Post Session Commentary - May 21 2008

The Indian market made a smart recovery after the mid session to close with marginal gains. After a weak start backed the unfavoring cues from the global markets like the surging crude oil prices above $129 barrel as well the rising inflation, the domestic market made a smart turnaround to gain some momentum after the mid session on the back of selective buying across the counters. This was also supported by the by the Asian stocks that ended mixed and the European Market, which is trading green. Irrespective of the selling pressures, the oil and gas stocks shines through out the trading session as most buying interest was seen from these baskets. The metal and capital goods stocks also joined the rally while banking and pharma stocks witnessed selling pressure. The market breadth was positive as 1710 stocks closed in green while 1009 stocks closed in red.

The BSE Sensex closed marginally higher by 12.98 at 17,243.16 and NSE Nifty also increased by 12.7 points to close at 5,117.65. The BSE Mid Cap and Small Cap closed up by 41.99 points at 7148.05 and 130.37 points at 8,788.98 respectively. The BSE Sensex touched intraday high of 17,293.34 and intraday low of 17,041.63.

Gainers from the BSE are Tata Steel (3.09%), Mahindra & Mahindra (2.66%), Reliance (2.53%), BHEL (2.03%), Grasim Industries (1.57%), Tata Motors (1.55%), TCS Ltd (1.18%) and ITC Ltd (1.13%).

Losers from the BSE are HDFC Bank (3.46%), HDFC (3.13%), HUL (2.34%), NTPC (2.15%), Cipla Ltd (2.02%), ICICI Bank (1.77%), Ambuja Cement (1.61%) and Raqnbaxy Lab (1.35%).

The Oil & Gas index closed higher by 263.19 points at 11,432.80. Gainers are Reliance Natural Res (5.04%), Aban Offshore (4.95%), Essar Oil Ltd (4.75%), Reliance Petroleum (3.99%), Reliance (2.53%) and BPCL (1.99%).

The Metal index advanced by 213.31 points to close at 17,390.28. Gainers are Gujarat Nre C (6.28%), Nat Aluminum Co (4.62%), Tata Steel (3.09%), Hindustan Zinc (3.07%), Ispat Industries (2.40%) and Welspan Gujarat (1.88%).

The Capital Goods index inclined by 106.60 points to close at 13,670.08. Major gainers are Kirloskar Br (15.04%), Praj Industries Ltd (11.26%), Punj LLoyd (3.30%), Alstom Proj (3.30%), Areva (3.26%), BHEL (2.03%), and Thermax Ltd (1.26%).

The Bankex index fell by 123.95 points to close at 8,639.90 as HDFC Bank (3.46%), Union Bank (2.83%), Kotak Bank (2.71%), Bank of India (2.53%), CBOP (1.25%), Punjab National Bank (1.18%) and Allahabad bank and Indian Overseas bank (0.55%) closed in negative territory.

The Pharma index closed lower by 24.15 points at 4,245.69. Losers are Glenmark Pharma (3.87%), Sterl Biotec (3.17%), Cipla Ltd (2.02%), Sun Pharma (2.00%), Niholas Pirmal (2.00%), and Aurbindo Pharma (1.53%).