Sensex, Nifty strike record closing highs

Market extended its rally for the fifth straight day as buying continued. Metal and IT stocks were in demand.

The 30-share BSE Sensex settled 63.32 points higher at 13,937.65, a lifetime closing high. It came off the higher level after opening with an upward gap of 154.14 points at 14,028.47, which is also its all time high. Sensex touched an intra-day low of 13905.65. It took 26 sessions for the Sensex to reach 14,000 mark from its close of 13,024.26 points on 30 October.

The S&P CNX Nifty also settled at lifetime closing high at 4015.35, up 14.35 points from its previous close. It had surged to an all time high of 4033.20.

The market breadth stayed positive with 1307 shares advancing on BSE as compared to 1263 that declined. 68 shares were unchanged. The BSE Small-Cap index rose 23 points or 0.34% to 6,799.99 while the BSE Mid-Cap index gained 10.5 points or 0.2% to 5,829.47

The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 4743 crore as compared to Rs 4836 crore on Monday (4 December)

Among the Sensex pack, 18 declined while the rest advanced.

Tata Steel was the top gainer, up 5.60% to Rs 494.25 on 16.75 lakh shares. It moved in range of Rs 470.65- 494.90. The company said on Monday, it had signed an agreement with Nippon Yasen Kabushiki Kaisha to form a 50:50 shipping joint venture. The JV will cater to both dry and bulk cargo.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) rose 1.50% to Rs 1279 on 9 lakh shares. The stock had opened with huge upward gap at Rs 1350, which is also its 52-week high. The company said on 1 December, that its hydrotreater plant at Jamnagar refinery, which was partially damaged in a fire on 25 October, has been refurbished and has started functioning. Also there are unconfirmed reports that it is set to acquire Adani Retail, the Gujarat based retail chain controlled by the Adani Group. The acquisition of Adani Retail will provide RIL with a readymade retail infrastructure and real estate to begin operations in Gujarat.

Reliance Communications rose 3.67% to Rs 459.10 after reports suggested the company has invited bids for 90-100 million cellular lines valued at $7-8 billion.

Gujarat Ambuja was the top loser, down 1.66% to Rs 142 on 13.08 lakh shares. Its November 2006 cement despatches increased 9% to 1.31 million tonnes. The stock had hit a intra-day high of Rs 147.45

HDFC (down 1.48% to Rs 1600), Grasim (down 1.45% to Rs 2745) and HDFC Bank (down 1.41% to Rs 1085) were the other losers.

Metal stocks advanced on the back of renewed buying interest, with the BSE metal index rising the most among the sectoral indices by 2.01% or 180.28 points to 9148.25. Major gainers from the sector were Ispat Industries (up 1.82% to Rs 11.20), Hindustan Copper (up 5% to Rs 102.25), Maharashtra Seamless (up 3.43% to Rs 482.15), Sesa Goa (up 2.22% to Rs 1288), Hindalco (up 1.33% to Rs 175.70), Jindal Stainless (up 3.67% to Rs 124.40) and SAIL (up 2.45% to Rs 87.90) moved higher.

IT stocks were in demand as buying interest resumed in the sector, with the BSE IT index rising 1.19% or 61 points to 5197.44. IT bellwether Infosys Technologies gained 1.39% to Rs 2236 after its ADR rose 2.7% on Monday to $54.42. Other IT stocks Wipro (up 0.42% to Rs 592.80), i-flex (up 4% to Rs 1768), HCL Technologies (up 1.92% to Rs 635) and Satyam Computers (up 0.38% to Rs 460) moved higher.

Select sugar stocks surged for the second straight day on speculation that export ban may be lifted shortly. Bajaj Hindustan (up 4.51% to Rs 258.45), Balrampur Chini Mills (up 3.10% to Rs 91.75), Bannari Amman Sugars (up 2.62% to Rs 842), Dhampur Sugar Mills (up 1.21% to Rs 96.10), KM Sugar Mills (up 2.05% to Rs 54.70), Shree Renuka Sugar (up 1.20% to Rs 535) and Sakthi Sugar (up 1.69% to Rs 117) advanced.

Eicher Motors lost 2.87% to Rs 391 despite reporting 38% rise in November 2006 sales to 2201 units.

MSK Projects rose 3.52% to Rs 94.10 after the company bagged an order worth Rs 21.20 crore from Pimpri Chinchwada Municipal Corporation, Pune for improvement, maintenance and repairs of roads.

Bharat Earth Movers lost 1.21% to Rs 1023.55. There are reports that it has signed a deal with US-based Terex Mining to manufacture and sell mining haul trucks in India and overseas.

Readymade apparel major Pearl Global jumped 10% to Rs 137.55 after the company bagged an order H & M of Sweden and Netherlands for supply of knitted T-shirts, valued at about Rs 2.25 crore.

Era Constructions slipped 0.18% to Rs 516.30 on volumes of 15 lakh shares. The company was awarded contract by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for design, construction, development, finance, operation and maintenance of new 4 lane Gwalior Bypass of on BOT Annuity Basis (the 'project') in consortium with other members. The contract shall be executed by the company over a period of two and a half years and the total annuity per annum is Rs 53.06 crore during the concession period of Seventeen and half years.

Mysore Cements rose 1.06% to Rs 66.65 after reports that Sebi may ask Heidelberg to hike open offer price to Rs 72.50 per share.

Essar Steel advanced 3.22% to Rs 36.90 on reports that it is likely to buy an integrated steel company in Eastern Europe.

Bharat Bijlee rose 1.21% to Rs 1204 after a block deal of 1.45 lakh shares was struck on the counter at Rs 1180 per share on BSE by 10:23 IST. The stock had surged to intra-day high of Rs 1275 just after the block deal was executed.

J&K Bank gained 1.39% to Rs 548 after RBI allowed FIIs to purchase up to 40% in the bank.

Plywood maker Greenply Industries jumped 7.59% to Rs 102.05 after the firm said it had signed a deal to sell carbon credits worth $5 million. The deal would add 500,000 euros annually to its revenues from FY 2007 to till 2012.

Market sentiment remains strong due to strong FII inflow, continued strong economic data and robust corporate earnings. Firmness is likely to prevail in the near term, as traders will build positions on expectations of strong Q3 December 2006 results.

The Nikkei average lost 37.83 points or 0.23% to 16,265.76 while the Hang Seng advanced 241.46 points or 1.29% to 18,944.19

Oil prices rose slightly Tuesday as traders watched US winter weather and anticipated further production cuts by OPEC nations. On Tuesday, light sweet crude for January delivery was up 16 cents to $62.60 a barrel in Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

US stocks rose on Monday as a string of corporate takeovers and lower oil prices boosted optimism about the outlook for profits. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 89.72 points, or 0.74%, to 12,283.85. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 12.41 points, or 0.89%, to 1,409.12. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 35.18 points, or 1.46%, to 2,448.39. The S&P 500 soared to a six-year high during the session, while the Nasdaq recorded its biggest one-day percentage gain in nearly a month, snapping a two-session losing streak.

On 1 December 2006, FIIs were net buyers of stocks to the tune of Rs 349.30 crore (gross purchases worth Rs 1,872.30 crore and gross sales of Rs 1,523.10 crore) while domestic mutual funds were net buyers of stocks to the tune of Rs 304.33 crore (gross purchases worth Rs 666.34 crore and gross sales of Rs 362.01 crore).