Sensex settles a tad above 15,500

The market saw trend reversal from initial strength to end in the red. The market moved between positive and negative zone throughout the day. It first slipped in negative zone in mid-afternoon trade as data showing slower growth in industrial production raised worries about economic slowdown from a robust growth in the year ended March 2007. Turnover was high today.

The market had opened firm tracking rally in US stocks on Tuesday, 11 September 2007, bolstered by confidence the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates next week.

The BSE 30-share Sensex declined 37.41 points or 0.24% at 15,505.36. It opened higher at 15,608.50 and advanced further to hit a high of 15,661.44. It also slipped to a low of 15,486.81.

The Sensex had slipped 55.96 points at the day’s low of 15,486.81. It had gained 118.67 points at the day’s high of 15,661.44. Sensex oscillated 174.63 points in the day.

The barometer index is 363.49 points away from its all time high of 15,868.85 hit on 24 July 2007.

The S&P CNX Nifty was down 0.80 points or 0.02% at 4,496.15. The Nifty September 2007 futures settled at 4485.10, a discount of 11.05 points as compared to spot cloisng

India's industrial output rose 7.1% in July 2007 from a year earlier, sharply lower than downwardly revised annual growth of 9% in June 2007 due to slower manufacturing output, data showed on Wednesday. Manufacturing production rose 7.2% in July 2007 from a year earlier, compared with provisional annual growth of 10.6% in June 2007.

The market breadth was strong on BSE, with 1610 shares advancing as compared to 1157 that declined, while 55 remained unchanged.

The BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.20% to 6,889.55, while the BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.51% to 8,572.35. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex. The BSE Small-Cap index struck a lifetime high of 8,634.68 earlier during the day.

The total turnover on BSE surged to Rs 5362 crore as compared to Rs 4839.55 crore on Tuesday, 11 September 2007. The NSE’s F&O turnover was Rs 40563.67 crore as compared to Rs compared to Rs 41739.52 crore on Tuesday, 11 September 2007.

Sectoral indices on BSE displayed mixed trend. The BSE Oil and Gas Index (up 0.73% at 8,321.15), BSE Auto Index (up 0.18% at 4,875.78), BSE Consumer Durables index (up 0.81% to 4,594.71), BSE Realty index (up 1.47% to 7,642.34) and BSE Metal Index (up 1.24% at 11,918.28) outperformed the Sensex.

However, the BSE PSU index (down 0.61% to 7,323.60), BSE FMCG Index (down 0.77% at 2,081.93), BSE Capital Goods Index (down 0.37% at 13,664.18), BSE Bankex (down 0.73% at 7,979.77), BSE TecK index (down 0.39% to 3,540.44), BSE Health Care Index (down 0.52% at 3,684.56), and BSE IT Index (down 0.59% at 4,443.98) were underperformers.

From 30-member Sensex pack, 23 declined while the rest of them gained.

India’s second largest power generation & distribution firm in terms of revenue Reliance Energy (REL) hit all time high of Rs 901.60 on BSE. It settled with a spurt of 3.59% to Rs 891 on high volumes of 15.02 lakh shares. As per reports, Supreme Court has allowed the company to bid for the Rs 2600 crore Mumbai sea link project. It was the top gainer from the Sensex pack.

Bajaj Auto, the country’s second largest bike manufacturer in terms of sales, rose 2.38% to Rs 2388. The company is reportedly targeting to sell 20,000 units of its recently lunched bike XCD in September 2007 and 50,000 in the month October 2007.

India’s top dedicated mortgage finance company in terms of sales HDFC rose 1.25% to Rs 2175, on sustained buying. It struck an all time high of Rs 2194.95. Analysts see significant value in HDFC’s insurance business, which could be unlocked in due course.

India’s top private sector entity by market capitalisation and oil refiner Reliance Industries advanced 1.30% to Rs 2012.20 on 7.52 lakh shares boosted by reports that government may approve Reliance Industries (RIL)'s pricing formula for the gas it plans to produce from July next year, with minor changes. The stock struck an all time high of Rs 2022.

The empowered Group of Ministers (eGoM) today left the decision on the gas price that RIL can charge its customers to External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee. Mukherjee is likely to give his decision after his return from the South East Asian tour on 19 September 2007

NTPC, the nation’s largest power generation company by sales slumped 3.04% to Rs 189.80 on 15.36 lakh shares. It was the top loser from the Sensex pack.

Pharma counters slipped on profit booking. Dr Reddy’s Laboratories (down 0.95% to Rs 645), Ranbaxy Laboratories (down 0.49% to Rs 417.75), and Cipla (down 1.27% to Rs 175.45) were the losers from pharma sector.

Banking pivotals saw some unwinding. ICICI Bank (down 1.69% to Rs 886), and HDFC Bank (down 0.53% to Rs 1181.50) edged lower

Among side counters, Salora International (up 10% to Rs 187.90), IndusInd Bank (up 10.78% to Rs 63.20), Tanla Solutions (up 10% to Rs 530.90), and Gemini Communions (up 20% to Rs 264.15), surged

Gulf Oil Corporation (down 6.13% to Rs 1200), Simplex Castings (down 4.94% to Rs 80.75), and Phoenix Mills (down 4.57% to Rs 2130), slipped

Sugar shares surged on momentum buying as crude oil prices hovered near record high of over $78 a barrel. Dwarikesh Sugar (up 3.56% to Rs 56.75), Sakthi Sugar (up 3.86% to Rs 78), Triveni Engineering (up 2% to Rs 86.50), Balrampur Chini Mills (up 3.16% to Rs 65.25), Shree Renuka Sugars (up 3.13% to Rs 550.30), and Bajaj Hindustan (up 4.31% to Rs 141.15) advanced.

Peninsula Land rose 2.36% to Rs 533.10 after it struck a deal to sell 5,75,000 square feet of land at its Dawn Mills premises to Alok Infrastructure for Rs 1050 crore.

Western India Shipyard (WISL) jumped 5% to Rs 18 ahead of its board meeting to discuss ABG Shipyard’s involvement in reviving the company. Recent reports suggest that ABG Shipyard would take over WISL in a Rs 200-crore deal. ABG would get management control of the company and the 40% stake held by financial institutions led by ICICI Bank.

Kernex Microsystems India declined 2.10% to Rs 355. The company fixed 17 October 2007 as the record date for the purpose of issue of bonus issue in the ratio 1:10.

Steel Authority of India rose 1.81% to Rs 174.45 on reports of the company planning major expansion of Rs 40,000 crore. The company would achieve a capacity of 26 million tonnes by 2010 compared with its current capacity of 13.5 million tonnes.

Kinetic Engineering rose 0.72% to Rs 139. The stock surged to a high of Rs 157.90 on reports of Tata Motors selecting the company as a vendor for supply of gearboxes for its proposed Rs 1 lakh car.

Nagarjuna Fertilisers (up 6.64% to Rs 46.55) and Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) (up 0.44% to Rs 34.60) advanced after NSE lifted ban on building fresh derivatives positions effective today, 12 September 2007.

Modern Dairies jumped 5% at Rs 158.40 ahead of its record date for issuing bonus shares. Modern Dairies has fixed 1 October 2007 as record date for issuing bonus shares, in the ratio of 1:1 (1 bonus share for every 1 equity share held). The stock had jumped 5% to Rs 150.90 yesterday, 11 September 2007

Nitco Tiles rose 2.73% to Rs 245. The stock rose for the second straight day on reports that firm has forayed into import and distribution of cement and is importing 1 million tonnes (MT) of cement from Pakistan. The stock had gained 4.05% to Rs 238.90 yesterday, 11 September 2007

3i Infotech rose 0.92% to Rs 143 after it acquired a strategic stake of 26% in Taxsmile.com India, with a commitment to acquire a majority stake over a period. Taxsmile is a company engaged in Internet-based tax filing and tax advisory space for individuals.

The trend on the bourses today was similar to yesterday, 11 September 2007, when the market had opened higher but settled with losses on late selling due to political worries ahead of a key meeting of the government with left parties.

The government held initial talks with its communist allies yesterday, 11 September 2007 over a controversial India-US nuclear deal. External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said after the 45-minute meeting that the UPA government and its Left allies set ground rules for further talks and the committee would meet again on 19 September 2007.

Most of the European markets were trading lower today, 12 September 2007. Key benchmark indices in United Kingdom (down 0.55% to 6,246.30) and Germany (down 0.37% to 7,430.46) slipped. However France’s CAC 40 rose 0.04% to 5,481.34

Asian markets settled mixed today, 12 September 2007. Hang Seng (up 1.49% at 24,310.44), Taiwan Weighted (up 0.17% at 9,018.12) and Singapore's Straits Times (up 0.33% at 3,506.09) gained.

However, South Korea's Seoul Composite (down 1.83% at 1,813.52) and Japan's Nikkei (down 0.50% at 15,797.60), slipped

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) rose 180.54 points, or 1.38%, to 13,308.39 on Tuesday, 11 September 2007. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 19.79 points, or 1.36%, to 1,471.49, while the Nasdaq Composite index rose 38.36 points, or 1.50%, to 2,597.47.

Crude oil prices held near a record high over $78 a barrel on Wednesday, 12 September 2007, after OPEC's token output increase failed to soothe consumers' worries about falling inventories. US light crude for October delivery rose 8 cents to $78.31 a barrel, after a record close yesterday, 11 September 2007 of $78.23, and within striking limit of 1 August 2007’s record high of $78.77.

Meanwhile, in a move that could boost FII investments in India, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), on Tuesday 11 September 2007, permitted acceptance of foreign sovereign securities with ‘AAA’ rating by clearing members as collateral from FIIs for exchange traded derivative transactions. Currently, collateral deposited by FIIs with the clearing members for derivative transactions is in the form of cash. RBI has already given permission for the new facility.