Record closing high for Sensex, Nifty

The market edged higher for the fifth straight trading session today, 4 July 2007, on firm global markets, steady progress of monsoon, and on lower inflation. Shares from the metal, cement and sugar sectors saw buying, while IT pivotals were offloaded.

The BSE 30-share Sensex rose 73.73 points or 0.50% at 14,880.24, an all time closing high. The barometer index opened higher at 14,848.16 and surged to strike a record high of 14,906.93 at 10:01 IST as buying intensified. But it came off the higher level to touch a low of 14,790.75 by 10:56 IST, a fall of 15.76 points for the day. It recovered later in volatile trade. The Sensex oscillated in a range of 116 points for the day.

The S&P CNX Nifty settled 1.75 points or 0.04% higher at 4,359.30, an all time closing peak. It hit an all-time high of 4,386.45 in intra-day trade. The index touched a low of 4,342.

The Nifty July 2007 futures settled at 4,356, a slight discount of 3.30 points as compared to spot closing.

Sensex has gained 449 points or 3.11% in 5 trading sessions at current 14,880.24, from its close of 14,431.06 on 27 June 2007. The barometer index is now just 119.76 points points away from the psychologically important 15000 mark.

The market breadth, which was strong in the opening session on BSE, turned negative by mid-morning trade: 1,445 shares declined as compared to 1,219 that advanced, while 68 remained unchanged.

The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 4742 crore, as against Rs 4948 crore on Tuesday, 3 July 2007. The NSE F&O turnover was at Rs 34,125.16 crore as compared to Rs 33917.80 crore on Tuesday, 3 July 2007.

The BSE Mid-Cap index was down 0.05% to 6,645.65, after striking an all-time high of 6,686.14. The BSE Small-Cap index also hit an all-time high of 7,895.65. It settled with gain of 0.12% to 7,855.66

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

Cement stocks surged ollowing reports that cement firms have hiked prices by Rs 3-Rs 5 per 50-kilogram bag across India effective today. Cement major ACC surged 7% to Rs 1004, on 14.40 lakh shares, after striking an intra-day high of Rs 1047. It was the top gainer from the Sensex pack.

Ambuja Cements (up 4.50% to Rs 130), Grasim (up 1.45% to Rs 2742), UltraTech Cement Company (up 4.72 % to Rs 926), and India Cements (up 3.51% to Rs 215) were the other gainers from the cement sector.

The ongoing monsoon season, generally considered as slack season for cement companies, failed to dampen monthly sales of cement companies. ACC's cement dispatches stood at 1.70 million tonnes in June 2007, up 9.67% from 1.55 million tonnes in June 2006. It produced 1.70 million tonnes of cement compared to 1.53 tonnes last year, a rise of 11%.

Private sector banking major ICICI Bank rose 2.46% to Rs 989.95 following reports that the department of industrial policy and promotion has approved ICICI Bank's plan to sell a 24% stake in ICICI Financial Services. ICICI Bank had recently said that its plant to sell stake in ICICI Financial Services to foreign investors was unlikely to get go ahead from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB).

Metal stocks gained on fresh buying. The BSE Metal Index rose 1.17% to 10,785.05, and was the top gainer among the sectoral indices on BSE. Tata Steel (up 2.74% to Rs 617.15), Sail (up 1.50% to Rs 132), and JSW Steel (up 3.23% to Rs 639.95) edged higher. JSW Steel registered a growth of 26% in crude steel production in Q1 June 2007.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) advanced from a low of Rs 1,705, to strike a high of Rs 1,731. It settled 0.43% higher to Rs 1,712.80, on 6.19 lakh shares. The Committee of Secretaries (CoS), which met on 2 July 2007 to decide on the issue of gas pricing from RIL’s D6 fields in the Krishna-Godavari (K-G) basin, has asked the power and fertiliser ministries to present their views before the committee on 5 July 2007. No decision was taken in the meeting even as the petroleum ministry pitched for a market-determined price of gas produced from NELP blocks.

Shares from the auto pack edged higher on hopes that interest rates may soften. Around 50-75% of the sales of auto companies are derived from loans given by banks and financial institutions. The BSE Auto Index rose 0.71% to 4,837.65.

Tata Motors (up 1.17% to Rs 696), Maruti Udyog (up 0.75% to Rs 790) and Bajaj Auto (up 0.80% to Rs 2115) edged higher from the auto pack.

Oil exploration major ONGC was the top loser from the Sensex pack. The stock was down 1.79% to Rs 872 on volume of 1.93 lakh shares

IT pivotals slipped as the rupee hovered near one-month high at 40.55/56 against the US currency in late morning deals on Wednesday, 4 July 2007. Wipro (down 1.30% to Rs 508.50), Infosys (down 0.62% to Rs 1935), and TCS (down 0.95% to Rs 1117.10) edged lower from the IT pack. The BSE IT Index declined 0.77% at 4,841.64

Vishal Retail settled at Rs 752.20, a huge premium of 178.51% over the IPO price of Rs 270. The scrip touched a high of Rs 809 and low of Rs 423.25. It debuted at Rs 472.50. On BSE, 1.14 crore shares were traded in the counter.

Indus Fila (up 13.51% to Rs 210.50), Madhucon Projects (up 13% to Rs 244), Nahar Spinning (up 10% to Rs 93), Ceat (up 8% to Rs 171.90), and Arvind Mills (up 6.99% to Rs 48.20) surged from the small-cap and mid-cap segments.

Shares from the sugar sector were in demand on recent reports that the goverment may announce sops for the sugar sector. Bajaj Hindusthan (up 2.26% to Rs 167.50), Sakthi Sugars (up 1.65% to Rs 86.15), Balrampur Chini Mills (up 2.63% to Rs 75.90) and Shree Renuka Sugars (up 1.19% to Rs 648) advanced.

Bharat Earth Movers (BEML) galloped 6.11% to Rs 1,240 following strong response to its follow-on public issue that closed on Tuesday, 3 July 2007. The FPO of BEML was subscribed 30 times, on the back of a whopping 63.33 times subscription in the qualified institutional buyers (QIB) segment.

Jyoti Structures jumped 3.88% to Rs 196.95 after 5 lakh shares changed hands in the counter in a block deal on BSE at Rs 190 each, in opening trade. The company’s equity capital is Rs 16.14 crore, with 8.07 crore outstanding shares of a face value of Rs 2 each.

Dabur Pharma lost 1.64% to Rs 75.10 after 50 lakh shares (constituting 3.19% of company’s equity), changed hands in a single block deal at Rs 76 each on NSE. The company’s equity capital is Rs 15.67 crore, with 15.97 crore outstanding shares of a face value of Rs 1 each.

IFCI slumped 4.93% to Rs 59.80 after the National Stock Exchange (NSE) banned building fresh positions in the derivatives contracts in IFCI as 95% of market wide limit had reached in the stock. Trading in IFCI derivatives contracts will only be allowed to reduce positions

Similarly, Nagarjuna Fertilizers & Chemicals slipped 2.74% to Rs 23 after the NSE banned building fresh positions in the derivatives contracts in the stock as 95% of market wide limit had reached in the stock.

Ansal Properties & Infrastructure declined 4% to Rs 310.20 after it signed an agreement with Fortis Healthcare for setting up medicity in Uttar Pradesh. The project is likely to be completed in about seven years. It will have an 800-bed ultra-modern hospital comprising medical, dental and nursing colleges along with other facilities for paramedical and technical training.

Ess Dee Aluminium rose 0.65% to Rs 484.60 after its board today, 4 July 2007, approved raising up to $150 million and increasing foreign institutional investment limit to 49%.

Asian stock markets rose today, 4 July 2007, with South Korea's benchmark KOSPI index hitting a fresh record high after stocks such as Hyundai Motor rose, while broader sentiment was lifted by fresh US takeover talk.

Hang Seng (up 0.30% to 22,218.55), Nikkei 225 (up 0.10% to 18,168.79), Seoul Composite (up 1.82% to 1,836.28), and Taiwan Weighted (up 0.81% to 9,068.98), gained

China’s Shanghai Composite was down 2.14% to 3,816.65

All the European indices were trading higher, except Netherlands (down 0.052%).

On Wall Street, the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 0.3%, while the tech-laden Nasdaq Composite Index added 0.5%. Deal news again contributed to the gains, with news of a takeover of fast-food chain Wendy's International Inc.

Oil prices struck a 10-month high above $73 a barrel on Tuesday, 3 July 2007, on strong summer driving demand in the US. London Brent crude, seen as the best price gauge of the global oil market, settled up 30 cents to $72.93 a barrel after rising to $73.10 earlier, the highest since 25 August 2006.

Realty major DLF debuts on the bourses on Thursday, 5 July 2007. DLF had priced its IPO at Rs 525 per share. The IPO was subscribed 3.47 times. Each share has a face value of Rs 2. The National Stock Exchange (NSE) has also included DLF in the futures and options segment with lot size of 400 shares.