Sensex, Nifty settle at lifetime highs

The market saw steady buying interest throughout the day’s trading session except for the odd blip in late-afternoon trade, which was marked by some volatility. Shares from the metal pack were in theforefront, while auto and cement stocks also participated in the rally. Pharma and real estate shares were offloaded today, 13 July 2007.

The market opened on a strong note tracking cues from firm global markets. Data showed a slight rise in inflation for the week ended 30 June 2007: 4.27% per annum as against 4.13% in the previous week due to costlier food and manufactured products. However, it was lower when compared to the annual inflation rate of 5.21% during the comparable week of the previous year.

Meanwhile, the government today revised the inflation rate for the week ended 5 May to 5.74% from the provisional estimate of 5.44%.

The 30-share BSE Sensex surged 180.68 points to 15,272.72, an all-time closing high. It opened higher at 15,216.83 (also its low for the day), and rallied to strike an all-time high of 15,330.73 at 13:26 IST as buying intensified.

The S&P CNX Nifty rose 58.40 points to 4,504.55. It had struck an all-time high of 4,513.90 in intra-day trade.

The positive market breadth till mid-afternoon session turned negative on BSE, with 1,566 shares declining as compared to 1,164 that advanced, while 50 remained unchanged.

The BSE Mid-Cap Index rose 12.61 points, or 0.19%, to 6,795.30, after striking an all-time high of 6,863.71. The BSE Small-Cap Index gained 0.01% to 8,216.14. It also hit an all-time high of 8,320.47 during intra-day trades.

The total turnover on BSE vaulted in the last hour of trade, amounting to Rs 6,714 crore as compared to Rs 5,325 crore by 14:30 IST

Among the Sensex pack, 21 scrips were trading up, while the rest were down.

Metal stocks dominated the list of gainers. The BSE Metal Index surged 4.58% at 12,000.90, and was the top gainer among the sectoral indices on BSE.

Aluminiun and copper major Hindalco Industries galloped 6.20% to Rs 174.70 on high volumes of 49.99 lakh shares. It was the top gainer from the Sensex pack. The stock rose on hopes of consolidation in the global aluminium industry after global miner Rio Tinto launched today, 13 July 2007, a $38.1-billion offer to buy Canada's Alcan Inc. in an agreed deal to create the world's No. 1 aluminium producer, feeding expectations of more deals. Rio trumped a hostile bid by Alcoa Inc., now seen vulnerable to becoming a takeover target itself.

Sterlite Industries surged 4.03% to Rs 668. Its ADR jumped 7.8% on NYSE. Other shares from the metal pack, Sesa Goa (up 6.75% to Rs 1919.95), Tata Steel (up 2.92% to Rs 691.90), Hindustan Zinc (up 8.24% to Rs 799.80), and Sail (up 14% to Rs 164.60) edged higher.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) extended early gains and was up 2.74% to Rs 1,766 on 9.83 lakh shares. The government has set up a Group of Ministers (GoM) to look into all aspects - production to pricing - of gas to be produced from newer areas, particularly in the deep sea. The GoM, headed by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, would decide on production, utilisation, transportation and pricing of gas.

State-run oil exploration major Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) added 0.99% to Rs 901.80. Led by RIL & ONGC, the BSE Oil and Gas Index advanced 1.8% to 7,819.67.

Cement shares advanced on renewed buying after cement sales increased of 4.6% in June 2007 over June 2006. Production rose 5.6% to 13.66 million tonnes in June 2007 as against 12.94 million tonnes a year earlier, according to provisional figures compiled by the Cement Manufacturers' Association (CMA). Cement shares are seen to be benefiting from the recent hike of prices by Rs 3-to Rs 5 per 50-kilogram bag across India.

ACC (up 2.35% to Rs 1097.50), UltraTech Cement (up 2.94% to Rs 925.70), Ambuja Cements (up 2.20% to Rs 129) and Grasim Industries (up 1.61% to Rs 2865) gained from the cement pack.

Capital goods shares saw buying as investors bet on their strong order book position. State-run engineering major Bhel gained 2.96% higher to Rs 1,690 after striking an all-time high of 1,715. L&T rose 0.95% to Rs 2,400 after hitting an all-time high of Rs 2,450. Larsen & Toubro today bagged two contracts worth Rs 853 crore.

Cigarette major ITC gained 2% to Rs 156 on high volumes of 46.30 lakh shares after a block deal of 26.57 lakh shares was struck on the counter at Rs 155.30 per share on BSE by 10:18 IST.

ICICI Bank gained 0.36% to Rs 970, after state-owned Dubai International Capital said on Thursday, 13 July 2007, it bought 2.87% of India's second-largest lender with more than $79 billion in assets. The agency was now one of the largest investors in the bank.

Auto stocks gained as fears of interest rate hike in near future eased. Tata Motors (up 3.72% to Rs 174.70), Mahindra & Mahindra (up 2.52% to Rs 823.30) and Maruti Udyog (up 0.16% to Rs 829) gained from the auto pack. The BSE Auto Index rose 1% to 5,058.45.

IT major TCS lost the most in the Sensex pack. It was down 2.51% to Rs 1,132 on 3.80 lakh shares. The company unveils its Q1 June 2007 results on Monday 16 July 2007.

But IT bellwether Infosys was 0.69% to Rs 1,935 on renewed speculation that it is bidding for Capgemini.

The rupee was steady on Friday, 13 July 2007, despite the dollar's weakness against some currencies and surging stocks as traders were worried that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) may again intervene aggressively to curb gains. At 10:05 IST, the partially convertible rupee was at 40.50/40.51, unchanged from the previous close.

Pharma shares saw some unwinding today. Cipla (down 0.89% to Rs 211.60), Ranbaxy Laboratories (down 1.44% to Rs 353.45), and Dr Reddy’s Laboratories (down 1.93 % to Rs 669) edged lower. The BSE Healthcare index lost 0.51% to 3,848.65.

Real-estate stocks slipped after a recent rally. The BSE Realty index, launched by BSE on Tuesday, 10 July 2007, surged today and struck an all-time high of 8,041.37. It settled 1.31% lower at 7,777.64, and was the top loser among the sectoral indices on BSE. Unitech (down 1.58% to Rs 563.50), Parsvnath Developers (down 3.95% to Rs 377.40), Sobha Developers (down 2.52% to Rs 927) and Mahindra Gesco Developers (down 1.10% to Rs 562) slipped.

Aditya Birla Nuvo surged 10.91% to Rs 1512.05 on reports that the Aditya Birla group is scouting for emerging opportunities in the financial services sector. The group had roped in Prudential Corporation (Asia) chief executive (fund management) to head its financial services portfolio.

Monnet Ispat (up 12.21% to Rs 329), Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation (up 8.86% to Rs 928), Madras Aluminium (up 14.15% to Rs 634), Man Industries (up 11.20% to Rs 309) and Kothari Products (up 10% to Rs 870.50) surged from the small and mid-caps pack.

Real-estate major DLF lost 1.78% to Rs 599.70. It is reportedly buying 100 acres of land from the DCM Group in west Delhi. This is the country’s largest land deal. The deal has been struck at Rs 1,750 crore, beating Unitech’s Rs 1,500-crore land deal in Noida a few months ago.

India Infoline jumped 5.94% to Rs 811 on reports that it's planning to venture into consumer finance business. Reportedly, the company is looking for private equity funding or a strategic partner for its new venture, India Infoline Finance Holding (IIFH). The newly formed holding company for the retail financing business will be valued at Rs 800 crore - Rs1,000 crore. India Infoline will infuse around Rs 200 crore into IIFH directly, and around $100 million would be raised either through private equity or stake dilution to the extent of 30%-40%.

Great Offshore advanced 2.83% to Rs 826.95 after it received a Rs 1,000-crore contract from ONGC. The contract is slated to commence before May 2009. The company made the announcement after market hours yesterday, 12 July 2007.

Tata Metaliks declined 4% to Rs 141.95 even though net profit increased 45.32% in Q1 June 2007 to Rs 15.36 crore as against Rs 10.57 crore in Q1 June 2006. Sales jumped 32.82% to Rs 211.28 crore (Rs 159.07 crore). The results were announced during the market hours today 13 July 2007

All the Asian markets rallied on Friday, 13 July 2007, buoyed by a strong overnight rally on the Wall Street, with indices in South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan hitting record highs. China’s Shanghai Composite down 0.04% to 3,914.25, was the only exception

Hong Kong's Hang Seng (up 1.27% at 23,099.29), Japan's Nikkei (up 1.42% at 18,238.95), Taiwan's Taiwan Weighted (up 1.25% at 9,471.30), Singapore's Straits Times (up 0.83% at 3,654.61) and South Korea's Seoul Composite (up 2.78% at 1,963.73) edged higher.

All the European indices were trading with gains

Wall Street shares soared on Thursday, 12 July 2007, propelling the Standard & Poor's 500 index and Dow Jones Industrials Average to record highs as investors tossed aside concerns about the health of the economy amid sluggish retails sales.

The Dow Jones surged 283.86 points, or 2.09%, to 13,861.73. Thursday's rally was the biggest one-day percentage gain for the blue chip index since October 2003 and the biggest single-session point gain since October 2002. The Dow also reached a new trading high of 13,869.94.

The S&P 500 rose 28.94 points, or 1.91%, to 1,547.70, above its record close of 1,539.18, set on 4 June 2007. The Nasdaq Composite index rose 49.94 points, or 1.88%, to 2,701.73. Still, the index, bloated by the late 1990s tech boom, is nowhere near its closing record of 5,048.62, set in March 2000.