Sensex garners 360 points on hopes nuclear deal will fructify

Bull were back in action as they shrugged off data showing rise in inflation. Some good news on the political front also provided solace to investors. As per provisional data, foreign funds today, 4 July 2008, bought shares worth a net Rs 372.35 crore. Domestic funds sold shares worth a net Rs 97.02 crore.

Blue chips bounced back. Mid-cap and small-cap stocks also recovered. Realty, capital goods and power counters which had declined sharply in the past few days were at the forefront of today's rebound. Reliance Communication, India's second biggest mobile services firms by market capitalisation surged.

Hopes that a political turmoil arising from Indo-US nuclear deal may be averted helped recovery on the bourses today. The Indian government is seeking support from the Samajwadi Party (SP), a key regional party in Uttar Pradesh to retain power at a time when Left parties are on the verge of withdrawing support. SP party leaders today met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and hinted that they would approve the deal.

SP has 39 seats in parliament, compared with 59 for the communist parties. The Congress-led ruling coalition needs the support of 44 lawmakers to reach a majority. It would try and win the other five seats from smaller parties. SP is likely to announce its decision on supporting the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in a couple of days

Communist parties today, 4 July 2008, said the government must tell them by Monday, 7 July 2008, if it plans to press ahead with the next step in a controversial civilian nuclear deal with the United States. Left parties have threatened to end their backing for the government if it seeks approval for the deal from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the next international move needed to operationalise the pact.

Left parties also decided to launch a national campaign from 14 July 2008 to explain its opposition to the nuclear deal and over runaway inflation.

India's wholesale price index rose 11.63% in the 12 months to 21 June 2008, above the previous week's annual rise of 11.42%, government data released today afternoon showed.

Oil, India's biggest import, rose to a fresh record high above $145 per barrel on Thursday, 3 July 2008. The US oil settled up $1.72 at $145.29 a barrel on Thursday.

The 30-share BSE Sensex rose 359.89 points or 2.75% at 13,454. At the day’s high of 13,509.74, the Sensex gained 415.63 points in late trade. Sensex lost 66.32 points at the day's low of 13,027.79, hit in early trade.

The broader based S&P CNX Nifty rose 90.25 points or 2.30% at 4016. Nifty July 2008 futures were at 3965.25, at a discount of 50.75 points as compared to the spot closing. NSE's futures & options (F&O) segment turnover was Rs 44222.2 crore, which was lower than Rs 51604.28 crore on Thursday, 3 July 2008.

The BSE Mid-Cap index was up 2.26% at 5,278.24, while the BSE Small-Cap index was up 1.58% at 6,449.67.

The market breadth was strong on BSE, with 1696 gainers outpacing 898 losers. 83 stocks remained unchanged.

BSE clocked a turnover Rs 5604 crore as against Rs 5,645.90 on Thursday, 3 July 2008.

India’s second largest listed cellular service provider Reliance Communication rose 12.50% at Rs 438.20. As per reports, Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance Industries (RIL) on Thursday, 3 June 2008 shot off another letter to Reliance Communications (RCOM) invoking a right of first refusal (RoFR). A copy of the letter was also sent to South African telco MTN with which RCOM is negotiating a deal, the exact contours of which are not yet clear.

India’s largest private sector firm by market capitlisation Reliance Industries rose 1.35% at Rs 2099.

India’s largest private sector bank by assets ICICI Bank rose 4.67% at Rs 600.65.

India’s second largest software exporter by sales Infosys Technologies rose 0.43% at Rs 1755.40.

Diversified firm Jaiprakash Associates spurted 10.65% at Rs 153.30.

Realty stocks were in demand. DLF (up 8.56% at Rs 414.55), Unitech (up 7.79% at Rs 166), and Indiabulls Real Estate (up 6.83% at Rs 279.30), soared. The BSE Realty index outperformed the Sensex, rising 7.80% at 4,630.35.

Capital Goods stocks catapulted. Punj Lloyd (up 14.14% at Rs 228.40), Bharat Heavy Electricals (up 7.43% at Rs 1,500.30), and Larsen & Toubro (up 6.53% at Rs 2,379.85), flared up. The BSE Capital Goods index outperformed the Sensex, rising 6.79% at 10,686.55.

Power stocks moved higher. Tata Power (up 9.08% at Rs 1,097.95), Areva T&D (up 9.07% at Rs 1,419.50), and Reliance Infrastructure (up 7.21% at Rs 773.55), edged higher. The BSE Power index outperformed the Sensex, rising 6.10% at 2,306.24.

Wooden interior products maker Archidply Industries settled at Rs 50.45, a discount of 31.82% over the initial public offer price of Rs 74. The stock touched a high of 74.55 and a low of Rs 48.80.

Abrasives maker Carborundum Universal rose 2.97% to Rs 125 after the company entered into an agreement with Foskor (Proprietary), South Africa to acquire 51% stake in Foskor Zirconia (Proprietary), Phalaborwa, South Africa, for an undisclosed sum.

Pharmaceuticals products maker Panacea Biotec spurted 8.99% to Rs 303 after the company announced its foray into healthcare delivery by entering into a collaboration to set up a 220 bed multi speciality hospital in the National Capital Region, Gurgaon.

Irrigation equipments maker Jain Irrigation Systems advanced 4.93% to Rs 458.25 after a block deal of 25.45 lakh shares was struck on the counter at Rs 442 per share by 10:06 IST on BSE

Brigade Enterprises rose 3.17% to Rs 104.05 after the company said it has won an auction bid of 10.5 acres of land of ERL, a division of BPL on the Old Madras Road, Bangalore.

Low cost carrier Spicejet spurted 7.76% at Rs 25 on reports Kingfisher Airlines is close to sealing a share-swap deal with the Delhi-based low-cost carrier. The share swap is expected to be in the ratio of 1:3, where SpiceJet shareholders will get one share of the merged entity for every three SpiceJet shares owned by them.

Jewellery maker Gitanjali Gems rose 13.85% at Rs 267.10 on reports the company plans to buy US-based retail chain Whitehall Jewellers Holdings, which recently filed for bankruptcy. The deal, if concluded, would be between Rs 350 - Rs 400 crore.

Auto components maker Amtek Auto jumped 4.60% at Rs 227.30 on reports Private equity firm Chrys Capital has reportedly acquired close to 7% in the company for Rs 229 crore via open market purchases in the past three months. The sellers included Citigroup, CLSA and Copthall.

Reliance Natural Resources clocked highest volume of 2.96 crore shares on BSE. IFCI (1.41 crore shares), Chambal Fertilisers & Chemicals (1.23 crore shares), Archidply Industries (1.13 crore shares), and Reliance Petroleum (1.12 crore shares), were the other volume toppers on BSE in that order.

Reliance Capital reported a highest turnover of Rs 505.08 crore on BSE. Reliance Industries (Rs 447.58 crore), Reliance Infrastructure (Rs 259.87 crore), Reliance Natural Resources (Rs 190.33 crore), were the other turnover toppers on BSE in that order.

European market, which opened after Indian markets, were in red. Key benchmark indices in Germany, France and UK were down by 0.37% to 0.76%.

Asian stocks were mixed today. Key benchmark indices in Hong Kong, and Singapore were up by between 0.42% to 0.85%. Key benchmark indices in China, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea were down by between 0.21% to 2.24%.

US market ended mixed on Wednesday, 3 July 2008 as the payrolls data in the United States was not as weak as some had feared and with another record oil price boosting energy shares. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 73.03 points, or 0.65%, at 11,288.54. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 1.38 points, or 0.11%, at 1,262.90. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 6.08 points, or 0.27%, at 2,245.38