The markets are trading firm at the higher as sustained buying continues, its a smidge down from the high point of the day.After the Fed cut discount rate by 75 bps markets across globe have rallied. Asia is trading in green most with gains of over 1.5%, there are no runaway rallies seen.

It is the smallcaps that have underperformed a bit. Nifty has maintained 4650 and Sensex has latched on to 15300 levels. All BSE indices are trading higher. Power, banking, telecom and capital goods stocks are the star performers.

At 11.33 hrs IST, the Sensex is up 482.79 points or 3.25% at 15316.25, and the Nifty up 113.95 points or 2.51% at 4646.95.

About 1536 shares have advanced, 1432 shares declined, and 90 shares are unchanged.

JP Associates up over 7.8% followed by ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank up over 6%. SBI, Bharti Airtel, PNB, Tata Power, SAIL, L&T, RPL and RNRL were the major gainers.

In the global markets Asian markets were trading firm. Hong Kong's Hang Seng up nearly 3%, Japan's Nikkei up over 2%. Yesterday, Wall Street ran up their biggest one-day gains in more than five years following that interest rate cut. The rally was led by financials.

Mkt trades firm: Bank, realty, cap goods surge

The markets are trading firm at the higher level on buying seen in scrips across sectors. After the Fed cut discount rate by 75 bps markets across globe have rallied. All BSE indices are trading higher. Power, banking, telecom and capital goods stocks are the star performers.

Market breadth is very positive, NSE advance:decline ratio of 13:1. Midcap and small cap stocks have seen strong bounce back. BSE Midcap index is up over 3% and smallcap index is up nearly 3%.

Bankex is up over 5% followed by realty up 5%, capital goods and power index up over 3.5%.

At 10.29 hrs IST, the Sensex is up 530.72 points or 3.58% at 15364.18, and the Nifty up 132.70 points or 2.93% at 4665.70.

About 1787 shares have advanced, 1191 shares declined, and 80 shares are unchanged.

JP Associates up over 7.8% followed by ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank up over 6%. SBI, Bharti Airtel, PNB, Tata Power, SAIL, L&T, RPL and RNRL were the major gainers.

In the global markets Asian markets were trading firm. Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 3.61%, Japan's Nikkei gained 3.23%. Yesterday, Wall Street ran up their biggest one-day gains in more than five years following that interest rate cut. The rally was led by financials.
Mkts open strong mirroring sturdy global cues

The markets have opened on a strong note mirroring phenomenal rally in US markets as FOMC cut the Fed funds and discount rates by 75 bps. Asian markets are also supported this rally. All BSE indices are trading higher. Power, banking, telecom and capital goods stocks are the star performers in morning trade. Market breadth is very positive, NSE advance:decline ratio of 13:1. Midcap and small cap stocks have seen strong bounce back.

At 9:56 am, the Sensex was up 632 points at 15465 and the Nifty up 165 points at 4698. CNX Midcap gained by 241 points at 6,102.

SBI, Bharti Airtel, PNB, Tata Power, SAIL, L&T, RPL and RNRL were the major gainers.

The BSE Realty, Bankex, Power and Capital Goods indices were up nearly 4-6%. Oil & Gas, Metal, IT and Teck indices jumped over 3%.

Asian markets were trading firm. Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 3.61% or 772.85 points at 22,157.46. Japan's Nikkei gained 3.23% or 386.06 points at 12,350.22. Taiwan's Taiwan Weighted rose 2.04% or 164.32 points at 8,222.14. Singapore's Straits Times rose 2.05% or 58.15 points at 2,891.73. South Korea's Seoul Composite advanced 2.51% or 39.92 points at 1,628.67.

Wall Street ran up their biggest one-day gains in more than five years following that interest rate cut. The rally was led by financials. FOMC cut the Fed funds and discount rates by 75 bps; Fed funds rate now at 2.25% and the discount rate now at 2.50%. Dow added 420.41 points, or 3.51%, at 12,392.66. The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 54.14 points, or 4.24%, at 1,330.74, and the Nasdaq composite index advanced 91.25 points, or 4.19%, to 2,268.26.

Market cues:

* Fed cuts Fed Funds Rate by 75 bps, discount rate by 75 bps
* FIIs net sell $ 156.8 m in equity
* MFs net sell Rs 100.5 cr in equity
* NSE F&O Open Interest down Rs 387 cr at Rs 63,949 cr

F&O cues:

* Futures Open Interest down by Rs 1,208 crore and Options Open Interest up by Rs 821 crore
* Nifty Mar Futures shed 44 lakh shares in Open Interest
* Nifty April Futures add 20 lakh shares in Open Interest
* Nifty Mar at 15-point premium, April at 2-point premium
* Nifty Open Interest Put-Call ratio at 0.83 Vs 0.85
* Nifty Puts add 4.8 lakh shares in Open Interest
* Nifty Calls add 11 lakh shares in Open Interest
* Nifty 4400 Put adds 3.3 lakh shares in Open Interest
* Nifty 4250 Put adds 2.3 lakh shares in Open Interest
* Nifty 4300 Put adds 1.2 lakh shares in Open Interest
* Nifty 4700 Call adds 4.2 lakh shares in Open Interest
* Nifty 4800 Call adds 2.2 lakh shares in Open Interest
* Stock Futures shed 1.3 cr shares in Open Interest

Source : MoneyControl

The markets are trading higher with buying support from oil, power, realty, technology, FMCG and capital goods stocks. Market breadth is negative, about 1034 shares have advanced, 1933 shares declined, and 88 shares are unchanged. Midcaps are almost flat. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mixed.

At 10:31 am, the Sensex was up 103 points at 14,912 and the Nifty up 43 points at 4,546.

Markets open lower mirroring weak global cues

The markets have opened lower following weak cues across the globe and selling pressure in banking, power, oil and capital goods stocks but turned volatile in morning trade.

At 9:56 am, the Sensex was down 83 points at 14725 and the Nifty down 26 points at 4476.

ICICI Bank, Reliance Energy, Tata Power, HDFC Bank, Tata Comm, HDFC, Satyam, L&T, Reliance Ind and SBI were major losers.

Asian markets were trading lower barring Nikkei. Shanghai Composite fell 1.79% or 68.21 points at 3,751.84. Hang Seng was down 2.37% or 499.75 points at 20,584.86. Jakarta Composite plunged 2.22% or 51.44 points at 2,260.88.

Straits Times was down 0.82% or 23.01 points at 2,769.74. Seoul Composite went down 3.74 points or 0.24% at 1,570.70. Taiwan Weighted fell 0.07% or 5.56 points at 7,999.90.

However, Japan's Nikkei was up 0.79% or 93.66 points at 11,881.17.

Wall Street did start off on a nervous note but markets recovered some ground in afternoon trade and the Dow finished with a small gain. Investors rewarded JP Morgan for its weekend move on Bear Stearns. But punished other banks on conerns that they might be over valued.

The Dow gained 21.16 points, or 0.18%, to 11,972.25. The Standard & Poor's 500 index was down 11.54 points, or 0.90%, to 1,276.60. The Nasdaq composite index declined 35.48 points, or 1.60%, to 2,177.01.

Market cues:

FIIs net sell $31.9 m in equity on Mar 14
NSE F&O Open Int down Rs 2909 cr at Rs 64335 cr
F&O cues:

Futures Open Int down by Rs 3,530 crore, Options Open Int up by Rs 621 cr
Nifty Futures shed 11 lakh shares in Open Int; at 4-point discount
Stock Futures shed 2.5 cr shares in Open Int
Nifty Open Int PCR at 0.85 vs 0.92
Nifty Puts Open Int unchanged, Calls add 12.3 lakh shares in Open Int
Nifty 4400 Put adds 3.4 lakh shares in Open Int
Nifty 4600 Put sheds 4 lakh shares in Open Int
Nifty 4350 Put adds 2.6 lakh shares in Open Int
Nifty 4700 Put sheds 2.4 lakh shares in Open Int
Nifty 4500 Call adds 3.7 lakh shares in Open Int
Nifty 4700 Call adds 2.2 lakh shares in Open Int
Nifty 4600 Call adds 2 lakh shares in Open Int

Source : MoneyControl

ICICI Bank
Cluster: Apple Green
Recommendation: Buy
Price target: Rs1,528
Current market price: Rs757
Clarification on difference in reported margins
With a view to allay concerns over the difference in margins reported by ICICI Bank, India and the Prudential group UK, ICICI Bank had arranged a conference call to provide clarification

Source : The Sharekhan Research Team

MUMBAI: Equities remained subdued amid turmoil in global financial markets as investors refused to provide relief by way of bottom buying despite the sharp drop in prices. “Having seen no signs of let up ever since the bullish trend reversed in Indian markets, even long term investors have thrown in the towel,” said a dealer from a local brokerage.

At 3 pm, the Sensex was down 870 points or 5.52 per cent at 14,890.18, making a low of 14,883.95. HDFC (down 11.09%), ICICI Bank (10.21%), Jaiprakash Associates (8.78%), Hindalco Industries (7.3%) and Reliance Energy (6.8%) were the biggest index losers. The Nifty was down 239 points or 5.03 per cent at 4507.20, near the low of 4500.20.

A remarkable rise in crude oil prices, weakening dollar, restricted inflow of foreign investors in emerging Asian stock markets left with no other option but to invest in gold, which surged to an all-time high of $1026 an ounce in overseas markets. At home, gold zoomed past all previous records to open at a new peak of Rs 13,500.

Stocks in Europe and Asia tumbled and US futures retreated after the Federal Reserve cut its discount rate at an emergency meeting and JPMorgan Chase agreed to buy Bear Stearns. The FTSE was down 2.5 per cent, the DAX lost 3.6 per cent and the CAC dropped 2.71 per cent.

Source : TET

ICICI Bank has touched a 52-week low of Rs 809. At 10:29 am, the share was quoting at Rs 811.60, down Rs 66.6, or 7.58%.

The ADR was down 4.50%.

It was trading with volumes of 123,578 shares. On Friday the share closed up 4.81% or Rs 40.30 at Rs 878.20.

Currently the share is trading -44.6% below its 52-week high of Rs1,465.

Source : MoneyControl