Market extended its rally for the fourth straight day today, as buying momentum continued.
The BSE Sensex staged a smart recovery after plunging to an intra-day low of 13416.40, on strong buying demand for index pivotals, especially index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL). The buying interest intensified during the later half of the day’s trading session, taking the Sensex to a fresh intra-day high of 13744.17.
The 30-shares BSE Sensex settled 116.57 points higher at 13,731.09. It had opened 81.08 points higher at 13,695.60 as buying continued following 127-point rally on Friday (15 December).
The S&P CNX Nifty rose 40.10 points (1.03%) to 3928.75
The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 3772 crore compared to Friday’s Rs 4174 crore.
Market breadth turned positive, after initial weakness, as buying resumed for small-cap and mid-cap stocks. On BSE, 1321 shares advanced as compared to 1213 that declined. 79 shares remained unchanged. The BSE Small-Cap index closed 38 points higher (0.60%) to 6,706.62 while the BSE Mid-Cap index ended flat at 5,664.23.
The BSE Sensex has gained 736 points (5.66%) in four trading sessions from 12995.02 on 12 December as buying resumed after a sharp fall.
Among the Sensex pack, 19 advanced while the rest declined.
PSU oil exploration major ONGC was the top gainer, up 4.44% to Rs 852.60 on high volumes of 9.30 lakh shares, following reports that it has made a huge gas find in the Bay of Bengal, with initial estimates suggesting reserves of about 21 trillion cubic feet. The stock had surged to a high of Rs 867.70 in early trade.
Pharma major Ranbaxy Laboratories advanced 4.27% to Rs 390.80 on 7.03 lakh shares. Ranbaxy Laboratories entered into a collaborative agreement with the Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India, New Delhi, in the area of New Drug Discovery Research (NDDR). Under the agreement, DST will provide financial support by way of soft loans to the company, to undertake NDDR activity.
Tata Motors gained 3.74% to Rs 889.90 after it said on Monday it had entered a joint venture with Thailand's Thonburi to make pick-up trucks. The joint venture will go on stream in a year's time. The joint venture will facilitate it to access the Thailand market, which is the 2nd largest pickup market in the world after the US. Both partners will jointly manage the operation.
Wipro (up 3.85% to Rs 586), TCS (up 2.41% to Rs 1184) and Hero Honda (up 1.74% to Rs 743.30) advanced.
PSU engineering major Bhel was the top loser, down 4.54% to Rs 2383 on 2.07 lakh shares. It moved in a broad range of Rs 2374–Rs 2523.
Reliance Energy (down 1.30% to Rs 533), ACC (down 0.83% to Rs 1050) and NTPC (down 1.82% to Rs 140.50) edged lower.
Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) surged 3.29% to Rs 1294.80 on 8.10 lakh shares. It had surged to a high of Rs 1297. It has paid advance tax of Rs 444 crore for the third installment taking its total remittance this fiscal to Rs 1102 crore compared to Rs 848 crore paid in the same period last year. There are reports that RIL is talking to Russian government officials to enter the country’s downstream oil sector by investing in the refinery and petrochemical industry. There are also unconfirmed reports that it had acquired Orient Craft, which is a leading garment exporter.
Zee Telefilms, settled at Rs 272.40 on volumes of 34.41 lakh shares. It listed on BSE after its restructuring at Rs 249. It moved in a broad range of Rs 249 – 297.80. It was last traded at Rs 341 on Friday (15 December). There are reports that Zee plans to raise Rs 900 crore via equity sale in Dish TV, WWIL once they are listed. According to the scheme of demerger approved by Bombay High Court, Zee Telefilms has demerged its cable undertaking into Wire & Wireless India (WWIL) and the regional and news broadcasting undertaking into Zee News (ZNL). Shareholders of ZTL would receive 45 shares of ZNL and 50 shares of WWIL for every 100 shares held in ZTL. Both companies would be listed independently. The listing is likely to take place in January 2007.
L.T. Overseas settled at slight discount at Rs 55 on high volumes of 54.13 lakh shares, compared to its IPO price of Rs 56 per share. The stock listed on BSE at 7.14% premium at Rs 60 and hit an intra-day high of Rs 62.90. Its intra-day low was Rs 51
The BSE Oil and Gas Index advanced 3% to settle at 6,151.24. GAIL (up 4.70% to Rs 258.65), IOC (up 1.08% to Rs 440.10) and BPCL (up 1.06% to Rs 328.70) advanced.
Tata Power Company jumped 6.73% to Rs 595.25 after reports that it had won a bid for building a 4,000 megawatt coal-fired plant at Mundra in western India.
Lanco Infratech added nearly 7% to Rs 261.70 following reports it had won the bid for a 4,000-megawatt power plant at Sasan in central India.
Glenmark Pharmaceuticals rose 2.89% to Rs 599.10 following reports it had received 25 million euros in up-front payment from Germany's Merck KGaA for development of a diabetes drug.
Ashok Leyland rose 1.55% to Rs 42.65 after it signed an agreement with Australia's Brehon Energy Plc for technology for use of hythane gas in its compressed natural gas engines. The technology would enable Ashok Leyland, to operate its 6-cylinder 'H' series of engines on hythane, a prepared blend of hydrogen and natural gas which cuts emissions further than CNG.
Hindustan Zinc lost 4.69% to Rs 852 after it cut zinc and lead prices by 0.35% and 0.22% respectively.
ABG Shipyard gained 2.74% to Rs 230.40 after the company bagged a Rs 100 crore order from Vroon Offshore for construction of a diving support vessel from Vroon Offshore B.V., With the latest order win, the company’s total order book has risen to about Rs 2400 crore, the company said.
UltraTech Cement jumped 5.20% to Rs 1075 on reports it had paid advance tax of Rs 96 crore for the third installment of 15 December 2006. The company’s tax provision in Q3 December 2005 was just Rs 20.35 crore.
Yokogawa India surged 7.24% to Rs 408, even as its Japanese parent said it is ready to offer a maximum Rs 380 per shares for its delisting. Yokogawa Electric Corp. Japan has 83.19% stake in Yokogawa India. On 16 December 2006, the board of Yokogawa India agreed the proposal received from the Japanese parent to delist its shares from the stock exchanges. The floor price for reverse book building is set at Rs 320 which is the average price of past 26 weeks.
Most Asian markets were little moved on Monday as traders awaited a Bank of Japan policy decision for clearer signals on the direction of Japanese interest rates. The central bank is expected to leave its key interest rate unchanged at 0.25%, so the focus will be on clues on future policy direction. The Bank of Japan's two-day meeting that ends on Tuesday.
Japan's Nikkei gained 0.28% or 47.80 points at 16,962.11 with investors buying exporters such as Honda Motor Co. Ltd. on a softer yen.
The Hang Seng index gained 0.43% or 81.70 points to 19,192.35
As per provisional figures, FIIs were net buyers to the tune of Rs 374 crore on Friday 15 December, the day when Sensex had risen 127 points.
FIIs were net buyers to the tune of Rs 128 crore in index-based futures and Rs 175 crore in individual stock futures on 15 December.
Meanwhile, RBI on 15 December came out with new capital market exposure norms for banks which would come into force from April 2007. In terms of the new guidelines, the exposure of a bank to the capital market cannot exceed 40% of its net worth as on 31 March of the previous year.
US stocks rose in heavy volume on Friday, pushing the Dow to a record as tame consumer prices reassured investors inflation was under control and economic growth was still strong enough to support profits. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 28.76 points, or 0.23%, to end at 12,445.52. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 1.60 points, or 0.11%, to finish at 1,427.09. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 3.35 points, or 0.14%, to close at 2,457.20.
Oil prices fell in Asian trade on profit-taking after significant gains last week following OPEC's move to cut production further. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for January delivery, was down 26 cents to $63.17 a barrel from $63.43 in the United States on Friday.