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Monday, September 24, 2007

Sensex, Nifty strike all-time highs


The market kept on advancing as the day progressed on steady buying demand for index pivotals throughout the day, except for an hiccup in early trade. Turnover was healthy today and it crossed Rs 7,500 crore on BSE. Both the niche indices BSE Sensex and S&P CNX Nifty struck all time highs. Sensex is now eyeing 17,000 and the S&P CNX Nifty is eyeing 5,000 mark.

European markets which opened after Indian market, were mixed. Asian markets which opened before Indian market settled higher today, 24 September 2007. US markets posted gains on Friday, 21 September 2007.

The 30-shares BSE Sensex was up 281.60 points or 1.70% to 16,845.83, an all time closing high. It had opened on an upbeat note at 16,697.89 tracking firm global cues. Its low for the day was at 16,599.66. It surged to an all time high of 16,869.64 in late trade. Sensex oscillated 268.98 points for the day

From a recent low of 13,989.11 on 21 August 2007, Sensex has surged 2856.72 points or 20.42% in just 24 trading days to current 16,845.83.

The S&P CNX Nifty was up 94.65 points or 1.96% to 4,932.20, an all time closing high. It struck an all time high of 4,941.15. The Nifty September 2007 futures settled at 4938, a premium of 5.80 points as compared to spot closing.

Despite solid rally in market, the market breadth was negative on BSE with 1454 shares declining as compared to 1302 that advanced. 51 remained unchanged. The breadth was strong in opening trade.

The BSE Mid-Cap index rose 1.53% to 7,309.84. It hit an all-time high of 7,321.02 today. BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.77% to 8,963.48. The index hit record high of 9,013.35 today.

The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 7,744 crore as compared to Rs 8,279.52 crore on Friday, 21 September 2007.

The NSE’s F&O turnover amounted to Rs 79397.68 crore as compared to Rs 75928.77 crore on Friday, 21 September 2007.

All the sectoral indices on BSE posted gains except the BSE IT index. BSE Realty index (up 2.03% to 9,369.68), BSE Auto Index (up 2% at 5,297.26), BSE PSU index (up 2.30% to 7,959.92), BSE Metal Index (up 1.70% at 13,030.47), BSE Capital Goods Index (up 2.19% at 14,837.71), BSE Oil and Gas Index (up 3.33% at 9,651.17) outperformed the Sensex.

However BSE TecK index (up 0.09% to 3,641.41), BSE Consumer Durables index (up 0.17% to 4,756.01), BSE FMCG Index (up 0.03% at 2,153.57), BSE Health Care Index (up 0.25% at 3,663.23), BSE Bankex (up 2.54% at 8,961.49) and BSE IT Index (down 1.77% at 4,349.83) were underperformers

Among the 30-member Sensex pack, 25 advanced while the rest declined.

India’s top private sector utility company in terms of revenue Reliance Energy (REL) surged 8.17% to Rs 1092.10 on 21.52 lakh shares. The stock hit all-time high of Rs 1130.70 in intra-day trade. It was the top gainer from Sensex pack. As per reports, the government cleared the two transmission line projects of REL worth Rs 3,500-crore projects which includes the western region system strengthening (WRSS) II and the Parbati-Koldam hydro projects in Himachal Pradesh. These projects were delayed due to issues raised by the public-private partnership appraisal committee (PPAC).

National Thermal Power Corporation, the country’s largest power generation company by net sales jumped 4.96% to Rs 196.80 on 46.18 lakh shares. It replaced Dabur India in the S&P CNX Nifty index from today.

India’s top small-car market by market share, Maruti Suzuki India galloped 7.47% to Rs 999. Last week, Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) cleared Maruti's proposal to form a joint venture for setting up an exhaust parts manufacturing facility in Haryana with Japan's Futaba Industrial Company. Futaba will hold 51% in the venture.

Bharti Airtel, India’s largest listed cellular services provider by market share rose 2.52% to Rs 941.50. As per reports, it has got licence to start Direct-To-Home (DTH) services in the country and announced an investment of Rs 150 crores in the first phase to launch nation-wide operations, a move that would bring in much required competition in the DTH segment. Also another set of reports state that Bharti Airtel may get extra spectrum for Delhi and Mumbai under the existing subscriber-base norms.

India’s largest power equipment maker in terms of revenue Bhel gained 1.82% to Rs 2002. It hit lifetime high of Rs 2025. As per recent reports, Bhel it is looking at mergers and acquisition to fuel inorganic growth and it targeting a turnover of Rs 45,000 crore by 2012.

Banking pivotals advanced on fresh buying. ICICI Bank (up 3.19% to Rs 996), HDFC Bank (up 2.37% to Rs 1354.05), and State Bank of India (up 0.75% to Rs 1821.90), edged higher.

India’s largest private sector entity by market capitalisation and oil refiner Reliance Industries (RIL) rose 3.63% to Rs 2357 on 7.87 lakh shares. It hit an all time high of Rs 2375 in intra-day trade. RIL said on Saturday, 22 September 2007 that it has struck oil in the deepwater block KG-D4 located in the Krishna Basin. The commercial viability of the discovery is being evaluated. RIL holds 100% participating interest in this block, which spans over an area of 8100 sq. kms. The rumors about RIL’s oil find had already hit the market on Friday, 21 September 2007.

India’s second largest telecom services provider market capitalisation Reliance Communications jumped 3.26% to Rs 598.25 on high volumes of 38.27 lakh shares. A block deal of 14.10 lakh shares was struck on at Rs 590 per share in early trade on BSE.

Larsen & Toubro (L&T), the country’s second largest engineering & construction company in terms of market capitalisation, soared 4.49% to Rs 2908. As per recent reports, it is close to acquiring a stake in Feedback Ventures, a leading integrated infrastructure services firm. The stock hit an all time high of Rs 2910 on BSE

IT shares were weak throughout the day. India’s second largest software services exporter Infosys Technologies was the top loser from Sensex pack. It slipped 3.30% to Rs 1761.90 on 2.83 lakh shares

Other IT pivotals, Satyam Computers (down 2.76% to Rs 407.30), TCS (down 1.08% to Rs 1004), were not spared either.

ITC (down 1.47% to Rs 188) and Grasim (down 0.07% to Rs 3445) were the other losers from Sensex pack.

IFCI was the top traded counter on BSE with turnover of Rs 531.37 crore followed by Reliance Natural Resources (Rs 454.34 crore), Reliance Petroleum (Rs 368.57 crore), DLF (Rs 242.13 crore), and Reliance Energy (Rs 232.84 crore).

Reliance group stocks were in spotlight for second straight day on momentum buying. Reliance Petroleum (up 8.10% to Rs 167.50), Reliance Natural Resources (up 22.03% to Rs 93.60), Reliance Capital (up 1.90% to Rs 1571.25), Reliance Industrial Infrastructure (up 10% to Rs 1147.40), Adlabs Films (up 1.12% to Rs 555) and IPCL (up 3.25% to Rs 465.50) surged.

Adhunik Metaliks jumped 6.40% at Rs 99 after its board approved acquiring a majority stake in V Cube Forge (India) for an undisclosed amount. Pune-based V Cube Forge manufactures forged and machined parts for automobiles, railways, and aerospace.

IFCI surged 19.32% to Rs 98.80 on huge volumes of 5.68 crore shares. Nearly 1.10 crore shares changed hands through multiple block deals on BSE and NSE combined.

IVRCL Infrastructures & Projects slipped 1.25% to Rs 409.90. It received new orders worth Rs 394.24 crore. The Pune region of the company has received these orders for its building division and for power division.

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation was up 2.32% to Rs 256.10 on reports that Lakshmi Mittal may buy a stake in the unit of the company, Prize Petroleum.

Tata Tea rose 0.10% to Rs 785 on reports that the firm is in talks to buy UK-based speciality tea company Liberty Tea. The move is aimed at expanding company’s presence in the global beverages market. Unlisted Liberty Tea is a popular brand in Europe.

Unitech advanced 3.90% to Rs 350.55 after it announced after trading hours on Friday, 21 September 2007, that it would enter mobile telephone services in services in 22 out of 23 circles of the country.

ING Vysya Bank surged 7.17% to Rs 262.45 on reports that it is in talks with Centurion Bank of Punjab and Kotak Mahindra Bank for acquisitions.

GAIL soared 7.23% to Rs 375.75 on reports that it is considering an issue of bonus shares to its equity stakeholders.

Hindustan Construction Company rose 2.37% to Rs 146.75, after the company said its joint venture with Alphine Mayreder Bau GMBH and Samsung Corporation has received a contract from Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, Delhi for design and construction of two underground stations and tunnel between New Delhi station and Talkatora Garden. The value of the order is worth Rs 774.64 crore. HCC's share is the total value of the contract is 33% to Rs 255.63 crore.

Syndicate Bank moved up 1.83% to Rs 91.60 on reports that the state-run bank is planning a follow-on public offer (FPO) during this fiscal year, subject to regulatory approvals.

Aftek rose 3.63% to Rs 77, after the company said Goldman Sachs Investments Mauritius has acquired 20 lakh shares or a 2.29% in the company to raise its stake to 5.74%.

European markets which opened after Indian market, were mixed today, 24 September 2007. Key benchmark indices in France (up 0.12% to 5,707.67), and United Kingdom (up 0.51% to 6,489.40) rose. However, Germany’s DAX was down 0.12% to 7,785.44

Asian markets which opened before Indian market settled higher today, 24 September 2007. Hong Kong's Hang Seng (up 2.52% at 26,495.15), Shanghai Composite (up 0.56% to 5,485.03), and Singapore's Straits Times (up 2.73% at 3,639.02) advanced. Stock markets in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan were closed for public holidays.

US stocks posted steady gains on Friday, 21 September 2007 capping a strong week for Wall Street, as investors drew confidence from strong results at Oracle Corp. and a continued sense that lower interest rates should help bolster the economy. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 53.49, or 0.39%, to 13,820.19. Broader stock indicators also rose. The Standard & Poor's 500 index advanced 7.00, or 0.46%, to 1,525.75, while the Nasdaq Composite index rose 16.93, or 0.64%, to 2,671.22.

Indian market may, however, turn volatile this week ahead of the expiry of September 2007 futures & options (F&O) contracts on Thursday, 27 September 2007.

Crude oil prices dipped on Monday, 24 September 2007 as oil and gas producers in the Gulf of Mexico restored more output after a mild storm triggered evacuation and production cuts. US crude for November delivery fell 22 cents to $81.40 a barrel.

As per the data released on Friday, 21 September 2007, inflation based on the wholesale-price-index rose 3.32% for the week ended 8 September 2007 as against 3.52% in the previous week.