Domestic bourses shrug off weak global cue; Sensex garners 252 points

The market defied the global market slump and surged towards the latter part of the trading session. The barometer index BSE Sensex hit 20,000 mark in late trade, led by rally in banking stocks, auto pivotals and index heavyweight Reliance Industries. Earlier during the day, the market had recovered from lower level after an initial sharp fall caused by weak global markets. It had, however, failed to sustain higher level. European and Asian markets edged lower following a setback in US stocks yesterday, 1 November 2007.

Bank stocks surged after the latest data showed inflation fell to 5-year low. Reliance Energy and Infosys were in demand. Auto, FMCG, realty stocks recovered in late trade. ONGC hit all-time high in afternoon trade. GSM cellular operators Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular tumbled. Market breadth turned even in late trading, recovering from a weak breadth earlier during the day. BSE Mid Cap & Small Cap indices underperformed Sensex.

Annual inflation, based on the wholesale price index (WPI), rose 3.02% in the week ended 20 October 2007, below the previous week's 3.07% rise. The inflation rate is now at its lowest since 19 October, 2002 when it stood at 3.01%. Inflation data hit the market at around 12:00 IST today.

The Sensex ended up 251.88 points or 1.28% to 19,976.23. It opened with a downward gap of 359.74 points and soon declined to hit a low of 19,255.77. At day’s low of 19,255.77, Sensex had lost 468.58 points. Sensex surged to hit high of 20,025.63 in late trade. At day’s high of 20,025.63, Sensex had risen 301.28 points.

The broader based S&P CNX Nifty was up 65.95 points or 1.12% to 5,932.40.

The market breadth turned marginally positive on BSE: 1,371 scrips advanced as compared to 1,336 that declined while 371 remained unchanged. 21 of the 30 Sensex stocks rose.

Nifty November 2007 futures were at 5,955 at a premium of 22.6 points as compared to spot closing of 5,932.40.

NSE’s futures & options (F&O) segment turnover was Rs 76,145.01 crore today, which was lower than Rs 99,734.02 crore on Thursday, 01 November 2007.

BSE clocked a turnover of Rs 8120 crore, much lower than Thursday (1 November 2007)'s Rs 11,469.70 crore.

The BSE Mid Cap index rose 0.69% to 8,021.80 and BSE Small Cap index rose 0.99% to 9,742.43. Both these indices underperformed Sensex.

BSE Bankex (up 3.59% to 11,241.53), BSE Oil & Gas index (up 1.7% to 11,736.43), BSE PSU index (up 2.35% to 9,930.27) & BSE Realty index (up 1.34% to 10,327.90) outperformed Sensex.

BSE Auto index (up 0.59% to 5,423.10), BSE Consumer Goods index(up 1.22% to 20,386.41), BSE FMCG index (up 1.17% to 2,062.04), BSE IT index (up 0.42% to 4,634.64), BSE Metal index (up 0.63% to 17,693.66) underperformed Sensex.

India's largest private sector entity by market capitalisation and oil refiner Reliance Industries (RIL) rose 1.54% to Rs 2,712.70. It came off from session's low of Rs 2,605. Reliance Energy rose 4.59% to Rs 1,849. It came off from session's low of Rs 1,680.

Banking stocks surged in late trade. India’s largest public sector bank by operating income State Bank of India (SBI) rose 8.74% to Rs 2,251.75 and was the top gainer from Sensex pack after it revised interest rates on domestic term deposits. SBI cut interest rates on 550 day domestic term deposits by 25 basis points to 8.75% from 7 November 2007. The bank has also withdrawn its super-saver term deposit scheme for a minimum deposit of Rs 10,000, carrying a 9% interest for 4-5 years and 8.5% for deposits over 5 years.

HDFC Bank (up 4.97% to Rs 1,758.75) and ICICI Bank (up 2.44% to Rs 1,330.60) edged higher.

India’s largest oil exploration firm by revenue ONGC rose 2.7% to Rs 1,366.10. It hit an all time high of Rs 1,386.90 today.

FMCG stock rose on buying at lower level after their recent sharp fall. India’s largest cigarette maker by sales ITC rose 2.04% to Rs 175.35. Hindustan Unilever rose 0.77% to Rs 195.75.

Capital goods stocks edged higher. Larsen & Toubro (up 0.78% to Rs 4,461.05), Bharat Heavy Electricals (up 2.03% to Rs 2,715.25) and Suzlon Energy (up 0.29% to Rs 1,968.45) edged higher.

Realty stocks climbed. Indiabulls Real Estate (up 7.07% to Rs 649.50) and Unitech (up 2.2% to Rs 378.25) edged higher. DLF (up 0.44% to Rs 932).

The India’s largest commercial vehicles manufacturer by sales Tata Motors rose 1.46% to Rs 755.20 after posting 13% rise in sales at 49,354 units in October 2007 over October 2006. Its commercial vehicles sales rose 16% at 27,103 units and domestic passenger car sales up 8% at 18,021 units in October 2007 over October 2006.

Mahindra & Mahindra, India's biggest tractor maker by sales, declined 1.23% to Rs 755.55 after it signed an agreement with Navistar International Corporation to a set up a joint venture to produce diesel engines for medium and heavy commercial trucks and buses in India.

India’s larget cellular services provider in terms of market share Bharti Airtel declined 5.1% to Rs 894.85 and was the top loser from Sensex pack. Idea Cellular lost 1.13% to Rs 131.30. The government, on Thursday, 1 November 2007, accepted Telecom Engineering Centre's report that suggested tough norms for spectrum allocation to GSM operators, a move that may make it difficult for players like Bharti, Vodafone and Idea to get additional frequency.

Cipla declined 1.39% to Rs 173.60. It has received a notice from the Government demanding Rs 49.47 crore, inclusive of interest, for alleged overcharging by the company during the period April 2006 to March 2007 in respect of the drug Salbutamol.

India’s second largest cement producer ACC declined 1.9% to Rs 1,032.55 after it posted 6.66% rise in cement dispatches to 1.76 million tonnes in October 2007 over October 2006.

India's third-largest cement maker Ambuja Cements rose 0.63% to Rs 144.70 after it posted 3.6 % rise in cement shipments to 1.48 million tonnes in October 2007 over October 2006.

India’s biggest dedicated housing finance firm in terms of revenue HDFC lost 1.62% to Rs 2,653. Wipro (down 1.47% to Rs 492.05) and Satyam Computer Services (down 1.87% to Rs 462) edged lower. Infosys Technologies rose 2.04% to Rs 1,908.35.

Among side counters, Parle Software (up 20% to Rs 1,201.80), Amrutanjan Drugs & Chemicals (up 20% to Rs 545.75), Kar Mobiles (up 20% to Rs 269.70), Ruchi Soya Industries (up 20% to Rs 117.95) and Lakshmi Electrical Control Systems (up 20% to Rs 462.10) rallied.

Denison Hydraulics India (down 10% to Rs 783.05) and Universal Starch (down 9.74% to 17.15) edged lower.

Reliance Natural Resources rose 9.40% to Rs 142. It clocked the highest volume of 4.45 crore on BSE. Reliance Petroleum clocked the second highest volume of 2.99 crore. It rose 2.88% to Rs 269.40. IFCI clocked the third highest volume of 1.16 crore shares. It declined 1.61% to Rs 82.45. National Organic Chemical Industries (NOCIL) clocked fourth highest volume of 1.13 crore shares on BSE. It surged 20% to Rs 40.30. Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) was flat at Rs 43.90. It was the fifth highest stock in terms of volume on BSE. 1.06 crore shares changed hands in the counter.

Reliance Petroleum clocked highest turnover of Rs 793.92 crore on BSE. Reliance Natural Resources (Rs 605.13 crore), Reliance Energy (Rs 391.57 crore), Reliance Capital (Rs365.56 crore) & Reliance Industries (Rs 293.56 crore) were other major turnover grossers on BSE.

European markets were in the red. France’s CAC 40 (down 1% to 5,673.13), Germany’s DAX (down 0.85% to 7,813.54) and UK’s FTSE 100 (down 1.19% to 6,508) edged lower.

Asian markets slumped today, 2 November 2007, hurt by an overnight sell-off on Wall Street. Hang Seng (down 3.25% at 30,468.34), Nikkei (down 2.09% at 16,517), Taiwan's Taiwan Weighted (down 3.39% at 9,273.09), Singapore's Straits Times (down 2.13% at 3,722.65) and South Korea's Seoul Composite (down 2.12% at 2,019.34) all edged lower.

US markets tumbled yesterday, 1 November 2007, after brokerages downgraded Citibank and Bank of America, sparking fears of more credit crisis fallout. The Dow Jones industrial average slumped 362.14 points or 2.60%, to 13,567.87. The Standard & Poor's 500 index declined 40.94 points, or 2.64%, at 1,508.44, while the Nasdaq Composite index dropped 64.29 points, or 2.25%, to 2,794.83.

The Sensex slipped 113.64 points, or 0.57%, to 19,724.35 on Thursday, 1 November 2007. The broader based S&P CNX Nifty declined 34.20 points, or 0.58%, to 5,866.45, on Thursday, 1 November 2007.

As per provisional data, FIIs purchased shares worth a net Rs 74.25 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers of shares worth Rs 56.22 crore on Thursday, 1 November 2007.

New York's main futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in December gained 41 cents to $93.90 a barrel. Brent crude was up 71 cents to $90.43 a barrel.