Sensex closes 178 points higher; Axis Bank, L&T top gainers

Mumbai: India’s benchmark index, S&P BSE Sensex, rose for the second consecutive day on Wednesday, led by shares of capital goods, healthcare and power companies, and banks.

The 30-share Sensex closed 0.63%, or 178.35 points, higher at 28,533.97, while the National Stock Exchange’s broader 50-share CNX Nifty gained 0.72%, or 61.85 points, to end at 8,627.40.

Investors were cautious a day ahead of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) and Consumer Price Index (CPI) data. The government will issue CPI and IIP data on 12 February after 5.30pm. A Bloomberg poll expects CPI-based inflation to rise to 5.5% for January from 5% in December and factory output to grow by 1.8% in December from 3.8% in November.

Among the gainers, Axis Bank Ltd rose 2.87% to Rs.569.60, Larsen and Toubro Ltd (L&T) advanced 2.57% to Rs.1,614.20, while Maruti Suzuki India Ltd added 2.10% to Rs.3,463.95.

Among the losers, Oil and Natural Gas Corp. Ltd (ONGC) fell 2.63% to Rs.345.60, while Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (Bhel) shed 2.41% to Rs.255.20.

Among the sectoral indices, S&P BSE Capital Goods index was the top sectoral gainer up 2%, followed by the S&P BSE Metal index, which was up 1.68%.

Fortis Healthcare Ltd rose 20% to Rs.138.90 after Bloomberg reported a huge block deal executed on the counter on the exchanges. Around 4.42 million equity shares or 1% equity of the company were reported to have changed hands in two block deals. Further details of buyers and sellers were not available.

Suzlon Energy Ltd rose 1.42% to Rs.17.80 after news report said the company is in talks with PV Power Technologies Pvt. Ltd, which makes solar energy panels, for a possible merger or stake purchase.

Bharat Electronics Ltd rose 4.5% to Rs.3,499.75. Rolta India Ltd rose 6.31% to Rs.117.90 after news reports said a consortium led by the company had been shortlisted by the defence ministry for a Rs.40,000-crore project.

Entertainment Network India Ltd rose 10.65% to Rs.611, after the company posted a 27% increase in its net profit— to Rs.328.35 crore in the December quarter as compared to Rs.258.85 crore a year ago. The company also exploring merger and acquisition opportunities in the FM broadcasting space.

Credit Analysis and Research Ltd lost 0.53% to Rs.1,609.95, after the company posted a 6.3% drop in its net profit to Rs.26.24 crore in the December quarter as compared to Rs.28.02 crore a year ago.

So far in 2015, the Sensex has gained 3%, while foreign institutional investors have bought $2.68 billion from local equity and $4.45 billion from bond markets.