Sensex settles above 14,800

After opening strong, the market continued to gain strength on buying momentum in index pivotals. The benchmark BSE 30-share Sensex crossed the 14,850 level at the fag end of the trading session. However, the turnover was dull today, 27 August 2007.

Asian markets, which had opened before the Indian markets, were firm, while European markets, which started trading later, also notched gains.

Today's momentum was derived from the rally on Wall Street on Friday, 24 August 2007, triggered by surprisingly strong data on US home sales and durable goods. Also short covering ahead of the expiry of derivatives contracts for August 2007 series aided the market's rise.

The Sensex surged 417.51 points or 2.89% at 14,842.38. Earlier, it had opened with an upward gap of 156.40 points at 14,581.35. The broad market index also hit a high of 14,858.93, couple of minutes before the closing bell.

The BSE Sensex is up 28.26% over the one-year period from its close of to 11,572.20 on 25 August 2007. It had hit 52-week high (also its all time high) of 15868.85 on 24 July 2007 and a 52-week low of 11444.18 on 12 September 2006.

The S&P CNX Nifty jumped up 112.45 points or 2.68% at 4,302.60. The Nifty August 2007 futures settled at 4294.55, a discount of 8.05 points as compared to spot closing.

The market breadth was strong on BSE, with 2,050 shares advancing as compared to 629 that declined, while 54 remained unchanged.

The BSE Mid-Cap Index rose 2.75% to 6,360.66 while the BSE Small-Cap Index gained 2.70% to 7,725.52. Both these indices underperformed the Sensex by a small margin.

The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 3489 crore as compared to Rs 3632 crore on Friday, 24 August 2007. The NSE’s F&O turnover was Rs 52748.00 crore as compared to Rs 43336.32 crore on Friday, 24 August 2007.

All the sectoral indices on BSE posted gains. The BSE Metal index (up 3.51% to 10,637.64), BSE Realty index (up 5.37% to 7,147.47), BSE Bankex (up 4.64% to 7,654.98), BSE Consumer Durables (up 4.48% to 4,165.45), BSE Capital Goods index (up 3.63% to 13,080.02), were outperformers compared with Sensex.

Though trading higher, the BSE Auto index (up 2.49% to 4,682.97), BSE PSU index (up 2.88% to 6,816.74), BSE Oil & Gas index (up 2.78% to 7,725.80), BSE Health Care index (up 1.85% to 3,487.33), BSE TECk index (up 1.95% to 3,534.47), BSE FMCG Index (up 1.82% to 1,912.20), and BSE IT index (up 1.47% to 4,473.39) were underperformers compared to the Sensex.

Among the 30-member Sensex constituents, 28 gained, while Ambuja Cements (down 1.60% to Rs 133.25) and Cipla (down 0.50% to Rs 170.10) shed value.

Banking and financial shares dominated gainers. India’s largest bank by net profit State Bank of India (SBI) jumped 6.60% to Rs 1563 on 7.23 lakh shares. It was the top gainer from the Sensex constituents.

SBI has started the consolidation process with its associate banks by deciding to merge its wholly-owned subsidiary State Bank of Saurashtra (SBS) with itself. SBS is the smallest of the seven associates banks. The boards of both SBI and SBS have given approval to the merger proposal on 25 August 2007.

ICICI Bank, the country’s largest private sector bank by net profit, advanced 5.85% to Rs 883 on high volumes of 12.11 lakh shares. The Reserve Bank of India on Friday, 24 August 2007, allowed foreign investors to purchase equity shares of the bank from the secondary markets in India as their holding had come down below the trigger limit of 74%.

Other banking and financial institution stocks, Allahabad Bank (up 6.38% to Rs 85), Federal Bank (up 5.40% to Rs 323.80), Bank of Baroda (up 3.97% to Rs 263.50), HDFC Bank (up 1.87% to Rs 1121.60) and Kotak Mahindra Bank (up 4.83% to Rs 680.70) had also gained.

India's largest private sector steel manufacturer Tata Steel gained 3.72% to Rs 604 on reports that it is targeting to more than double production by 2015. Tata Steel now has an annual production totaling 25.6 million tonnes. By 2015, Tata Steel hopes to add another 35 million tonnes to boost its worldwide annual production to 61.1 million tonnes.

Metal shares were boosted by Friday's (24 August 2007) surprisingly strong US economic data, which calmed worries about a slowdown in the world's largest economy. Copper producer Sterlite Industries rose 4.12% to Rs 599.95 and India’s top aluminium maker Hindalco gained 4.97% to Rs 149

India’s top engineering & construction firm by revenue Larsen & Toubro (L&T) had advanced 3.90% to Rs 2539. During trading hours on Friday, 24 August 2007, L&T got shareholders’ approval to raise $700 million to expand operations.

India's largest thermal power generator by revenue NTPC was up 2.44% to Rs 167.80 on reports the government plans to sell 4.75% holding in the firm through follow-on public issue. The proposed sale is aimed at increasing the free float of NTPC's shares in the market and help improve the company's valuation.

India’s second largest bike maker Bajaj Auto (BAL) rose 2.84% to Rs 2295. As per reports it will stop production of vehicles at its Akurdi plant in Pune in Maharashtra from 1 September 2007. BAL is expected to gain Rs 1000 per unit from shifting the production base from Akurdi to Waluj in Aurangabad, Maharashtra as it gets sales tax benefits and other government concessions at Waluj unit.

India’s top truck maker, Tata Motors was up 3.43% to Rs 680.20 after its American depository receipt or ADR jumped 5.7% to $16.45 on Friday, 24 August 2007, after chairman Ratan Tata confirmed on Friday, 24 August 2007, that he is interested in acquiring Jaguar and Land Rover from their parent, Ford.

Maruti Udyog (up 5.67% to Rs 835), Reliance Communications (up 4.36% to Rs 520.70), and Bhel (up 3.98% to Rs 1820), were the other gainers from the Sensex pack.

India’s largest private sector entity by market capitalisation and oil refiner Reliance Industries (RIL) gained 3.41% to Rs 1835 on 6.60 lakh shares. RIL has reportedly ventured into construction business and will set up a Rs 450-crore pre-engineered building (PEB) facility in Gujarat. RIL has roped in Dubai-based Mammut Group as a joint venture partner for the plant, which is likely to be commissioned by end-2008.

SEL Manufacturing saw intense volatility today. It surged to a high of Rs 247.50, a rise of 13.06% from Friday’s (24 August 2007) close of Rs 218.90. It, however, ended with a 20% plunge to Rs 175.15 on high volumes of 1.34 crore shares, and was the top traded counter on BSE with turnover of Rs 295.02 crore

Among the side counters, Karur KCP Packaging (up 20% to Rs 63.40), Pyramid Saimaira Theatre (up 18.41% to Rs 321.60), Sanghi Industries (up 14% to Rs 92.90), Indian Bank (up 14.80% to Rs 151), and Vadilal Industries (up 17.44% to Rs 66) surged.

GL Hotels (down 7.61% to Rs 355.30), TCI Industries (down 5% to Rs 3634.90), Ras Resorts (down 6.80% to Rs 26), Khoday Industries (down 5% to Rs 291.40), and Sahara Housing (down 5% to Rs 67.55) declined.

Take Solutions settled at Rs 926.50 on the BSE, a premium of 26.91% over the IPO price of Rs 730. On BSE, 56.53 lakh shares of the scrip were traded. The stock had debuted at Rs 876. It had hit a high of Rs 943.30 and a low of Rs 839.15. The IPO had ended on 7 August 2007 with 57.97 times subscription.

Real-estate stocks surged the most among the sectoral indices on BSE, on fresh buying after the recent fall. Ansal API (up 2.66% to Rs 244.90), Indiabulls Real Estate (up 11.57% to Rs 497), Peninsula Land (up 10.28% to Rs 464), Unitech (up 7.67% to Rs 491.20), and DLF (up 2.33% to Rs 576.50) advanced. The BSE Realty index lost 8.65% to 6,783.21 on 24 August 2007 over a month’s time period.

Parsvnath Developers rose 4.80% to Rs 293.15 after winning project from The BrihanMumbai Electric Supply and Transport, Mumbai to develop a plot of land at Mahim Bus Station, Mumbai for commercial and residential utilization along with remodeling of existing bus station. The project would give the company a developable area of 40,000 square feet with a realizable value of approximately Rs 70 crore.

i-flex Solutions rose 2.32% to Rs 1915 after its Dutch unit, i-flex Solutions BV, raised its stake in i-flex solutions SA, Greece to 90%. i-flex Solutions, which is Oracle Corporation's Indian unit, did not disclose financial details of the deal. The Greek unit was incorporated in May 2007 with an investment of 35% by i-flex Solutions BV, Netherlands, a subsidiary of the company.

Mercator Lines (MLL) rose 2.24% to Rs 54.75 on recent reports that it is raising around $250 million in the largest-ever Indian offering in Singapore. The Mumbai-based shipping company is offloading 30% stake in its wholly-owned subsidiary Mercator Lines (Singapore) through an IPO.

Mastek rose 1% to Rs 260 on reports that the Maharashtra government is planning to launch an electronic toll collection system on some of the Mumbai's busiest routes and has appointed it to develop the system. Mumbai-headquartered Mastek has earlier worked on the electronic toll collection in London.

IFCI (up 4.33% to Rs 61.50), and Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) (up 2.48% to Rs 28.90) gained despite the National Stock Exchange of India barring further F&O positions as the 95% marketwide position limit was crossed on Friday, 24 August 2007.

GMR Infrastructure spurted 4% to Rs 749.90 after GMR Energy, a 100% subsidiary of the company, was awarded the 180-megawatt Bajoli Holi power project by the Himachal Pradesh government.

Parenteral Drugs India jumped 5% to Rs 161 after it scheduled a meeting of the board of directors to be held on 3 September 2007 to consider a bonus issue.

Advani Hotels & Resorts India galloped 5% to Rs 252 after its board of directors decided to convene an annual general meeting of the members on 26 September 2007 to consider sub-division of equity shares of the company from Rs 10 each to five equity shares of Rs 2 each.

BPO firm Firstsource Solutions jumped 4.46% to Rs 73.75. As per recent reports it is in talks with UK-based financial services major Prudential for acquiring two of its global contact centres, one of which is located in Mumbai. The size of the outsourcing and contact centre sale deal is estimated to be about $1-1.5 billion.

NIIT Technologies soared 10% to Rs 449.50 on reports that NIIT, the promoter of the Delhi-based IT company, is looking to sell 25% in the company to a strategic investor.

Usha Martin climbed up 2.58% to Rs 237 after announcing the acquisition of the business of The Netherlands-based De Ruiter Staalkabel B.V. This acquisition will enable the company and the subsidiaries to grow further in Europe

Canara Bank scaled up 4% to Rs 234 after its board approved increasing its stake to 51% to convert the sponsored entity Can Fin Homes into a subsidiary, through the process of open-offer. Can Fin Homes galloped 13% to Rs 56.80. Canara Bank had a 29.4% stake in Can Fin Homes end March 2007. Can Fin Homes provides housing finance.

Bharat Forge advanced 2.05% to Rs 267.35 after Life Insurance Corporation of India purchased 63.61 lakh shares of the company from open market from 11 August 2007 to 21 August 2007. It now holds 7.17% or 1.59 crore shares of Bharat Forge.

McNally Bharat Engineering Company jumped 10% to Rs 194.95 after it received an order worth Rs 89.86 crore from Mazagaon Dock

Logistics firm Gati moved up 2.73% to Rs 99.75 on reports the company would acquire 52.96% stake, or 19.6 lakh shares in Kausar India at Rs 72.84 per share. Delhi-based Kausar India provides refrigrated transportation of perishable goods, frozen foods, etc.

Fruit exporter Freshtrop Fruits was up 5% to Rs 108 after the firm said its board would meet on 3 September 2007 to consider a bonus issue.

Matrix Laboratories rose 2.85% to Rs 231 after it said after trading hours on Friday, 24 August 2007, it plans to buy the residual stake of Mark Gao, former promoter of MCHEM group of companies in China.

Punjab Chemicals & Crop Protection rose 3% to Rs 122.50 after it said during trading hours on Monday, 27 August 3007, it has agreed to acquire 100% stake in Pegevo Beheer BV for an enterprise value of 39.5 million euros.

Auto parts maker Omax Autos rose 2.85% to Rs 63.25 after it said during trading hours on Monday, 27 August 2007, its board would meet on 1 September 2007 to consider a rights issue.

All the Asian markets, which had opened earlier today, 27 August 2007, advanced following the strong finish on the Wall Street on Friday, 24 August 2007. Hang Seng (up 2.86% at 23,577.73), Japan's Nikkei (up 0.32% at 16,301.39), Taiwan Weighted (up 0.32% at 8,718.31), Shanghai Composite (up 0.83% to 5,150.18), Singapore's Straits Times (up 0.56% at 3,388.84) and South Korea's Seoul Composite (up 0.65% at 1,803.03) rose.

All the European markets, which opened after the Indian markets, edged higher, except Sweden’s Stockholm General (down 0.09% to 391.15). Key benchmark indices in Germany (up 0.19% to 7,521.39) and France (up 0.65% to 5,605.53) rose. The UK stock market is closed on Monday, 27 August 2007, for a public holiday.

On Friday, 24 August 2007, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had risen 142.99 points, or 1.08%, to 13,378.87. Broader stock indicators also advanced sharply. The Standard & Poor's 500 index jumped 16.87 points, or 1.15 %, to 1,479.37. The Nasdaq Composite index ended up 34.99 points, or 1.38%, to 2,576.69.

Oil prices fell on Monday, 27 August 2007, boosted by worries over gasoline supplies in the US, the top energy consumer. US crude for October delivery fell 20 cents to $70.89 a barrel.

The BSE Sensex had surged 260.89 points, or 1.84%, to settle at 14,424.87, on Friday, 24 August 2007. The S&P CNX Nifty was up 75.20 points, or 1.83%, to 4,190.15.

The market ended its four-week losing streak to post gains in the week ended Friday, 24 August 2007. The Sensex jumped 283.35 points, or 2%, to close at 14,424.87. The S&P CNX Nifty was up 82.10 points, or 1.99%, to end the week at 4,190.15.

Minister for science and technology and senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal said on Saturday, 25 August 2007 the government would not fall due to opposition to the Indo-US nuclear pact from Left parties. Sibal said the government would address the concerns of Communists on the deal in a debate in parliament.

India's biggest communist party, Communists Party of India (Marxists), or CPM, on Thursday, 23 August 2007, said it does not want to topple the government over a nuclear deal with the United States. Though CPM softened its stand on withdrawing support to the ruling coalition government at the Centre, it reiterated the government should not go ahead with negotiations with the International Atomic Energy Agency and Nuclear Suppliers Group over a nuclear deal with the US.

The Left Front’s opposition to the nuclear deal with US had stoked concerns over the past few days that if the Communist allies of the ruling coalition government at the Centre decide to pull their support, the government will be reduced to a minority, triggering fresh elections.