Sensex garners 338 points

The market surged today led by rally in index heavyweight Reliance Industries. The market got a boost from reports the government has allowed all trusts to invest in securities, including shares and bonds of listed companies.

Oil & gas, metal, capital goods and power stocks were in demand. IT stocks slipped. Mid-cap and small-cap shares gained momentum. The market breadth was strong. 25 out of 30 stocks from the Sensex pack were in green. Asian markets, which opened before Indian markets, were mixed. Key European markets were closed today, 26 December 2007.

The government on Monday, 24 December 2007 allowed all trusts to invest in securities, including shares and bonds of listed companies. Accordingly, charitable trusts, including educational institutions, hospitals and religious trust, will be able to access the market. The move will give a boost to the already-booming equities market as a large number of trusts, such as schools, temples and private hospitals having huge resources will be able to invest their funds in the market. Trusts had a corpus of nearly Rs 25,000 crore by the beginning of the decade, according to data gathered by the government for tax purposes.

The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 338.40 points or 1.70% to 20,192.52. Sensex touched a high of 20,211.47 in late trade. At day’s high it rose 357.35 points.

The broader CNX S&P Nifty rose 85.65 points or 1.43% to 6070.75.

Investors appear to have begun building positions in anticipation of strong Q3 December 2007 results which are due next month.

The BSE Mid-Cap index rose 2.05% to 9,400.86. The BSE Small-Cap index rose 3.02% to 12,342.49. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth was strong. On BSE, 2283 shares advanced as compared to 639 that declined. 23 shares were unchanged.

BSE clocked a turnover of Rs 7620 crore compared to Monday (24 December 2007)'s Rs 5,694.27 crore.

Nifty December 2007 futures were at 6076.50, a premium of 5.75 points as compared to the spot closing of 6070.75.

The NSE's futures & options (F&O) segment turnover was Rs 96,144.43 crore, which was higher than Rs 80,577.10 crore on Monday, 24 December 2007.

India’s largest private sector firm by market capitalization & oil refiner Reliance Industries jumped 3.90% to Rs 2896.70.

The BSE Oil & Gas index rose 3.45% to 13,115.99. It outperformed the Sensex. HPCL spurted 6.78% to Rs 340.10, Indian Oil Corporation jumped 6.55% to Rs 692.55, BPCL flared up 5.46% to Rs 475.45, and GAIL India rose 2.92% to Rs 538. However, ONGC, India's biggest oil exploration firm in terms of revenue, fell 0.90% to Rs 1236.20.

The BSE Metal index rose 2.50% to 19,291.34. It outperformed the Sensex. Hindalco Industries jumped 4.18% to Rs 209.40, Sterlite Industries gained 2.64% to Rs 1026.85, and Hindustan Zinc rose 2.59% to Rs 791.25. National Aluminum Company lost 1.66% to Rs 438.10.

The world's sixth-largest steel maker Tata Steel rose 3.51% to Rs 892.75 on reports the company is eyeing the Western Cluster Iron Ore deposits in Liberia, for which it has already submitted a bit. The Western Cluster consists of several deposits spread over 207.58 square kilometer and the investment is likely to be around $1.5 billion.

India's largest steel producer in terms of sales Steel Authority of India (Sail) rose 0.60% to Rs 270.05 on reports the company will invest Rs 20,000 crore in West Bengal.

The BSE Capital Goods index rose 2.24% to 19,654.31. It outperformed the Sensex. Bharat Heavy Electricals jumped 2.63% to Rs 254.65, Larsen & Toubro rose 2.57% to Rs 4193.85, HEG spurted 3.83% to Rs 562.65, BEML gained 3.79% to Rs 1669.79, and Jaiprakash Associate rose 2.70% to Rs 431.65.

The BSE Auto index was up 1% to 5,642.90. It underperformed the Sensex. India's top tractor maker by sales Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) rose 1.21% to Rs 833.55 on reports that the company is all charged up for its retail foray. The retail foray will be through Mahindra Intertrade, a subsidiary of M&M that has thus far been selling LEGO toys and other kids products.

India's top car maker by sales Maruti Suzuki India rose as much as 0.31% to Rs 993.25 after the company said it will raise prices of some vehicles by 2-3% in January 2008 because of higher raw material costs.

Tata Motors gained 3.31% to Rs 752.10, Hindustan Motors jumped 4.37% to Rs 54.90, Ashok Leyland rose 1.83% to Rs 50.20, Exide Industries spurted 5.07% to Rs 77.70 and Escorts gained 2.59% to Rs 150.55.

The BSE IT index rose 0.22% to 4,591.87, off day’s low of 4,526.14. It underperformed the Sensex. Infosys Technologies rose 0.15% to Rs 1813.60, Wipro gained 0.07% to Rs 535.70, and Satyam Computers rose 1.04% to Rs 459.30. However, TCS fell 0.99% to Rs 1097.75.

The BSE Banking index rose 1.70% to 11,290.08. India’s largest private sector bank by assets ICICI Bank rose 0.95% to Rs 1219.40.

India's largest commercial bank State Bank of India rose 2.97% to Rs 2399.35 on reports it plans to merge all the associate banks with itself by March 2009.

Kotak Mahindra Bank jumped 4.74% to Rs 1252, Indian Overseas Bank rose 3.41% to Rs 180.55, Karnataka Bank flared up 3.27% to Rs 217.75, and Andhra Bank gained 3.15% to Rs 106.50.

Telecom stocks were in demand. India’s largest listed cellular service provider by market share Bharti Airtel rose 1.28% to Rs 982.55. India’s second largest listed telecom service provider by sales Reliance Communications jumped 2.46% to Rs 743.15. India’s third largest listed telecom service provider by sales Idea Cellular rose 0.73% to Rs 131.55.

North-based telecom service provider Spice Communications jumped 5.36% to Rs 62.90 on reports that the board of the company has decided to sell 875 telecom towers to a tower operating company.

Telecom service provider Gemini Communication soared 10.05% to Rs 230.60 after the company bagged an order worth Rs 200 crore from BSNL.

State run telecom equipment maker ITI was locked at upper limit of 10% at Rs 63.40 on reports the firm is seeking a Rs 2,000 crore government aid to wipe out accumulated losses and to obtain working capital for telecom equipment manufacturing. A committee has been set up by the centre to finalise the package. The share may be under action on likely government aid.

The BSE Power index rose 2.08% to 4,443.76. It outperformed the Sensex. Reliance Energy gained 2.58% to Rs 2111.95, Power Grid Corporation of India rose 3.33% to Rs 141.05, Tata Power gained 1.66% to Rs 1348.15, and NTPC rose 1.31% to Rs 239.35.

Diverisified firm Assam Company was locked at upper limit of 5% at Rs 47.05 on reports that the company plans to hive off oil and gas business unit into separate subsidiary.

Anil Dhirubhai Ambani group firm Reliance Capital (RCL) soared 7.25% to Rs 2624.85. Earlier on 22 December 2007, some reports suggested that Reliance Capital’s unlisted subsidiary Reliance Technology Ventures (RTVL) had invested in US-based telecom solution provider Stoke Inc for an undisclosed sum. The US-based firm enables telecom operators to solve security services problems across different broadband access.

Reliance Petroleum clocked the highest turnover of Rs 241.99 crore on BSE. Essar Oil (Rs 219.91 crore), NDTV (Rs 213.27 crore), Reliance Energy (Rs 199.78 crore) and Reliance Industries (Rs 173.99 crore), were the other turnover toppers on BSE that order.

GV Films registered the highest volumes of 2.41 crore shares on BSE. Ispat Industries (1.93 crore shares), IKF Technologies (1.79 crore shares), Bellary Steels & Alloys (1.23 crore shares) and Reliance Petroleum (1.08 crore shares), were the other volume toppers on BSE in that order.

Asian markets were trading mixed today, 26 December 2007. Key indices in China, Japan and Singapore were up between 0.62% to 1.23% . However, key indices in Taiwan, and South Korea were down between 0.13% to 0.66%.

US market finished higher on Monday, 24 December 2007 after credit worries eased following news Merrill Lynch will receive an investment of up to $6.2 billion from Singapore's government-controlled investment fund, Temasek Holdings, and US-based money manager Davis Selected Advisors. The Dow Jones industrial Average rose 98.87 points at 13,549.33. The Nasdaq Composite Index, finished higher by 21.51 points at 2,713.5. S&P 500 finished higher by 11.99 points at 1,496.45.

Oil prices edged higher today, 26 December 2007, on new supply concerns amid expectations that data from the US will show a new decline in its oil inventories. Light, sweet crude for February delivery added 26 cents to $94.39 a barrel in Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, Singapore.