Nifty ends above 6,700 for first time

03.40 p.m. Markets end at record high. Sensex gains 46 points to end at 22,386, Nifty rises 8 points to close above 6,700 for first time.

3.25 p.m. Shares in LIC Housing Finance fell 1.7 per cent, L&T Finance Holdings declined 1.46 per cent and IDFC lost 3.66 per cent on media reports that the Election Commission would not be holding a meeting on Monday regarding the issuance of new licenses.

3.20 p.m. NSE's midcap index is trading up by 1.24 per cent. In last one week and one month, it has risen by 4.9 per cent and 10.4 per cent in comparison to Nifty's 1.8 per cent and 6.8 per cent gain over the last one week and last one month.

3.00 p.m.  Market update: Sensex recovers, up 8 points, but Nifty still trading lower. High beta metal (up 4 per cent) and realty (up 2.3 per cent) stocks are the big outperformers today. Consumer durables shares also trading 2.7 per cent higher. Hindalco soars 8.4 per cent, JSPL gains 3.7 per cent, Tata Steel rises 3.2 per cent. Analysts say metal stocks have gained on heightened speculation that Beijing will launch new spending measures to kick start its economy.

Nifty losers are ONGC, down 3.2 per cent, IDFC, down 2.9 per cent and Dr Reddy's, down 2.5 per cent. (Track top gainers and losers)
 

2.27 p.m. IT stocks have pared losses and are now down 0.4 per cent as compared to 1 per cent fall in early trade. However, over the last month, IT stocks have fallen 10 per cent as compared to 5.5 per cent rise in the broader Sensex. The appreciation in the rupee and a more aggressive stance by investors in favour of cyclicals and high beta stocks have pressured IT stocks. However, UBS Securities' Gautam Chhaochharia is positive on IT sector. It believes that there are more positive drivers for this sector other than rupee (Read full story).

1.45 p.m. Market update: Sensex, Nifty fall after hitting record highs in early trade. Sensex down 42 points, Nifty falls 20 points. IDFC is biggest loser on Nifty followed by Bank of Baroda. (Track markets)

1:35 p.m. Realty stocks up 2.34 per cent today. Over the last week and month, they have rallied 6.1 per cent and 22 per cent as measured by the CNX Realty index. However, realty stocks are yet to wipe out their losses on a yearly basis. In last one year, the realty index is down over 16 per cent as compared to 17.60 per cent gain in the broader Nifty.

1.12 p.m. Markets continue to be range bound. Sensex up 24 points, but Nifty trading below 6,700 levels. Dealers say markets are likely to continue the pre-election rally. Cash market volumes at $1.1 billion are in line with the recent averages, they add. L&T, Ultratech, Maruti Suzuki, Hero MotoCorp, BPCL, ACC, Siemens, Hindalco and Adani Enterprises are large cap stocks trading at 52-week highs. Gati, Alembic, VIP Industries, Arvind, Va Tech Wabag and EIL are mid cap stocks trading at 1-year highs. (Track the biggest gainers and losers today)

12.40 p.m. Markets continue to trade flat, but these stocks are under focus,

1) JP Morgan upgrades Unitech to neutral. Target Rs 14. Read
Bank of America Merrill Lynch downgrades M&M Financial. Target Rs 220. Read
UBS upgrades Titan to buy. Target Rs 325. Read
UBS downgrades United Spirits to sell. Target Rs 2250. Read
Bank of America Merrill Lynch maintains buy on Havells. Target Rs 1071. Read

12.15 p.m. Sunil Garg of JP Morgan says there is more headroom for markets as technicals look very favourable. Fundamentals will eventually catch up, he says. Further rally in PSU stocks, which have run up sharply, is possible, Mr Garg says. JP Morgan has a buy call on large well-capitalized PSU banks and has a sell call on IT stocks. Mr Garg says policy making and investment has taken a backseat, so post elections there will be more focus on policy making.

12.00 p.m. Markets at noon: Trade continues to be flat amid profit taking in state-run banks, which have gained have gained 13 per cent over the last week as compared to a two per cent gain in the broader Nifty.

IT stocks continue to be under selling pressure, down nearly 1 per cent. Healthcare, FMCG and power stocks are also trading in the red.  Sensex up 26 points at 22,366, Nifty up 3 points at 6,999. (Track markets)

11.27 a.m. Markets turn flat. Sensex up 19 points, Nifty slips below 6,700, up 1 point. PSU banks off day's high, IT stocks fall most. Rupee has strengthened past 60 per dollar, but further appreciation unlikely in a hurry, analysts say. (Read the full story here)

10.47 a.m. Market Update: Nifty trading 6.90 points up at 6,702.80, while Sensex is 43 points higher at 22,383. Gautam Chhaochharia of UBS Securities is of the view that though markets are trading at all-time high, valuations are not at all time high. As per him markets are currently trading at its average valuation of 14.5 times to one year forward earnings. UBS gives a year-end target of 6900 for nifty. This is based on conservative assumptions of 15 times one year forward earnings. UBS expects a 15 per cent earnings growth for FY15.

10.12 a.m. Markets trading off the day's high. Sensex up 70 points, Nifty up 15 points. Some analysts expect profit taking in second half of trade today. Banking stocks are off day's high, while IT stocks have extended losses to nearly 1 per cent now. (Track markets)

09.55 a.m. Market check: Sensex up 109 points, Nifty gains 27 points. PNB is top Nifty gainer, up 2.8 per cent. Bank of Baroda up 2.4 per cent. Bharti Airtel, BPCL and Hindalco are other big gainers.

Nine stocks traded lower on the Nifty. IT stocks such as Tech Mahindra, Wipro, TCS and Infosys are the biggest losers today amid the continued strengthening in the rupee. (Track markets)

The rupee closed at 59.91/92 per dollar on Friday after earlier rising as high as 59.68, its strongest since July 30. Appreciating rupee adversely impacts IT firms, which earn a large portion of their revenues in dollar.

Forex market is closed today for Gudi Padwa.

09.40 a.m. The CNX PSU Bank index gained 13 per cent last week as compared to a two per cent gain in the broader Nifty. Oriental Bank of Commerce, Union Bank and Punjab National Bank have rallied around 13 per cent each, while Bank of India, Allahabad Bank and State Bank of India have risen 10-11 per cent over the last week.

The latest brokerage to turn positive on banks is Barclays, which on Monday upgraded SBI to overweight from equalweight. Barclays also upgraded Bank of Baroda and Punjab National Bank to equalweight from underweight. (Read the full story here)

09.25 a.m. Rakesh Arora of Macquarie says his Nifty target of 7,200 may prove conservative as valuations are still cheap and momentum is strong. Domestic cyclicals, such as banks and industrials, may continue to find favour, he adds. The new government could fast-track projects worth $50 billion in rail, power, roads and water, he added.

09.22 a.m. Sensex up 120 points now, while Nifty up 33 points. State-run banking stocks are rallying for the third straight day, while energy and power stocks are also witnessing buying interest. Banks have rallied on hopes of an economic recovery.

09.15 a.m. Markets hit record high for sixth straight session. Sensex up 100 points, Nifty gains 30 points. (Track stocks)

09.00 a.m. Sarvendra Srivastava says the Nifty is poised for the highest quarterly close. The current rally has got more legs, with upper end targets at 6,800. Reversals are pegged at 6,594.

Sarvendra's trading bets are,

Siemens: Buy with a target of 800 and a stop loss of 728.

AB Nuvo: Buy with a target of 1170 and a stop loss of 1034.

Bank of Baroda: Buy with a target of 790 and a stop loss of 708.

08.40 a.m. Market outlook: Sanjeev Bhasin says second half of trade today could witness profit booking ahead of Reserve Bank's policy meet tomorrow. With Nifty in unchartered territory, 6,800 could be the first resistance. Long on metals, OMCs and PSU banks, while short on oil & gas & IT should do well for today. (For Sanjeev's trading tips, click here)

08.30 a.m. Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange traded 0.40 per cent or 27 points higher at 6,766 indicating a positive opening for Indian share markets.

08.15 a.m. Foreign investors bought shares worth Rs 1,363 crore on Friday, while domestic institutional investors sold shares worth Rs 208 crore.

08.10 a.m. Global cues -- Asian stocks rose on Monday with investors holding out hopes that China would take steps to stimulate the economy. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan tacked on 0.1 per cent after rising to a 3-week high on Friday on the back of heightened speculation Beijing will launch new spending measures and reduced tensions in Ukraine. (Read more)

08.00 a.m. Indian share markets hit a record high for a fifth straight session on Friday amid heavy buying by overseas investors. The Nifty gained after two weeks of modest losses. Overseas funds' net purchases of shares have reached nearly $3 billion so far this month.

A combination of foreign flows, hopes for a recovery in the domestic economy, and bets that the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, perceived as more business-friendly, will come to power have driven a 6.8 per cent gain in the Nifty in 2014 so far. (Read full story here)

Investors say the RBI's policy review on April 1, where it is widely expected to keeps rates unchanged, and the coming general elections would act as the next key catalysts for markets.

The Nifty rose as much as 0.9 per cent to an all-time high of 6,702.60, while the Sensex gained 0.67 per cent to a lifetime high of 22,363.97. The Sensex closed 0.57 per cent higher for the day and 2.7 per cent for the week, while the Nifty ended up 0.82 per cent on Friday while posting a weekly gain of 3.1 per cent.

(With inputs from Reuters)