Market extends gains on resumption of FII buying

Market started the week on firm note after Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke and US president George Bush assured that they would not let the economy to collapse. It extended gains later. BSE Sensex gained in 3 out of the 5 trading sessions.

BSE Sensex rose 271.82 points or 1.77% to 15,590.42 in the week ended 7 September 2007.

The S&P CNX Nifty rose 45.5 points or 1.01% to 4518.60 in the week.

BSE Mid-Cap Index (up 3.68% to 6,851.65), BSE SmallCap index (up 4.63% to 8,433.52) , BSE Auto index (up 0.24% to 4,889.83), Bankex (up 3.01% to 8,095.69), Capital Goods index (up 1.4% to 13,613.24), BSE IT index (up 1.61% to 4,659.70) and BSE Realty index (up 3.16% to 7,470.27) edged higher.

FIIs bought shares worth a net Rs 2191.60 crore in four trading sessions from 3 September 2007 to 6 September 2007. Mutual funds bought shares worth a net Rs 353.80 crore in four trading sessions from 3 September 2007 to 6 September 2007

The BSE Sensex rose 103.45 points or 0.68% at 15,422.05 on Monday, 3 September 2007. In opening trade, the market had pared gains after surging initially. It had opened on a firm note following the rally in US stocks on Friday (31 August 2007) after Federal Reserve’s chairman Ben Bernanke and US president George Bush assured that they would not let the economy to collapse. European and Asian markers were mixed on that day.

The BSE Sensex rose 43.35 points or 0.28% at 15,465.40 on Tuesday, 4 September 2007. The market settled with small gains, amid mixed trend in index pivotals. The market started the day firm but slipped in the negative zone in mid-morning trade on profit booking. It staged recovery from lower level later. The market pared gains towards the close of the trading session. Some volatility was witnessed at higher levels. That was eighth straight session of gains for the market. European and Asian markets were subdued.

The BSE Sensex declined 19.25 points or 0.12% at 15,446.15 on Wednesday, 5 September 2007. Domestic stock markets snapped their eight-day winning streak, as profit booking emerged at higher levels in late trade. The market saw volatile movements towards the later half of the day, in sync with Asian and European markets, which also swung in and out of positive zone. Buying was seen in software, sugar and realty stocks. Selling was witnessed in capital goods and oil & gas stocks.

The BSE Sensex gained 170.16 points to 15,616.31 on Thursday, 6 September 2007. The market scaled higher as buying continued buying throughout the day, except for the odd blip in early trade. Asian markets also rebounded from initial sluggishness while European stocks were trading mixed.

The BSE Sensex lost 25.89 points or 0.17% to 15,590.42 on Friday, 7 Aeptember 2007. The market pared early gains as fresh selling emerged in later half of the day when European markets drifted lower. Earlier, the market had opened on a firm note following overnight gains in US stocks as a series of mixed reports on the US economy raised investors' optimism of an interest-rate cut by the US Federal Reserve in a meeting scheduled to be held on 18 September 2007.

India's top utility vehicle maker, Mahindra & declined 0.66% to 704.35. It said on Monday 3 September 2007 that its vehicle sales rose 30 % to 18,269 units in August 2007 over August 2006.. As per reports, Mahindra & Mahindra is looking to buy a design firm in Italy as part of its plans to expand presence in the automotive space. Reports also suggest that the company is likely to launch its new sports utility vehicle (SUV) Ingenio and hybrid variants of Scorpio next year.

Bajaj Auto declined 0.89% to Rs 2,324.25. Bajaj Auto’s vehicle sales in August fell 6% to 195,707 units from 2,08,163 units a year earlier. It said sales of motorcycles fell 7% to 1,67,483 units from 1,80,570 and sales of all two-wheelers fell 6% to 1,70,203 units from 1,82,013 units a year earlier. The company’s exports jumped 75% to 56,452 units from 32,283 units a year earlier. Meanwhile, as per reports, TVS Motor, India's third-largest motorbike maker, plans to take libel action against Bajaj Auto after the firm accused it of breaching patented rights on engine technology.

Hero Honda Motors rose 2.97% to Rs 667.85. It sold 2,40,875 units in August 2007, up 12% from 2,15,076 units sold in, the same month last year, on the strength of new launches.

Maruti Udyog rose 0.54% to Rs 872.90. On Saturday, 1 September 2007, Maruti Udyog said it sold 65,958 vehicles in August 2007, up 27% from 51,855 vehicles sold in the same month last year. The company sold 60,229 units in the domestic market, up 25% percent from 48,259 units a year earlier. Maruti’s exported 5,739 units, up from 3,596 units last year.

ACC rose 1.96% to Rs 1,086.75. It announced on 3 September 2007 that its cement dispatches jumped 14.59% to 1.57 million tonnes in August 2007 over August 2006. Cement production grew 20.3% to 1.6 million tonnes in August 2007 over August 2006.

India's top bus and truck maker, Tata Motors declined 0.76% to Rs 696.50. Its vehicle sales in August fell 0.4% to 45,144 units from 45,325 units a year earlier. Commercial vehicle sales in the domestic market rose 1.6% to 23,431 units from 23,069 units a year earlier, while sales of cars and utility vehicles fell 5% to 16,620 units. Exports in August 2007 rose 8% to 5,093 units from 4,715 units a year earlier.

Index heavyweight RIL gained 0.1% to Rs 1961.40. It said on 6 August 2007, that it had completed acquisition of IPCL, a move that could help control two-thirds of the country's petrochemical market. Meanwhile, RIL announced on Tuesday, 4 September 2007, the acquisition of a majority stake and management control of Gulf Africa Petroleum Corporation (GAPCO) for an undisclosed amount. The CPI (M) on Tuesday, 4 September 2007, said RIL had proposed an unfair price of $4.33 per million british thermal units (MBTU) for gas to be produced from Krishna-Godavari basin.

TCS (up 1.15% to Rs 1077.30), Reliance Energy (up 9.06% to Rs 850.40), Ranbaxy Labs (up 4.75% to Rs 409.90), Infosys (up 2.9% to Rs 1908.85), HDFC Bank (up 2.07% to Rs 1195.60), HDFC (up 7.8% to Rs 2,130.20) and ICICI Bank (up 3.88% to Rs 919) were the major gainers amongs the Sensex constituents

Securities & Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has withdrawn the recognition granted to the Hyderabad Stock Exchange for its failure to comply with the demutualisation rules under the stipulated time frame. As per the demutualisation requirement, every stock exchange has to ensure that at least 51% of its equity capital is held by the public other than its broking members.

BSE, on Monday, 3 September 2007, decided to add 13 stocks to trade-to-trade segment, to be effective from Friday, 7 September 2007. The stocks being transferred to trade-to-trade segment include Acrow (India), Indokem, Rasoi, Yashraj Securities, Lakshmi Mills Company and Transchem, among others.

Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Tuesday, 4 September 2007, refused to renew the recognition of Magadh Stock Exchange (MSE). The grounds for refusal to renew its recognition include failure to appoint an executive director for the exchange, inadequate infrastructure, non-recovery of dues from members and listed companies, and failure to create an investor protection fund trust, among others.

National Stock Exchange (NSE) has decided to extend trading timing by 45 minutes from 25 September 2007 to 9 October 2007 due to loss of satellite connectivity during this period. Trading will close at 11:25 IST and re-open at 12:10 IST. The final closing will be at 16:15 IST, instead of 15:30 IST.

According to data released by the commerce ministry on Monday 3 September 2007, India's exports expanded 18.52% to $ 12.49 billion in July 2007 from $ 10.54 billion in July 2006. In rupee terms, exports moved up 3.10% to Rs 50493.57 crore in July 2007 compared with Rs 48974.77 crore in July 2006.

India's net direct tax receipts expanded 42% to Rs 61030 crore ($ 15 billion) in April-August 2007 over Rs 42980 crore in April-August 2006. Direct tax collection surged because of a healthy corporate performance, buoyancy in the economy, better tax compliance and improved tax administration.

A 15-member United Progressive Alliance (UPA)-Left committee was announced in New Delhi by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee to address concerns raised by the Communist parties on the Indo-US civil nuclear deal. The committee is expected to hold its first meeting after 9 September 2007

BSE has revised daily circuit filter for a number of stocks effective, 7 September 2007. Following the revision, a total of 376 stocks will attract 10% circuit filter, 346 shares will attract 5% circuit filter and 30 stocks will attract 2% circuit filter.

Inflation dipped to a 16-month low at 3.79% in the week ending 25 August 2007 as against 3.94% in the week ending 18 August 2007. Inflation was at 5.27% in the corresponding week last year. Inflation growth declined because of fall in prices of food articles like fruits and vegetables, maize and fish-marine.