Markets end on a subdued note

Markets ended the lacklustre session on a soft note on account Eid holiday and investors turning to sidelines after three consecutive days of gains which pushed the market up 4.6%.

Markets opened flat at 5468 on back of weak cues from Asia and United States. The Nifty traded in a narrow 38 points range, touching an high of 5498 and a low of 5460. T he 50-stock S&P CNX Nifty ended at 5482, up 1 point and the Sensex closed at 18,306, up 32 points.

Other markets in Asia ended on a mixed note, exporter shares gained in Japan on weakening Yen and markets in China surged marginally after latest inflation eased concerns of further tightening in Beijing. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average ended up 0.6%, China's Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.9% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was up 1.1%.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh defended himself in an interview with TV Editors that the government was trying to bring justice in India's largest corruption scandal. However markets were unmoved by PM's rare roundtable interview with TV editors.

This year market men do not expect a major pre-budget rally and forsee a populist budget. Vivek Mahajan, Head Research, Aditya Birla Money said, "the relevance of budget is reducing by the year. However, with nearly five states going to the polls post the Budget, we may expect a populist budget." Mahajan expects subsidies to remain high and also expects a possibility of rollback of the economic stimulus package. "The impact of the budget is likely to be neutral to marginally negative," Mahajan added.

Given the current market conditions, Mahajan recommends investors to accumulate stocks with a long-term perspective and restructure the portfolio. "Use volatility to accumulate fundamentally sound stories with good corporate governance," said Mahajan.

From Individual stocks, Tata Steel was the top gainer on Nifty, up 3% after net profit doubled on back of robust demand and pricing power. However surge in raw material costs weighed on the margins.

Cement stocks also ended higher, JP Associates surged 3%, Ambuja Cements zoomed 2.1%.

On the other hand, auto shares were among the top losers, Mahindra and Mahindra fell 2.8%, Tata Motors and Maruti were off over 1% each. Financials also ended in the red, IDFC dipped 4.3% after clocking three days of gains, HDFC declined 3.2% and Kotak Bank was down 2%.

Technology shares were also weak, TCS, Wipro and HCL Technologies were down 0.8%-0.9%.

Hindalco, down 1.7%, Reliance Communication, down 1.6% and DLF, down 1.2% were the top losers on Nifty. Jindal Steel, up 2%, Sun Pharma, up 1.5%, Ranbaxy, up 1.1% and Larsen and Tourbo, up 1.2% were the prominent gainers.

Broader markets outperformed the benchmark, the midcap and smallcap index were up 0.5% and 1% each.

Market breadth was positive, 1683 stocks advanced for 1098 stocks that declined.

Weekly Report: Markets have a wobbly time

The markets had another shaky week on account of the lingering issues on the macro-economic front, concerns of a slowdown in corporate profit growth and the burden of technical factors. The BSE Sensex swung in a range of 885 points between a high of 18,810 and a low of 19,295 before ending the week at 17,728, down 279 points or 1.5%, and the Nifty ended at 5310, down 86 points. The midcap index ended at 6475, lower by 258 points or 3.8% and the smallcap index shut shop at 7808, down 522 points or 6.2%.

The benchmark indices had started the week on an encouraging note, with the Sensex ending above the psychological 18k mark, post the previous Friday's battering and the gyrations witnessed through the course of the past week. But from thereon, the markets were back to their bearish ways, as has become the norm in this calendar year. The poor IIP data, the inability of the all-party meet to break the imbroglio on the opposition demand for a JPC probe into the 2G scam, and the concomitant, a smooth parliamentary budget session and additional scams tumbling out of the beleaguered government's closet, took the headwinds off the markets midway through the week. It was only the combination of short-covering and value buying that resurrected the markets from the marass on Friday. The weekly closing was not so bad, considering that we were staring down the barrel at one point, with the Nifty hurtling towards the crucial 5000 mark.

Click here to visit SME Buzz

The next week would tell whether we have some kind of a temporary bottom in place. Atleast the start of the upcoming week should be good, given the return of normalcy in Egypt after the unceremonious exit of the besieged Egyptian President Mubarak late on Friday. In fact, stocks rose in the US and NYMEX crude oil futures fell to near $85 dollars a barrel in the aftermath of the news development. The upcoming Union Budget and an oversold situation, by virtue of the Indian bourses being the worst performer among the emerging markets, are also reasons that could extend Friday's pullback rally. News reports that the Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee may introduce the much-delayed bill to roll out the GST regime, may also be a positive.

Meanwhile, the IIP data for the month of December came in at a disappointing 1.6% compared to 2.7% in November. The manufacturing sector growth stood at 1% compared to 19.6% during the previous year, electricity sector grew by 6% versus 5.4% and the capital goods sector growth came in at 13.7% versus 42.9%. There were re-assuring voices from the government side though. Sticking to its projection of over 8.5% GDP growth this fiscal, the Planning Commission Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said that the monthly variations in industrial output numbers should not be a cause of concern. And while expressing disappointment at the low industrial output growth in December, the finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said the monthly numbers do not reflect correct picture of the economy.

The Finance Minister and government's main trouble-shooter Pranab Mukherjee was unable to get an obstinate opposition to give up its demand for an immediate constitution of a joint parliamentary committeee to look into the 2G case. And two additional instances of suspect spectrum allocation only added to the market's discomfiture. As per reports, the government is probing the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for a 2005 allocation of mobile internet spectrum without a proper bidding process that may have cost the exchequer up to Rs 2 trillion. The government is also reportedly investigating whether the state-run telecom company BSNL appointed franchises for broadband wireless access without charging any upfront payment.

On the positive side, though, the government estimated the GDP for the 2010/11 fiscal year to grow at 8.6% and was optimistic that India would move up in global GDP rankings to within the top 10 economies. The farm output may grow 5.4%, industrial growth should reach 6.2% and the service sector is projected to grow by 11% in the current fiscal ending in March, the government statement said. India's economy has grown at 8.9% for two consecutive quarters in the current financial year.

And there was a heartening decline in food inflation, which eased in end-January due to the moderating prices of fruits and vegetables. The food price index rose 13.07% and the fuel price index climbed 11.61% in the year to January 29. In the prior week, the annual food and fuel inflation had stood at 17.05% and 11.61% respectively. The primary articles price index was up 16.24% in the latest week, compared with an annual rise of 18.44% a week earlier. But the annual headline inflation in January is still expected to remain high. Headline inflation was 8.43% in December as the food inflation had reached a one-year high then.

The ADAG pack had a topsyturvy week to emerge as the top the losers list on the BSE. Reliance Infrastructure and RCom were hammered nearly 20% in Wednesday's session on rumours that the CBI could question or even arrest senior officials of the group in connection with the 2G scam. A statement by the Reliance ADA Group that it had identified stock brokers sending "baseless sensational charges" against the group and a denial by the ADAG group about Reliance Infra and RNRL receiving a notice from auditing regulator ICAI with regard to the consent settlement reached by the two companies with Sebi, led to a bounceback on the two counters. The announcement of a board meeting on February 14 to mull buyback of equity shares further aided the rebound in Reliance Infrastructure. RCom still ended the week down 15% at Rs 97 and Reliance Infra lost 9% at Rs 615.

The realty stocks had a terrible week as the sword of Damocles hung over their head post the arrest of the managing director of DB Realty, Balwa, by the CBI. Parsvnath Developers crashed by 37% at Rs 26, Unitech slumped by 19% at Rs 34 after being named by the CBI as one the beneficiaries of cheap spectrum allocation in 2008 and Orbit Corporation lost 15% at Rs 50. DB Realty ended marginally lower by 0.1% at Rs 139. However, DLF retraced its intra-week losses to actually end at the top of the BSE gainers charts. Metals also took it on the chin, with Hindalco tanking 10.8% at Rs 211 and Tata Steel losing 6.4% at Rs 595.

Among individual stock losers, ONGC gave up 6.7% at Rs 277 after turning ex-bonus and ex-stock split. The company's board had earlier declared the sub-division of each equity share of Rs 10 each fully paid-up into two equity shares of Rs 5 each and issue of bonus shares in the proportion of one new equity bonus share of Rs 5 each for every one existing share of Rs 5 each and had fixed February 09 as the record date for the purpose. Index heavyweight RIL retraced from 52-week lows of Rs 885, but still ended down 0.9% at Rs 910. And Tata Motors recouped its early losses to end marginally down by 0.4% at Rs 1144. Announcing its results at the fag end of Friday's trading session, Tata Motors posted a 272.92% jump in Q3 consolidated net profit at Rs 2,424 crore versus Rs 650 crore (YoY) and its consolidated net sales leaped from Rs 26,043 crore to Rs 31,510 crore.

On the other hand, the financials had a decent week; HDFC strengthened by 2.6% at Rs 620, HDFC Bank gained 2% at Rs 2060 and ICICI Bank added 0.5% at Rs 1001.

In the midcap space, Parsvnath Developers crashed by 37% at Rs 26, Bombay Dyeing collapsed 24% at Rs 297 and BEML lost 22% at Rs 616. And the smallcap space saw the likes of Allied Digital sliding by 38% at Rs 78, MIC Electronics shedding 32% at Rs 19 and Sujana Metal losing 23% at Rs 9.

Stock markets in a downhill mode

The latest downtrend in stock prices is attributed to large selling by the foreign institutional investors. They are flocking back to the developed markets, especially the U.S. given the serious problems of perceptions about India, it is going to take a while before they return.

---

Why are the stock markets suddenly losing their sheen? Are they in one of the defining moments in which they will fall quite sharply before rallying back, if at all? Sharp swings in share prices are by no means uncommon but the precipitous drops of the type seen last in January 2008 when the market valuations plunged by an amazing two-thirds are, of course, rare and more relevantly difficult to predict.

To answer the questions, one has to look at the peaks and troughs of stock prices over a fairly recent period. The week ended February 4 was especially noteworthy. After recording some marginal gains from the middle of the week, the indices recorded heavy losses on the close of the week. Sensex lost 441 points (about 2.5 per cent) to close just above 18000. Nifty fell below the psychologically significant 5400-mark. To view over a slightly longer period, the markets started rising strongly in August, 2010, to peak at 21005 on November 5. The fall by 3,000 points (14.28 per cent) since then until February 4 is significant. What is worse is that seemed to presage the worse things to come.

The gloomy forecasts seemed to come true sooner than anticipated. Stock prices dropped sharply on Tuesday last. Sensex traded below 18000 and Nifty around 5350 in the forenoon session. The fall in stock prices continued into the following week (February 7 to 11).

A sense of deep pessimism has permeated the markets. All of a sudden, uncertainty seems to have engulfed the markets. Barely two weeks before the presentation of the Union budget, the downward movement of stock prices has acquired a distinct, negative connotation of its own. Will the two major worries of the government — inflation and the burgeoning current account deficit — invite strong fiscal measures in addition to what the Reserve Bank of India has been doing?

There is no doubt at all that inflation and the current account deficit (expected to be around 3.7 per cent of the GDP) are the major concerns. But they have been so for quite some time. The reasons why stock markets latched on to the bad news all of a sudden ignoring the good ones need to be looked at from the totality of circumstances.

India's growth story has by no means derailed. According to the Central Statistical Organisation's advance estimates for 2010-11, the GDP growth will be at a respectable 8.6 per cent. This is below the upper-end of the government's expectations of between 8.5 and 8.75 per cent but slightly above the RBI's 8.5 per cent.

In each of the first two quarters of this year, the economy has grown by 8.9 per cent. Hence, the estimate of 8.6 per cent for the whole year suggests a slowdown in the third and fourth quarters. Besides, when final figures come, a deceleration in manufacturing during the second half of the year will be seen. During the first two quarters, manufacturing grew by 13 per cent and 9.8 per cent, respectively. Such a performance is unlikely to continue during the rest of this year. However, the CSO' estimate of manufacturing growth during the whole year at 8.8 per cent is the same as what was achieved last year.

Inflation and the widening current account deficit are the major macro economic concerns. But India faces even greater problems of perceptions — corruption and in governance especially.

The India story may be substantially on track but the reasons why the stock markets apparently do not think so is to be seen in the actions of global investors, especially the foreign institutional investors (FIIs), who have come to occupy such an important place in the Indian markets. Their large investments are for short-term and often volatile but they are considered necessary to bridge the current account deficit. There is an obvious preference for the more stable FDI (foreign direct investment) but it has been going down this year as reported by the RBI at the time of the last review.

The fall in equities in the past few weeks is mainly attributed to large scale selling of stocks by FIIs. According to official figures, they sold Rs.9,339-crore worth of stocks this year up to February 4. It is likely that they share the concerns of domestic investors, with inflation and the widening current account deficit topping the lists. As pointed out, such concerns have weighed with investors in the past too but in the aggregate they were positive on India. (This was seen by the steady rise in stock prices.)

However, at the present juncture, FIIs are pulling out but do not seem to be coming back soon. Ominously, emerging markets as a class seem to have suddenly fallen out of favour with global investors. There could be many reasons: turmoil in Egypt, rising inflation and specific to India fiscal deficit, co-existing with current account deficit. In just one week (ended February 4), investors took out $7 billion, with the biggest outflows coming from China, India and Indonesia. There have been only two occasions in the past — March 2007 and January 2008 — when the volume of outflows was more than the $7-billion. In March, 2007, the investors returned fairly soon. But the exit in January, 2008, was hardly a retreat. Many emerging markets, including India, took a long time to find the bottom after losing over 60 per cent of their valuations. What is worse is the Indian markets are underperforming when compared with other emerging markets. The developed markets are now attracting investors on the basis of a better than expected performance in the latter part of 2010, especially the U.S.

Indices end mix: Pro-market budget may boost trade

Indian markets closed on a quiet note despite receiving positive global cues. The 50-share NSE Nifty settled at 5,481.70, up 0.7 points, while the 30-share BSE Sensex closed at 18,300.9, up just 27.10 points. As far as impact of the upcoming budget is concerned, most experts have expressed a neutral opinion.

Mehraboon Irani, Principal and Head-Private Client Group Business, Nirmal Bang Securities, feels that the next few days will be very crucial for the markets. "They may still falter because the headwinds are very much there but pockets of opportunities are also available in the market. Investors need to select stocks very carefully as the markets are still very negative. He continues to be quite confident of seeing a new high in 2011 itself.

Excerpts from Closing Bell on CNBC-TV18 Watch the full show »

According to Jai Bala, Chief Market Technician, cashthechaos.com, the markets are very close to the end of the collective rise and looking at the historical trend, markets have never corrected more than 16% all through the current rise from the lows seen in 2009. In Bala’s opinion, markets are not underpinned by fresh buying interests for people trying to add new stocks to their portfolio.

Talking about the Nifty’s rally, he said, "It is not going to exceed 5,565 as another round of selling is due. My suspicion is that markets have got one more leg of downside. It will be slightly below the lows it made a few days ago."

Will markets be more stable post budget?

As far as budgetary impact is concerned, Bala feels that if the government is able to show some urgency to address the fiscal problem and meet the investor expectations, the markets will be happy. However, he feels the market should not be too affected by the budget.

Ambreesh Baliga of Karvy Stock Broking feels that it is good for the markets if they are consolidating before the next move. "I see Nifty in the 5,500-5,600 band, and over the next couple of days we could touch those levels of closer to 5,600." He quickly added that we cannot rule out the panic in the markets, however, assuming that there is no other adverse news on scam or other front; the markets should be in the range closer to 5,500-5,600, at least before budget.

Reacting on the Prime Minister’s interaction with media, Baliga appreciated PM’s approach of addressing the market issues on a sentimental note. While talking about the budget, he said, "When markets move beyond 5,700-5,800, it is a major resistance for the market overall, so, it clearly depends on how the budget is. Otherwise, assuming that the budget is market neutral or slightly negative, we would be in the range of 5,200 to 5,600."

He also said that the post-budget process of cabinet reshuffle should create a positive impact on the market and the economy.

Sensex sheds gains again

Free Share Market Tips
Ads by Google
Free Stock Tips on your Mobile Phone. Get it Now. www.capitalvia.com

The market, which rebounded into positive territory a little past noon, faltered again due to lack of support at higher levels. With no big triggers to warrant strong buying, investors are mostly seen pressing sales at every small rise in prices today.

The reporting season is almost over and investors are most likely to tread cautiously ahead of the budget. Activity is mostly stock specific with the latest quarterly numbers providing some direction for stocks.

Top gainers | Worst losers | More tips

The Sensex, which drifted down into the red a little while ago, is now up 13.78 points or 0.08% at 13,287.58. The Nifty is at 5482.55, up 2.55 points over its previous closing mark.

Realty stocks, which suffered some sharp losses in recent weeks, are among the notable gainers this afternoon. Stocks from this space opened on a rather dull note this morning, but have come back fairly strongly now thanks to buying at lower levels.

Metal stocks remain steady. Select consumer durables, FMCG and capital goods stocks have posted notable gains. Automobile stocks are quite subdued. Power, healthcare, bank and information technology stocks are mostly trading flat.

Jaiprakash Associates remains the top gainer in the Sensex. At Rs 88, the stock is up nearly 4% at present. Jindal Steel is up 3% at Rs 688.50 and Tata Steel is up with a gain of 2.7% at Rs 633.30.

Larsen & Toubro, Bajaj Auto and Hindustan Unilever are up 1.1% - 1.3%. State Bank of India, ITC, Tata Power, Tata Consultancy Services and Reliance Industries are up with modest gains.

HDFC is down by about 2.5%. Mahindra & Mahindra has lost 2%. Hindalco, Tata Motors, HDFC Bank, Reliance Communications, Cipla, ONGC and Maruti Suzuki are also trading weak.

Jubilant Lifescience, Sintex Industries, Lanco Infratech, Container Corporation, Shree Renuka Sugars, Areva, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Indian Overseas Bank, Petronet LNG, RC and Godrej Consumer Products are among the prominent losers in BSE 'A' Group.

All the sectoral indices on BSE in the green

The key benchmark indices surged in late trade to hit fresh intraday highs tracking firm global stocks on positive China's trade data and easing tensions in Egypt political crisis. Domestic data showing slowing inflation in January 2011 eased worries of further monetary tightening by the central bank also aided rally. Market gained for the second straight day as investors bargain hunt beaten down stocks after the recent sell off. Reliance Infrastructure gained on good Q3 results. Today's rally was broad based with all the 13 sectoral indices on the BSE clinching gains with shares from capital goods, metal, auto and banking in the forefront. The market breadth was strong with the BSE Mid-Cap and Small-Cap indices outperforming the Sensex. The BSE 30-share Sensex was provisionally up 488.86 points or 2.76%. The Sensex regained psychological 18000 mark today.

The market opened on a firm note on positive Asian stocks. It was hovering near the day's high after hitting fresh intraday highs in morning trade. It surged to hit fresh intrday highs in mid-morning trade. It extended gains in early afternoon trade. Market extended gains to strike fresh day's high in afternoon trade. It was hovering near the day's high in mid-afternoon trade. It surged to hit fresh intraday highs in late trade.

The headline inflation eased slightly in January on some moderation in manufactured products. The wholesale price index (WPI), India's main inflation gauge, rose 8.23% in January from a year earlier. The index rose 8.43% in December from a year earlier. Food prices in the WPI index jumped 15.7% in January compared with 13.6% in December. As per provisional figures, foreign funds sold shares worth Rs. 537.71 crore while domestic funds bought shares worth Rs. 519.67 crore on Friday, 11 February 2011.

The government expects headline inflation to ease to 7% by end March, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Monday, matching other government forecasts.

The Q3 December 2010 results season is drawing towards a close. The results announced so far showed that the combined net profit of a total of 2,960 companies rose 21.5% to Rs. 85820 crore on 18.9% rise in sales to Rs. 933468 crore in Q3 December 2010 over Q3 December 2009.

There are concerns of slowdown in corporate profit growth going ahead. With the rise in key policy rates by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently, interest cost will only rise in the coming quarters that could hurt earnings going forward. If raw material costs keep rising at a fast clip, companies will feel the heat of slowing sales growth and rising cost of operations that could start eating into profit growth.

European shares rose on Monday to a 29-month high as talk of slower-than-expected Chinese inflation data and strong China trade figures boosted sentiment, with miners the major risers. The key benchmark indices in France, Germany and UK rose by between 0.01% to 0.32%.

Asian stocks rose on Monday as investors greeted news of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's resignation with relief. The key benchmark indices in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan rose by between 0.88% to 1.89%.

China's Shanghai Composite jumped 2.53% after China's trade surplus fell to its lowest in nine months in January after imports surged, supporting the government's case ahead of a G20 meeting that it is doing enough to spur domestic demand without speeding up currency appreciation. The trade surplus shrank to $6.5 billion from $13.1 billion in December, well short of forecasts for a $10.7 billion gap.

Japan's economy shrank slightly in the final quarter of 2010 but analysts expect a recovery this year as stronger exports to China and other parts of fast-growing Asia offset persistently weak domestic demand. Gross domestic product (GDP) shrank 0.3% in October-December from the previous quarter, slightly less than a 0.5% fall expected by markets but still the first contraction in five quarters.

Mubarak handed power over to the army, bowing to escalating pressure from the military and protesters demanding he goes. His departure was seen partially reviving investors' appetite for risk. Two weeks of anti-government protests in Egypt sparked concerns the unrest could spread across the Middle East, contributing to volatility in markets and commodity prices worldwide.

US index futures pared gains. Trading in US index futures indicated that the Dow could gain 1 points at the opening bell on Monday, 14 February 2011.

U.S. stocks closed out their second straight week of gains on Friday with a rally sparked after Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak resigned, easing tension around the region for now.

As per provisional figures, the BSE 30-share Sensex was up 488.86 points or 2.76% to 18,217.47. The index gained 499.01 points at the day's high of 18227.62 in late trade. The Sensex rose 128.51 points at the day's low of 17857.12 in early trade.

The S&P CNX Nifty gained 152 points or 2.86% to 5,462 as per provisional figures.

The BSE Mid-Cap index rose 3.57% and the BSE Small-Cap index rose 3.99%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth, indicating the health of the market, was strong. On BSE, 2427 shares advanced while 500 shares declined. A total of 61 shares remained unchanged.

All the 30 members from the Sensex pack 28 stocks logged gains and two fell.

BSE clocked turnover of Rs. 3448 almost same as that of Rs. 3445.18 crore on Friday, 11 February 2011.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) rose 0.48%to Rs. 915 reversing initial losses. The stock had fallen to the day's low of Rs. 895 on reports stock exchange regulator Sebi could levy a record penalty on RIL if it is able to establish that the company was involved in insider trading. The penalty could be worth Rs. 25 crore or three times the amount of profit the company made from insider trading - whichever is higher.

Diversified Jaiprakash Associates surged 6.73% extending Friday's 7.35% gains. The stock had hit 52 week low of Rs. 70.25 on 9 February 2011.

Reliance Infrastructure rose 1.35% to Rs. 624 after company announced buyback of shares at a price of Rs. 725 at a premium over the current ruling price. The consolidated net profit rose 10.16% to Rs. 405.25 crore on 11.2% rise in total income to Rs. 3871.64 crore in Q3 December 2010 over Q3 December 2009. The company announced Q3 result during market hours today.

India's largest engineering and construction firm by sales Larsen & Toubro jumped 7.21% after company announced during market hours today that it bagged Rs. 1100 crore EPC order from GSECL.

Among other capital goods stocks, Bhel, Usha Martin, ABB, BEML and Thermax rose by between 3.51% to 6.28%.

Inerest rate sensitive auto stocks rose across the board after data showed inflation moderated in the month of January. Car maker Maruti Suzuki India rose 3.18%. The stock had hit a 52-week low of Rs. 1146 on Thursday, 10 February 2011. India's second largest bike maker by sales Bajaj Auto gained 3.22%. India's top bike maker by sales Hero Honda Motors rose 3.84%. The stock had hit a 52-week low of Rs. 1412.20 on Wednesday, 9 February 2011.

Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) gained 1.51%. The company recently unveiled plans to acquire a 38% stake in BSE-listed EPC Industrie. The acquisition would be through preferential allotment of shares by EPC, following which M&M will make the mandatory open offer to acquire a 20% stake in the Nashik-based micro-irrigation firm.

Tata Motors jumped 5.58% after consolidated net profit jumped 272.9% to Rs. 2424 crore on 22% rise in consolidated revenue to Rs. 31685 crore in Q3 December 2010 over Q3 December 2009. The company announced the Q3 result at the fag end of the trading session on Friday, 11 February 2011. The stock had jumped 3.79% on Friday.

Interest rate sensitive banking stocks rose after data showed inflation moderated in the month of January. India's largest private sector bank by market capitalisation ICICI Bank was up 2.94%. India's second largest private sector bank by market capitalisation HDFC Bank was up 2.39%. India's largest commercial bank by branch network State Bank of India gained 4.42%. State Bank of India has raised term deposit rates on two maturity buckets — 555 days and 1,000 days — by 25 basis points. Simultaneously, to protect its margins, the bank has marked up its lending rate by 25 basis points. All rate hikes are effective from 14 February 2011.

Among other banks, Federal Bank Yes Bank, Bank of India, Canara Bank, IDBI Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of India and Punjab National Bank rose by between 2.19% to 5.43%.

Metal stocks gained across the board after China's trade data showed imports surged in the month of January. China is the World's largest consumer of base metals. Hindalco Industries rose 3.84% after net profit rose 7.78% to Rs. 460.34 crore on 12.53% rise in total income to Rs. 6035.22 crore in Q3 December 2010 over Q3 December 2009. The company announced Q3 result on Saturday, 12 February 2011.

Steel giant Tata Steel rose 4.26% ahead of Q3 results on Tuesday, 15 February 2011.

Jindal Steel & Power, Hindustan Zinc, JSW Steel, Jindal Saw, Sterlite Industries Steel Authority of India, National Aluminum Company rose by between between 0.01% to 6.59%.

LMEX, a gauge of six metals traded on the London Metal Exchange rose 0.11% on Friday, 11 February 2011.

In macro news, the latest economic data showed industrial output in December 2010 rose a slower-than-expected 1.6% from a year earlier. Manufacturing output, which constitutes about 80% of the industrial production, rose an annual 1%, the statistics office said in a statement. Growth in industrial output in November 2010 was revised upwards to 3.62% from earlier 2.7%

The food price index rose 13.07% and the fuel price index climbed 11.61% in the year to 29 January 2011, government data on Thursday 10 February 2011 showed. In the prior week, annual food and fuel inflation stood at 17.05% and 11.61%. The primary articles price index was up 16.24% in the latest week, compared with an annual rise of 18.44% a week earlier.

The next major trigger for the stock market is Union Budget 2011-2012 to be unveiled by the finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on 28 February 2011. Investors will watch if the Finance Minister announces measures to rein in inflation and inflationary expectations. The Finance Minister may announce a new road map for the Goods & Services Tax (GST). The original deadline of 1 April 2010 for roll-out of GST has already been missed due to the lack of consensus between the Centre and states on the issue. GST is India's most ambitious indirect tax reform plan, which aims to stitch together a common market by dismantling fiscal barriers between states.

The Centre has reportedly sent the empowered committee of state finance ministers yet another draft constitutional amendment on the proposed goods & services tax (GST) in a last-ditch attempt to reach a consensus before the Budget session of Parliament. The third draft reportedly proposes the creation of a GST Council through an Act of Parliament, instead of presidential order, as proposed in the previous draft.

The government may also announce some populist measures in the Budget given that assembly elections are due in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Assam. In all these states, the Congress is potentially looking to regain power or to retain it.