Sensex Rises for Third Day, Gains Nearly 150 Points

BSE Sensex ended 145 higher at 26,575, marking its third gains in a row. Nifty settled above 7,900, rising nearly 48 points to close at 7,927. Power and mining stocks were in limelight today after the government yesterday cleared the way for e-auction of coal mines while opening the door for future commercial mining.

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1. Among metal shares, JSPL soared 7.3 per cent while Sesa Sterlite rose 4.5 per cent and Hindalco 1.3 per cent. The government yesterday announced that it is using an executive order or ordinance to acquire the land of nearly 214 coal blocks that were cancelled in September by the Supreme Court. Private end-users will get coal mines through e-auctions.
2. State-run power producer NTPC rose 2.7 per cent. The government said PSUs will be allocated coal mines.
3. Coal India slipped nearly 1.5 per cent. Some investors were expecting Coal India to temporarily take over the operations of 42 de-allocated coal blocks that were functional. The Supreme Court had asked the previous holders of the coal blocks to wind up mining operations in six months. The government said that the e-auction process would be rolled out in 3-4 months.
4. Hemant Kale, founder of ZEST Capital, said if the Nifty manages to close above 7,950 in next few sessions, we could see a level of 8,050 during expiry next week.
5. PNB fell 2.4 per cent after its Q2 earnings missed estimates.
6. HDFC Bank reported a 20 percent rise in quarterly net profit, lagging estimates, due to higher tax expenses and provisioning for loan losses. The stock ended flat.
7. Broader markets outperformed with BSE midcap index rising 0.9 per cent.
8. Some profit-taking was seen oil & gas stocks with ONGC falling 2.6 per cent and BPCL 1.3 per cent.
9. Overseas investors snapped five-day selling streak yesterday, buying shares worth Rs 1,040 crore on Monday, according to NSE data.
10. Asian markets ended mixed today. Data released today showed Chinese economy grew slightly more than expected in the third quarter but it slowed from 7.5 per cent in the second quarter. European markets were higher in recent trade today. (With Agency Inputs)