates.