Strong market breadth

The market breadth was strong on BSE as buying was spread across small-cap and mid-cap stocks.

At 12:33 IST, Sensex was up 106.51 points at 13,980.84. 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 had touched an intra-day low of 13916.18

The market breadth was strong with over 1.5 gainers for every loser on BSE. 1461 shares advanced on BSE as compared to 932 that declined. 86 shares were unchanged. The BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.58% while the BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.83%.

The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 2419 crore.

Among the Sensex pack, 25 advanced while the rest declined.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) was the top gainer, up 2.40% to Rs 1290.50 on 5.92 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.

Tata Steel gained 2.01% to Rs 477.50 on 3.62 lakh shares. 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.

Gujarat Ambuja rose 0.90% to Rs 145.70 after its November 2006 cement despatches increased 9% to 1.31 million tonnes

Hindalco (up 1.67% to Rs 176.30), L&T (up 1.27% to Rs 1440) and Infosys (up 1.11% to Rs 2230) were the other gainers.

HDFC was the top loser, down 1.02% to Rs 1607.50 on 1.50 lakh shares.

Cipla (down 0.39% to Rs 252.70) and Bharti Airtel (down 0.18% to Rs 630) were the other losers.

Era Constructions rose 2.81% to Rs 531.80 after 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 3.11% to Rs 68 after reports that Sebi may ask Heidelberg to hike open offer price to Rs 72.50 per share.

Essar Steel advanced 2.80% to Rs 36.75 on reports that it is likely to buy an integrated steel company in Eastern Europe.

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).