Sensex sheds 13 points

The market witnessed a bout of volatility towards the close of the trading session on account of expiry of December 2006 derivatives contracts.

The 30-shares BSE Sensex settled 13.35 points lower at 13,846.34. It had opened on a firm note at 13893.29 and surged to a high of 13,960.39 by minutes of commencement of trade. It touched an intra-day low of 13819.77 in late afternoon session.

The S&P CNX Nifty rose 4.10 points to 3978.35. It had surged to a high of 3997.35 in early trades. It also touched a low of 3961.95.

The market breadth was negative with 1234 shares advancing on BSE as compared to 1375 shares that declined. 73 shares were unchanged.

The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 3966 crore as compared to Rs 3664 crore on Wednesday (27 December)

Among the Sensex pack, 16 declined while the rest advanced.

Drug maker Cipla was the top loser, down 2.77% to Rs 252.35 on 1.43 lakh shares. It has slipped from high of Rs 260.45.

SBI (down 1.27% to Rs 1235), Dr Reddy’s (down 1.13% to Rs 798.40) and Tata Steel (down 1.05% to Rs 476.25) followed.

Reliance Communications was down 0.41% to Rs 473 on high volumes of 27.48 lakh shares. it had touched a high of Rs 485. The company is reported to be interested in bidding for rival Hutchison Essar. Anil Ambani will address a press conference at 16:00 IST on Thursday amidst raging speculation that he will announce his firm's next move in the battle for Hutch-Essar.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) was down 0.78% to Rs 1282.80 on 13.19 lakh shares. The company is reportedly planning to invest Rs 5,000 crore for gasification of lignite in south Gujarat. The project will be a joint venture between (RIL) and Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation (GMDC). The private sector oil refiner is said to be negotiating with GMDC and scouting for lignite reserves in south Gujarat.

HDFC Bank was the top gainer, up 2% to Rs 1078 after its ADR gained 3% to $73.89 on Wednesday on the NYSE.

Hero Honda (up 1.83% to Rs 758), TCS (up 1.73% to Rs 1216) and ITC (up 1.47% to Rs 179) were the other gainers.

Tech Mahindra was the top traded counter on BSE with total turnover of Rs 317.61 crore followed by Indiabulls Financial Services (Rs 217.64 crore) and Reliance Industries (Rs 169.64 crore).

HCL Technologies gained 2.21% to Rs 633.90 on total volume of 21.17 lakh shares after a block deal of 5 lakh shares was struck on the counter on BSE at Rs 619 per share.

Indiabulls Financial Services advanced 5.18% to Rs 673.95 on high volumes of 32.72 lakh shares as buying continued, a day ahead of the last trading date for shareholder eligibility to get the shares of the real estate firm. The stock had spurted 9.4% to Rs 590.30 on 21 December on high volume of 56.9 lakh shares on BSE after the company announced 9 January 2007 as record date for its demerged real estate business, now brought under Indiabulls Real Estate (IREL). The stock enters no-delivery period on BSE from 2 January 2007 to 8 January 2007, for the purpose of the demerger of the real estate business.

The Nikkei share average ended flat on Thursday as Nippon Steel Corp. and its peers drew buyers, while Canon Inc. and other recent gainers fell on concern that their prices may have advanced too quickly. The Nikkei was up 0.01%, or 1.66 points, at 17,224.81.

Oil prices firmed above $60 on Thursday after losing $3 over the last four sessions on mild U.S. weather, with dealers looking ahead to weekly oil data expected to show a drop in crude and a rise in heating fuel stocks. U.S. light crude futures gained 13 cents at $60.47 a barrel after touching a one-month low of $60.25 a barrel on Wednesday. Brent crude rose 8 cents to $60.60.

The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 102.94 points, or 0.83%, to end at a record 12,510.57. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index advanced 9.94 points, or 0.70%, to finish at 1,426.84, while, The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 17.71 points, or 0.73%, to close at 2,431.22.

Mutual Funds were net buyers of Rs 336 crore in equity on 26 December