Domestic bourses buck weak global equities on strong IIP data

The market surged to all-time high in late trade, in what was a choppy trading session today. The market had lost ground in afternoon trade after staging a rebound from lower level in early trade from an initial slump. IT, banking majors declined. Realty, healthcare and metal stocks gained. Reliance Industries was flat. HDFC and Reliance Communications were the major gainers while Infosys and Satyam Computer Services were major losers from the Sensex pack.

The market breadth was strong. BSE Mid-Cap and Small-Cap indices hit all-time highs today and both the indices outperformed Sensex. Edelweiss Capital surged on debut.

The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) jumped 11.8% in October 2007 from 4.5% in October 2006. IIP stood at 9.7% in April-October 2007 compared with 10.1% in April-October 2006. Industrial output data for September 2007 was revised upwards to 6.8% from 6.4%. The government released the IIP data early afternoon today, 12 December 2007.

European markets, which opened after Indian market, were weak in. Asian markets edged lower today, 12 December 2007, after the US Federal Reserve's small 25 basis points interest rate cut on Tuesday, 11 December 2007, raised worries about US economic growth.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh brushed aside on Tuesday, 11 December 2007, a new threat from his communist allies to force early elections over a controversial nuclear deal with the United States. In the government's first reaction to a call by the leader of the largest left-wing party for talks on the deal to be stopped, Singh said he would stick to a plan conditionally approved by the communists earlier to push the landmark pact.

The 30-share BSE Sensex rose 84.98 points or 0.42% to 20,375.87. Sensex hit all-time high of 20,419.11 in late trade. At day's high, Sensex rose 128.22 points. Sensex had slipped to a low of 20,045.42 in early trade. At day’s low Sensex had lost 245.47 points.

The broader S&P CNX Nifty rose 62.05 points or 1.02% at 6,159.30. It hit all-time high of 6,175.65 today in late trade.

Market breadth was strong. On BSE, 2,108 stocks advanced, 749 stocks declined and 28 stocks remained unchanged. 18 out of 30 stocks from the Sensex pack were in green.

BSE clocked a turnover of Rs 8922 crore, compared to Tuesday, 11 December 2007's Rs 8,227.36 crore.

Nifty December 2007 futures were at 6177, at a premium of 17.70 points as compared to the spot closing of 6159.30.

The NSE's futures & options (F&O) segment turnover was Rs 71,385.36 crore, which was higher than Rs 59,421.97 crore on Tuesday, 11 December 2007.

The BSE Mid-Cap index rose 1.66% to 9,338.49. It hit a all time high of 9,345.16 today. BSE Small-Cap index rose 1.86% to 11,884.99. It hit a all-time high of 11,899.96 today. Both these indices outperformed Sensex.

BSE Auto index (up 0.15% to 5,770.02), BSE Power (up 0.36% to 4,539.86), BSE Capital Goods index (up 0.04% to 20,308.27), BSE Bankex (down 0.57% to 11,712.12) and BSE IT index (down 1.78% to 4,353.59) underperformed Sensex.

BSE FMCG index (up 0.92% to 2,189.52), BSE Oil & Gas index (up 1.44% to 13,152.02), BSE PSU index (up 1.58% to 10,245.58), BSE Health Care index (up 2.75% to 4,173.98), BSE Realty index (up 2.94% to 12,540.32) and BSE Metal index (up 3.01% to 19,629.07) outperformed Sensex.

India’s largest private sector firm by market capitalization & oil refiner Reliance Industries rose 0.28% to Rs 2,886.90. The company said on Tuesday, 11 December 2007, it has signed exploration and production contracts with Colombia's Agencia Nacional de Hydrocarburos for two offshore blocks, Borojo North and Borojo South.

Banking stocks declined. ICICI Bank (down 1.96% to Rs 1,290.30) and State Bank of India (down 0.22% to Rs 2,440.40) edged lower. Interest rates in India are unlikely to come down in the short to medium term, T.S. Bhattacharyya, managing director of State Bank of India said today. HDFC Bank rose 0.52% to Rs 1,784.

IT pivotals were mixed. Infosys (down 3.34% to Rs 1,684.80), Satyam Computer Services (down 2.39% to Rs 431.15) edged lower. Wipro (up 0.08% to Rs 505.55) and Tata Consultancy Services (up 0.94% to Rs 1,049) edged higher.

Healthcare stocks advanced in late trade. Cipla (up 2.36% to Rs 199.55), Ranbaxy Laboratories (up 0.63% to Rs 407.70) and Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories (up 1.75% to Rs 685.80) edged higher.

Realty stocks rose. Hosing Development & Infrastructure (up 14.01% to Rs 978.30), Ansal Properties & Infrastucture (up 22.38% to Rs 418.35), Indiabulls Real Estate (up 3.19% to Rs 746.55) Unitech (up 1.28% to Rs 485.95), and DLF (up 0.74% to Rs 1,021.10) edged higher.

Metal stocks surged in late trade. Tata Steel rose 3.42% to Rs 864.45. The company today said it has signed a joint venture agreement with state-run mineral development company SODEMI for the development of Mount Nimba iron ore deposits in Ivory Coast, West Africa.

Jindal Saw (up 12.35% to Rs 1,036.45), Shree Precoated Steel (up 3.67% to Rs 395.15), National aluminium Company (up 11.54% to Rs 451.45), Hindalco Industries (up 3.06% to Rs 205.65), Steel Authority of India (up 3.85% to Rs 287.55) edged higher.

HDFC (up 5.33% to Rs 3,103.95), Reliance Communications (up 3.51% to Rs 765.75), NTPC (up 3.21% to Rs 251) edged higher.

Bharat Heavy Electricals declined 0.82% to Rs 2,648.35.

Reliance Energy declined 0.72% to Rs 1,931.70. It has bagged an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract from Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) to set up a coal based power station at Raghunathpur in West Bengal. The contract is valued at over Rs 3,725 crore. The EPC Group of Reliance Energy currently has orders on hand for execution aggregating over Rs 10,000 crore.

IKF Technologies rose 20% to Rs 11.38. It clocked the highest volume of 3.97 crore shares on BSE. G V Films clocked the second highest volume of 3.86 crore shares. It rose 18.03% to Rs 9.10. Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) rose 2.74% to Rs 60. It clocked the third highest volume of 2.53 crore shares. Ispat Industries rose 1.48% to Rs 71.80. It clocked the fourth highest volume of 1.54 crore shares. Gujarat State Petronet rose 14.13% to Rs 96.50. It clocked the fifth highest volume of 1.52 crore shares on BSE.

Essar Oil clocked the highest turnover of Rs 315.32 crore on BSE. Reliance Natural Resources (Rs 256.48 crore), Reliance Petroleum (Rs 178.07 crore), Jindal Steel (Rs 173.25 crore) and Lanco Infratech (Rs 156.73 crore) were other turnover toppers on BSE in that order.

Edelweiss Capital ended at Rs 1,509.95 on BSE, a premium of 83.02% compared to IPO price of Rs 825. On BSE, 36.16 lakh shares changed hands in the counter. The stock debuted at Rs 1443.75, a premium of 75% as compared to the issue price of Rs 825.

In an important event, after Indian market hours yesterday, 11 December 2007, the US Federal Reserve lowered its benchmark interest rate by a quarter point to 4.25%, while signaling that it is open to further cuts if the housing slump and credit squeeze worsens. The Fed also lowered its discount rate, the interest it charges on direct loans it makes to banks, by a quarter-point to 4.75%.

European markets slipped today. France’s CAC 40 (down 1.25% to 5,653.29), Germany’s DAX (down 0.6% to 7,961.18) and UK’s FTSE 100 (down 0.85% to 6,480.80) edged lower.

Asian markets were weak today, 12 December 2007. Hong Kong's Hang Seng (down 2.41% at 28,521.06), Japan's Nikkei (down 0.7% at 15,932.26), Taiwan's Taiwan Weighted (down 1.71% points at 8,490.84), Straits Times (down 1.11% at 3,549.25) and Shanghai Composite (down 1.54% to 5,096.59), all edged lower. South Korea's Seoul Composite (up 0.12% 1,927.45) edged higher.

US markets tumbled after the Fed cut rates by a quarter point disappointing traders expecting double that amount. The Fed's statement said that elevated energy and commodity prices may put upward pressure on inflation.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slumped 294.26 points, or 2.14%, to 13,432.77. The Standard & Poor's 500 index plunged 38.31 points, or 2.53%, to 1,477.65, and the Nasdaq Composite index declined 66.60 points, or 2.45%, to 2,652.35.