Sensex strikes record closing high

The market which was firm till mid-afternoon trade, pared gains towards the later part of the trading session as some selling emerged at higher level. Sensex, in fact, slipped into the red at one point of time in late trade, before settling with small gains. The market rose for the third straight day today. Auto, capital goods, and healthcare shares saw buying interest, while cement and IT shares witnessed selling.

Asian markets which were subdued earlier during the day, recovered later.

The BSE 30-share Sensex rose 13.75 points to 14,664.25, an all time closing high. The barometer index opened higher at 14,685.16 and surged to strike a record high of 14,745.75 at 11:23 IST. It slipped to a low of 14,638.88 at 15:12 IST. It oscillated in a range of 108 points for the day.

Prior to this, the Sensex had struck a record high of 14,723.88 on 9 February 2007.

The Sensex had surged 146 points on Friday, 29 June 2007, boosted by latest data showing fall in inflation to a 14-month low.

The S&P CNX Nifty ended the day marginally in the red, declining 4.55 points to 4,313.75. The Nifty July futures settled at 4302.30, a discount of 11.45 points as compared to spot closing.

The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 4,303 crore compared to Friday (29 June 2007)'s Rs 4,855.07 crore. Turnover on NSE's futures & options (F&O) segment stood at Rs 34061.14 crore compared with Friday (29 June 2007)'s Rs 35,463.65 crore.

The market breadth was strong on BSE with 1,490 shares advancing as compared to 1,163 shares that declined. 64 remained unchanged.

The BSE Small-Cap Index rose 0.68% to 7,783.26. It struck an all time high of 7,819.30. The BSE Midcap Index gained 0.99% to 6,591.35. It scaled an all time high of 6,615.65. 6,615.65

Among the Sensex pack, 17 advanced while the rest declined.

Car major Maruti Udyog surged 4.29% to Rs 774.40, on 2.26 lakh shares, after it said on Monday, 2 July 2007, it had sold 59,917 vehicles in June 2007, up 24% from 48,425 vehicles sold in June 2006. Maruti Udyog sold 56,000 units in the domestic market, up 25.5% from 44,626 units in June 2006. It exported 3,917 units in June, up 3% from 3,799 units last year.

Tata Motors (up 2.20% to Rs 684.50), Hero Honda Motors (up 0.05% to Rs 689.20), Mahindra and Mahindra (up 1.82% to Rs 736) rose from the auto pack. The BSE Auto Index settled 0.99% higher at 4,791.06.

Bajaj Auto rose 0.10% to Rs 2,131. The company said on Sunday, 1 July 2007, said its sales in June 2007 fell 12% to 1,87,624 units, from 2,13,918 units in June 2006. The company said it will launch a new motorbike in September 2007, with an initial sales target of 50,000 units a month by January 2008.

Pharma shares advanced on renewed buying. Ranbaxy Laboratories (up 3.10% to Rs 365.95), Cipla (up 0.74% to Rs 210) and Dr Reddy’s (up 0.74% to Rs 660.80), edged higher. The BSE Healthcare Index was up 1.15% at 3,849.59. It was the top gainer among the sectoral indices on BSE

Shares from the capital goods space advanced on fresh buying. L&T (up 2.23% to Rs 2,245), Punj Lloyd (up 8.47% to Rs 278.65), Areva T&D (up 5.25% to Rs 1589) and Crompton Greaves (up 4.56% to Rs 264.75) advanced. However, Bhel slipped 0.41% to Rs 1,532 after striking an intra-day high of Rs 1582.70. L&T firmed up on reports that the government may select the engineering and construction firm as an additional supplier of equipment for power projects. The BSE Capital Goods index struck an all-time high of 12,586.12. It finished 1.06% higher to 12,429.15.

Cement stocks saw profit booking after two straight days of rally. Ambuja Cements shed 1.97% to Rs 122.10, on 5.54 lakh shares. It was the top loser from the Sensex pack. Grasim slipped 0.57% to Rs 2,622.90.

However, ACC gained 0.14% to Rs 935.10 after it reported 9.67% growth in cement despatches to 1.70 million tonnes in June 2007 from 1.55 million tonnes in June 2006.

IT stocks saw some unwinding as the Indian rupee opened at its highest level in over three weeks on Monday, 2 July 2007. Wipro (down 1.25% to Rs 512), Satyam Computers (down 0.21% to Rs 466), and TCS (down 1.07% to Rs 1136.90), edged lower.

However, Infosys Technologies was up 0.57% to Rs 1940.10, buoyed by rumors that the Indian IT major is mulling a bid to buy Europe’s largest IT services giant, Capgemini. Both Infosys Technologies and Capgemini have denied the takeover rumours which had first hit the market after trading hours on Thursday, 28 June 2007. Infosys Technologies will announce its first quarter June 2007 results on 11 July 2007. The BSE IT Index lost 0.07% to 4,867.27.

The Indian was at 40.645/655 per dollar in early trade, slightly off its opening of 40.60, its strongest start since 6 June 2007. The rupee rose as traders built positions in the local unit on positive cues from high-yielding Asian currencies, and expectations of foreign investment flows.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries slipped 0.83% to Rs 1,686.20, on 6.07 lakh shares. It had hit a high of Rs 1709.80.

Reliance Energy (REL) gained 1.94% to Rs 626. REL’s wholly owned subsidiary Rosa Power Supply, on 26 June 2007, tied up long-term loans of around Rs 2,000 crore for the first stage of its 600 meg watt (MW) power project.

Hindalco Industries slipped 0.81% to Rs 158.85 on entering into a joint venture agreement with Mahanadi Coal (MCL), a subsidiary of Coal India, and with Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC) for coal mining. The joint venture company (JV) is expected to be formed in the next 3-6 months and the company will have 15% shareholding, with MCL holding 70% and NLC holding 15%.

Other metal stocks, Tata Steel (down 0.61% to Rs 593.55) and Sail (down 2.24% to Rs 128.30), also slipped. The BSE Metal index was down 0.42% to 10,560.32, and was the top loser among the sectoral indices on BSE.

IFCI galloped 7.87% to Rs 60.30 on high volume of 2.03 crore shares, after scheduling a board meet on 6 July 2007 to consider inviting bids for inducting a strategic investor in the firm. The company made the announcement after market hours on Friday, 29 June 2007. IFCI said it would also take on record its audited financial results for the quarter ended June 2007 on the same day.

Welspun Gujarat Stahl Rohren surged 7.19% to Rs 237.85 on announcing plan to build a manufacturing facility in the US.

Corporation Bank rose 1.79% to Rs 330.20 after it sold 0.26% stake in NSE for $6.625 million to Citigroup Strategic Holdings Mauritius. The company made the announcement during trading hours today, 2 July 2007.

Pratibha Industries rose 5% to Rs 242.60 on securing two contracts from Indore Municipal Corporation for two water supply schemes. The total value of the contracts is Rs 97.78 crore. The project is to be executed in 12 to 18 months.

Kernex Microsystems India was locked at the 5% lower limit at Rs 244.90 on BSE even as its board of directors approved issue of one bonus share for every 10 shares held in the company after trading hours on Friday 29 June 2007. The company's net profit rose 58.2% to Rs 0.87 crore in Q4 March 2007 as against Rs 0.55 crore in Q4 March 2006. Sales declined 50.4% to Rs 5.42 crore in Q4 March 2007 compared to Rs 10.93 crore in Q4 March 2006.

Spentex Industries rose 4.83% to Rs 40.15 on acquiring Schoeller Litvinov k.s. in Czech Republic. The company made this announcement before market hours on Monday, 2 July 2007. The acquisition of Schoeller was made for $25 million. The transaction will enhance the topline of the company by about euro 55 million and add another euro 6 million per year in cash flows.

GMR Infrastructure rose 2.29% to Rs 765 after the company said its board approved splitting each share of face value Rs 10 each into five shares of Rs 2 each. The company made the announcement on Saturday, 30 June 2007. GMR reported net profit of Rs 12.37 crore upon sales of Rs 22.75 crore in Q4 March 2007. Net profit plunged 91.89% to Rs 2.88 crore in the year ended March 2007 as against Rs 35.55 crore in FY 2006. Net sales declined 41.9% to Rs 33.39 crore in FY 2007 (Rs 57.44 crore).

Gujarat Alkalies & Chemicals jumped 6% to Rs 153 after signing an initial agreement with DowEurope GmbH for a long-term strategic business relationship for chlorinated organics.

Asian markets which were subdued earlier during the day, recovered later. Singapore's Straits Times (up 0.06% to 3,550.34), Taiwan's Taiwan Weighted (up 0.63% at 8,939.49) and Seoul Composite (up 1.59% at 1,771.35) edged higher. China’s Shanghai Composite rose 0.41% to 3,836.29.

Japan's Nikkei was flat at 18,146.30. The Tankan report released by the Bank of Japan showed that the major manufacturers' business confidence index was unchanged at 23 in June 2007 from the previous survey in March 2007, while the index for large non-manufacturers was also unchanged at 22.

All the European indices were trading lower.

US stocks slipped on on Friday, 29 June 2007 as investors sold shares due to rising oil prices and lingering worries about subprime mortgage lending.

The Dow Jones lost 13.66 points, or 0.10%, to 13,408.62, after swinging dramatically higher and lower over the course of the day. Broader stock indicators also dipped. The S&P 500 index fell 2.36 points, or 0.16%, to 1,503.35, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 5.14 points, or 0.20%, to 2,603.23.

Oil prices retreated on Monday, 2 July 2007, as traders took profits after crude futures closed above the $70-a-barrel mark, last week, for the first time in almost a year. Light, sweet crude for August delivery lost 31 cents to $70.37 a barrel in Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange in Singapore.