I've learned that everyone wants to live on top of the mountain, but all the happiness and growth occurs while you're climbing it.
The bulls didn't want to postpone their celebrations and climbed Mount 15K in a hurry on Friday. Now, people are already talking about ' Sweet 16k', 'Going on 17k' and one of the reports mentions 18K this fiscal year. Even if we get there within the specified timeframe there is surely going to be more than a few hiccups along the way. In the immediate term, things appear to be bright (not weather wise though) for the bulls, buoyed by persistent inflow of liquidity. Global markets too are on a firm footing, though high crude oil prices are a cause of concern. We expect the positive undertone to continue this morning. But, given the big event risk in terms of quarterly earnings, particularly from the IT firms, the market could turn volatile and rangebound any moment.
The event to watch out for this week is undoubtedly the Infosys results on Wednesday. The market is very keenly waiting to hear from the IT bellwether on the business outlook given the sharp appreciation in the rupee this year. Any negative surprise from Infy, and the IT sector will get hit further. And, because IT has sufficient representation in the key indices, they too might be knocked back slightly. Today, the market is likely to remain sideways with a positive bias. Having said that, the IT stocks rallied on Friday and as did Infosys. If one is brave enough, one can bet on the IT sector as it has already been pegged back quite a lot in the past three months or so. But, here we are only talking about the large caps.
US stocks rose on Friday, on the back of encouraging jobs report and continuation of the M&A deals. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index had its biggest weekly gain since April.
Last week's reports, especially the jobs data, provided further evidence that a strengthening economy will sustain corporate profit growth. Oil companies, led by Exxon Mobil advanced after crude oil prices jumped above $72 a barrel.
The S&P 500 climbed 1.8% to 1530.44 last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 1.5% to 13,611.68. The Nasdaq Composite index gained 2.4% to 2666.51, the biggest rise since the week ended March 23.
US markets were closed July 4 for Independence Day.
Treasury prices fell after the jobs report, raising the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to 5.18% from 5.14%. Oil prices rose, with US light crude for August delivery up $1 to $72.81 a barrel in New York. COMEX gold for August delivery rose $4.20 to $654.80 an ounce.
European shares advanced on Friday. The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 index gained 0.5% at 396.80. The French CAC-40 closed up 0.7% at 6,102.69, the UK's FTSE 100 rose 0.8% to 6,690.10 and the German DAX increased 0.8% to 8,048.32.
In the emerging markets, the Bovespa in Brazil was up 0.9% at 56,443 while the IPC index in Mexico gained 0.7% at 32,411 and the RTS index in Russia added 0.08% to 1974.
Asian markets were all up this morning. The Morgan Stanley Capital International Asia-Pacific Index added 0.5% to 156.94 as of 10.34 a.m. in Tokyo, set for a record. The index slipped 0.1% at 156.23 on July 6, after gaining 2.3% in the first four days of the month.
Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average advanced 0.5% to 18,239.42. Benchmarks in other markets open for trading also rose. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong was up 114 points at 22,645.
Bulls marked a historical run as it settled on an all time closing high after the benchmark Sensex breached the 15000mark in intra-day. In a Historical trading session the index closed at a new all time high of 14957.64 led by the Techies. IT bellwether Infosys was at the forefront along with Satyam Computer and Wipro. The IT index gained by over 3%, others like Auto and Capital Good index followed suit. The mining stocks also gained momentum on news of new policy. Even the Small Cap and the Mid-Cap index participated in the historical rally. However, Banking, Metal and Pharma index lost ground.
Heavyweight Infosys was the top mover as the scrip lifted the benchmark index Sensex by 41 points. Finally, the 30-share Sensex added 102 points to close at 14964. NSE-50 Nifty was up 30 points to close at 4384.
Rolta advanced by 0.5% to Rs452 after the company announced that they have acquired Orion Technology Inc. The scrip touched intra-day high of Rs470 and a low of Rs454 and recorded volumes of over 7,00,000 shares on NSE.
Wipro gained by 3% to Rs519 as its consumer care arm has acquired Singapore-based Unza. Earlier, Dabur India was to buy the company but dropped the plan. Reports also suggested that Godrej and Emami had thrown their hats in the ring for Unza. The scrip touched intra-day high of Rs521 and a low of Rs504 and recorded volumes of over 17,00,000 shares on NSE.
L&T advanced by 1.5% to Rs2364 after the company yesterday announced that they would start 3 units for railways, power and shipbuilding. The scrip touched intra-day high of Rs2388 and a low of Rs2330 and recorded volumes of over 8,00,000 shares on NSE.
MRPL surged by over 3.5% to Rs42 after the Oil Minister said the company would earn $2bn in 3 years from Mauritius exports. The scrip touched intra-day high of Rs42 and a low of Rs40 and recorded volumes of over 10,00,000 shares on NSE.
Reliance Communication gained 1.3% to Rs550 amid reports of a proposed Rs30bn expansion for its existing GSM business. The scrip touched intra-day high of Rs567 and a low of Rs545 and recorded volumes of over 6,00,000 shares on NSE.
PTC rallied by over 10% to Rs69 after the company is another stock to keep an eye on as Blackstone and Goldman Sachs may pick up 49% stake in the finance arm of the power trading firm. The scrip touched intra-day high of Rs73 and a low of Rs64 and recorded volumes of over 2,00,000 shares on NSE.
Cipla lost by 1.9% to Rs212. According to reports that Reliance Lifesciences is contemplating acquiring the pharma major. The scrip touched intra-day high of Rs219 and a low of Rs211 and recorded volumes of over 29,00,000 shares on NSE.
Mining stocks hogged the limelight on news of new mining policy. Ashapura Minechem surged by over 5% to Rs401, Sesa Goa pared its gains by 0.5% to Rs1790 and Gujarat Mineral spurred by over 2% to Rs850.
IT stocks gained momentum despite rupee strengthening against the US Dollar. Satyam Computer surged by over 5% to Rs488, Wipro gained by 3% to Rs519 and Infosys added 3% to Rs1971. Polaris, Mphasis BFL and HCL Tech were the major gainers among the Mid-Cap stocks.
Fund Activity:
FIIs were net buyers of Rs5.41bn (provisional) in the cash segment on Friday. Local institutions were net buyers at Rs163.9mn. In the F&O segment, FIIs pumped in Rs4.92bn on the same day. On Thursday, FIIs were net buyers of Rs12.75bn. Part of this may be towards the ICICI Bank issue. Mutual Funds were also net buyers of Rs1.93bn.
Major bulk Deals:
Citigroup has picked up Ahmednagar Forgings; Fidelity has bought ANG Auto while Morgan Stanley has sold it; Principal MF has purchased Balaji Films while Merrill Lynch has sold it; UBS has bought Evinix Accessories; Citigroup has sold Gayatri Projects; IL&FS has purchased 3.15mn shares of IL&FS Investment Managers from Bank of India; Deutsche Securities has picked up Tricom India while Emerging Capital has sold the stock and Nomura Funds has bought Vishal Retail.
Insider Trades:
Prithvi Information Solutions Limited: V Satish Kumar, Managing Director has purchased from open market 50000 equity shares of the company on 2nd July, 2007.
Great Offshore Limited: Vijay Sheth, Managing Director has sold in open market 300000 equity shares of the company on 29th June, 2007.
Karuturi Networks Limited: 1) Morgan Stanley & Co. International Limited a/c Morgan Stanley Mauritius Co. Ltd. 2) Morgan Stanley & Co. International Limited A/C Morgan Stanley Investment Mauritius Ltd has purchased from open market 995625 equity shares of the company on 27th June, 2007.
Lower Circuit:
Anant Raj, ION Exchange, DS Kulkarni, Surana Industries and Nagarjuna Agri.
Upper Circuit:
Ambalal Sarabhai, Emkay Share, Bag Film, Tanla, Aarti Industries, Pritish Nandy, Prime Focus, Asian Electronics, Ganesh Forgings, Classic Diamond, Shree Precoated, Nirlon, IOL Broadband, IKF Technology, Tripex Overseas, Silverline Technologies, Prism Cement, Diamond Cables and IID Forgings.
Delivery Delight (Rising Price & Rising Delivery):
ACC, Balaji Tele, Balrampur Chini, BEML, Crompton Greaves, GAIL, Grasim, Gujarat Ambuja Cements, HCL Tech, Hero Honda, HLL, India Cements, IPCL, Kesoram Inds, Ranbaxy and Satyam Comp.
Abnormal Delivery:
SRF, Dabur India, Nicolas Piramal, GAIL, NALCO, Escorts, BEL, Rolta, Wockhardt, Nagarjuna Fertilizers, Federal Bank, Polaris, Cipla and Siemens.
Major News & Announcements:
India's Inflation rate was 4.13% against expectation of 4.02%
Cairn India oil pipeline plan has been approved by ministry says ONGC
Oil Minister says MRPL to earn 2bn dollars in 3 years from Mauritius exports – Reports
India's cabinet may consider new mining policy in 15 days
Rolta acquires Orion Technology IncWipro's consumer care arm has acquired Singapore-based Unza.