Up on bargain buying!

Positive momentum was carried into the closing stages and while the benchmark indices did slip up a bit towards the fag end, they managed to close comfortably in the positive. The BSE Sensex edged higher by around 260 points whereas NSE Nifty witnessed an 80 point gain (both up 1.4% each). BSE Midcap and small cap indices did not perform as well as their large cap counterparts but still edged higher by 0.7% and 0.5% respectively. More than three stocks on the Sensex had a positive closing today for every stock that closed in the red. Majority of the Asian indices closed strong today whereas Europe is trading mixed currently. The rupee was trading at Rs 45.8 to the dollar at the time of writing. Today's gains were a welcome break from the drubbing the markets received last week, whereby it lost more than 2%. It must have been driven by bargain hunting by investors as markets have corrected around 10% in recent weeks, retreating from its all time highs. With individual stocks correcting even more, the opportunity to buy into the long term India growth story was there for the taking and investors seemed to have capitalised on the same. Besides, what also helped the indices was Europe's decision to bailout Ireland, which further buoyed sentiments. State run power equipment manufacturer, BHEL, can easily be termed as one of the fastest growing PSUs in recent years. However, it looks like the company is in a mood to exceed even its current rate of growth. This, it aims to do by diversifying into other segments like finance. As per a leading daily, the company has appointed Crisil as the consultant for undertaking a study for floating an NBFC (Non Banking Finance Company). As per the company's management, the NBFC would be the company's arm for financing of power projects. BHEL would get other strategic investor on board and will itself assume the role of a minority stake holder. The stock closed 3% higher on the bourses today. News of misdoings in the telecom and realty spaces has taken its toll on the companies belonging to these two sectors. As per a leading daily, companies like RCom and DB Realty are amongst the 25 companies that have hit their lifetime lows today. The 2G scam seems to have pulled RCom to a new low as the stock closed nearly 3% lower today. Realty major DB Realty also bore the brunt, emerging as one of the biggest losers since the unearthing of the housing scam. As per reports, the stock is currently a whopping 59% lower than the price at which the stock was issued in its recently concluded IPO. Clearly there seems to be no place to hide currently for the companies believed to be involved in scams.