Sensex, Nifty set new records

The market fired on all cylinders for the second straight day following positive global cues, and a robust set of results from India Inc. A lot of shares struck their all-time highs.

The 30-shares BSE Sensex finished 136.59 points higher, at 14,403.77, an all-time closing high. It had opened higher, at 14,293.11, and had gone on to attain an all-time high of 14,462.77.

The new found vigour on the bourses is because of firm global markets after the US Federal Reserve’s decision to keep interest rates steady.

The S&P CNX Nifty rose 46.30 points (1.12%) to 4183.50, an all-time closing high. It had surged to an all-time high, 4,198.70, in intra-day trading.

The market-breadth was strong, as small-cap and mid-cap stocks were in fashion. For 1,396 shares advancing, 1,274 declined. A total of 52 remained unchanged. Analysts expect the action to stay in this space, outperforming large-cap peers on account of robust results.

The total turnover on BSE amounted to a healthy Rs 5433 crore, as compared to Rs 4012 crore on Thursday.

Among the 30-member Sensex pack, 20 advanced while the rest declined.

Bharti Airtel was the top gainer, up 5.39% to Rs 771.05, on a volume of 5.72 lakh shares. It also struck an all-time high of Rs 777.20, in intra-day trade.

Reliance Communications (RCL) was up 3.54% to Rs 490.55, after hitting a high of Rs 497. As many as 31.63 lakh shares changed hands in the RCL counter on BSE. They are expected to report strong growth in new subscriptions. The media is abuzz with reports that Reliance Communications was planning a $2.5 billion expenditure for expanding domestic operations in the forthcoming financial year. Also, there were reports that TRAI has cut interconnection rates by 23 - 29%.

L&T jumped 4.89% to Rs 1679 on 2.31 lakh shares. It had surged to an all-time high of Rs 1690.

HDFC (up 3.74% to Rs 1735.05), and Reliance Energy (up 1.83% to Rs 534.10) were the other gainers.

IT stocks saw renewed buying. The BSE IT index gained 44.06 points (0.82%) to 5,392.29. Wipro (up 3.38% to Rs 643.45), TCS (up 0.53% to Rs 1299.40) and Satyam Computer (up 3.53% to Rs 490.90) were the chief gainers in this pack. Market rumours about Wipro eyeing around $25 - 100 million foreign buys kept the stock simmering.

Gujarat Ambuja Cements advanced 2.48% to Rs 142.80, on a volume of 23.15 lakh shares. Gujarat Ambuja Cements (GACL) declared its the December quarter numbers. GACL's net profit was up Rs 337 crore for the quarter ended December 2006, compared to Rs 87.90 crore, for the quarter ended December 2005. Net sales increased to Rs 1329 crore (Rs 773 crore). Gujarat Ambuja Cements (GACL) announced its January cement sales numbers. The company's cement sales increased by 6% to 1.49 million tonnes against 1.19 MT in the same month a year ago.

Private sector steel firm, Tata Steel, bounced back after declining sharply by around 12% in the past two sessions, on concerns that it had paid an excessive price to acquire Corus. Tata Steel advanced 1.14% to Rs 462.95, on a volume of 35.59 lakh shares. It had surged to a high of Rs 472.40 in intra-day trade.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) slipped in the red, down 0.24% to Rs 1372.30, on a volume of 7.84 lakh shares. It had touched a high of Rs 1393.35.

Maruti Udyog gained 0.61% to Rs 945.05, as the company raised prices of its cars by up to Rs 12,000. Prices of the Baleno sedan and Gypsy King multi-utility have been raised by Rs 12,000, while the Wagon R hatchback and newly launched Zen Estillo will cost Rs 3,500 more.

The mini-Maruti 800, Omni, Alto, Esteem mid-size and Swift's petrol variant will cost Rs 2000 more. The prices have been raised to offset rising input costs, Maruti Udyog said in an official statement issued to the exchanges.

NTPC was the top loser, down 2.30% to Rs 142.35, on a volume of 6.33 lakh shares.

PSU banking major, SBI, lost 2.20% to Rs 1177, while Hero Honda slipped 1.22% to Rs 715.25.

HFCL jumped 10% (maximum limit) to Rs 29, on huge volumes of 1.51 crore shares, with pending buy orders of 1.30 lakh shares on BSE.

Shares from capital goods sector saw strong buying interest, on the back of strong order-book and consistent order win. Analysts expect the sector to outperform the broader indices. The BSE Capital Goods index advanced 235.71 points (2.46%), to 9,823.81, and was the biggest gainer among the BSE sectoral indices.

The scrips to make merry Jyoti Structures (up 5% to Rs 178.55), Greaves Cotton (up 9.10% to Rs 371), Gammon India (up 8.32% to Rs 418), Crompton Greaves (up 4.44% to Rs 208.15), Suzlon (up 3.82% to Rs 1219.50), Areva T&D (up 3.92% to Rs 1266.25), and Praj Industries (up 3.47% to Rs 341.20).

UTI Bank surged 8.34% to Rs 587.35, extending a recent surge triggered by S&P raising its rating on the private sector bank. The stock hit a high of Rs 615, a life high for the counter. On 30 January 2007, global rating agency Standard and Poor’s (S&P) lifted the country’s rating to investment grade.

The improvement in ratings is likely to help banks raise funds more cheaply abroad to meet their capital requirements. Just before the S&P upgrade, UTI Bank raised $250 million from a three-year floating rate bond priced at 47 basis points above the three-month London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor).

Auto parts firm Denso India rose 0.70% to Rs 92.20, after its board approved investing Rs 28 crore over four years to build a unit for two-wheeler components. The approval was announced late on Thursday.

Tata Chemicals rose 3.75% to Rs 237.80, after it agreed to form an equal joint venture with Ireland's Total Produce to distribute fresh fruits and vegetables in India.

Strides Arcolab rose 1.18% to Rs 385.45, after its European joint venture unit signed an agreement to acquire a stake in Norwegian Farma Plus.

Cummins advanced 2 % to Rs 278.50, on high volumes of 23.97 lakh shares, after a block deal of 15 lakh shares was struck in the counter at Rs 275 per share.

State-run Steel Authority of India rose 0.80% to Rs 113.25, after it received orders worth Rs 117 crore from the government for supplying 11,300 tonnes of ferritic stainless steel strips.

Indiabulls Financial Services rose nearly 9.44% to Rs 423.65, extending Thursday’s rise after reporting a strong financial performance for Q3 Dec-2006. Indiabulls Financial Services rose nearly 4% to Rs 401.70, extending Thursday’s rise after reporting a strong financial performance for Q3 December 2006. Indiabulls Financial Services’ consolidated net profit for the quarter ended 31 December 2006, grew 55.9% to Rs 117.6 crore compared with Rs 71.6 crore in the corresponding period last fiscal. Total consolidated revenues rose by 103.5% in the third quarter to Rs 334.53 crore from the previous year's Rs 164.37 crore.

S Kumar's Nationwide advanced 0.24% to Rs 72.75, after scheduling a board meeting on 3 February 2007, to consider a swap ratio for the demerger of the retail business.

VSNL gained 6% to Rs 505.45, after its ADR rose nearly 4% on Thursday (1 February 2007) to $21.83.

Garments manufacturer, Gokaldas Exports, rose 1.64% to Rs 624.75 after fixing 15 February 2007 as record date for a stock-split. Accordingly, the Rs 10 face value share will now be sub-divided into two of face value Rs 5 each.

The Nikkei share average rose 0.16% to a 10-month closing high on Friday after hitting its highest in more than six years, as investors snapped up shares of companies reporting upbeat earnings' figures such as Casio Computer and Dowa Holdings. The Nikkei gained 27.61 points to 17,547.11, the highest close since last April. Earlier, it rose as high as 17,633.61, its highest since July 2000.

The Hang Hang index rose 133.52 points (0.65%), to 20,563.68.

India's wholesale price index rose 6.11% in the 12 months to 20 January, higher than previous week's annual rise of 5.95% due to a rise in prices of manufactured products and foods, data showed on Friday. The annual inflation rate was 4.24% during the corresponding week of the previous year.

As per provisional data, FIIs were net sellers to the tune of Rs 242 crore on Thursday, the day when the Sensex had surged 176 points. They were net buyers to the tune of Rs 418 crore in index-based futures that day. They were net sellers to the tune of Rs 88 crore in individual stock futures that day.

US stocks gained on Thursday, propelling the Dow to a record close, on stronger-than-expected earnings and expectations that interest rates will not rise in the near future.

The Dow Jones industrial average shot up 51.99 points, or 0.41%, to 12,673.68. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 7.70 points, or 0.54%, to 1,445.94. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 4.45 points, or 0.18%, to 2,468.38.

The S&P 500 index had its highest close since-September 2000, while the Dow also reached a record intra-day high at 12,682.57.

A worse-than-expected manufacturing report and falling natural gas prices pulled the plug on Thursday, on a two-day oil rally that saw prices jump more than $4 a barrel.

Light, sweet crude for March delivery fell 84 cents, to settle at $57.30, a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $1.17 a barrel on Wednesday and by $2.96 on Tuesday. Brent crude for March delivery fell 68 cents to $56.72 a barrel on London's ICE Futures exchange