Sensex Rises For Fourth Day

(RTTNews) - Indian shares rose on the last day of 2014, led by power, realty, telecom and consumer durable stocks. Rising for the fourth straight session, the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex rose 95.88 points or 0.35 percent to 27,499.42. The broader CNX Nifty index gained 34.45 points or 0.42 percent to finish at 8,282.70.

Small-cap and mid-cap shares outperformed large-cap shares, with the respective benchmark indexes on the BSE rising more than a percent each.

The Sensex rose about 30 percent in 2014, the most among the world's 20 biggest markets after China, as foreign portfolio investors pumped in close to $16 billion in equities on expectations the new government under Narendra Modi will deliver faster economic growth.

Defense equipment makers saw broad-based buying today as the government partially lifted the ban on Tatra trucks and assured changes in procurement policy to allow foreign defense firms to legally hire agents. Dynamatic Technologies, Bharat Electronics and BEML rose 3-5 percent.

Firstsource Solutions jumped 3.4 percent. Firstsource Group USA, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company, has successfully made its seventh quarterly repayment of $11.25 million on its outstanding debt.

Telecom stocks rose across the board after telecom regulator TRAI recommended a base price of Rs 2,720 crore per megahertz (MHz) for pan India 3G spectrum, about 22 percent lower than the previous auction. Bharti Airtel rose 0.6 percent, Idea Cellular rallied 2.5 percent, Reliance Communications edged up 0.3 percent and Tata Teleservices advanced 1.3 percent.

Bajaj Corp added a percent. The company received shareholder approval to hike FII investment limit in the company to 49 percent from present 24 percent.

Atul Auto soared 6.4 percent after foreign brokerage house Goldman Sachs bought a total of 4.05 lakh shares of the company in bulk deals on the BSE Tuesday. KEC International gained 3.7 percent on winning new orders.

Automakers Maruti Suzuki, Bajaj Auto and Mahindra & Mahindra fell between 0.6 percent and 1.8 percent on reports the government is unlikely to extend tax breaks to automobile and consumer durable companies beyond December 31.

SpiceJet tumbled 3.4 percent as the struggling carrier extended its flight cancellations till next month. Orbit Corporation lost 3.4 percent after LIC Housing Finance reportedly took possession of its Mumbai property pursuant to a loan default by the company.

On the global front, the Asian markets turned in a mixed performance on the last trading day of 2014, as oil prices extended declines and concerns over Greece's future in the euro zone continued to drag on sentiment. China's Shanghai Composite index climbed 2.2 percent to close near a five-year high as grim manufacturing data fuelled hopes of additional policy easing.

London's FTSE 100 was rising 0.3 percent and France's CAC 40 was gaining half a percent in holiday-thinned trade.