The Indian markets ended the day on a firm note as buying activity picked up during the final hour of trade. The BSE-Sensex closed higher by about 270 points or 1%, while the NSE-Nifty closed higher by about 85 points or 1%. Gains were seen in stocks across the board, with power and engineering stocks leading the pack of gainers, while FMCG stocks were out of favour today. Midcaps and smallcaps closed the day on a firm note, with their respective indices up by about 1.1% and 1.3% respectively.
Asian stocks ended the day on a firm note; stocks in Europe were trading positive at the time of writing. The rupee was trading at Rs 62.43 to the dollar.
Power stocks closed the day on a firm note led by Adani Power, Reliance Infra and NHPC. Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCIL) closed the day on a firm note as it announced a good set of results during the quarter ended December 2014. The company's profits rose by 18% YoY on the back of similar growth in total income. Growth was led by the company transmission business, wherein revenues grew by over 20% YoY. Revenues from the telecom business were up by about 15% YoY. However, its consulting business was under pressure as revenues fell by a fourth during the quarter. The stock of PGCIL closed higher by about 3% today. Over the last year, the stock has outperformed Sensex as gains in the former stood at about 52% as compared to the index's gain of about 40%. However, in the six months gone by, returns have been similar with both the comparables up by about 10%.
Stocks of aluminium companies ended the day on a firm note with Hindalco and Nalco gaining by about 2.4% and 0.4% respectively. Hindalco announced its results for the quarter ended December 2014 recently. The company reported a 7.5% YoY growth in profits during the quarter. This was on the back of an 18% YoY growth in revenues. Higher realisations and volumes led to this strong growth in revenues. As per the company, the availability of coal was a problem that it was facing, thereby finding it difficult to ramp up production for new aluminium projects. As such, it was looking for faster resolution of this matter. As reported by a business daily, the company has placed bids for 15 coal blocks in the latest round of auctions.
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