Small-cap, mid-cap indices extend gains

The two key benchmark indices - the BSE Sensex and the S&P CNX Nifty saw divergent trend with the Sensex falling marginally and the S&P CNX Nifty rising slightly in what was a highly choppy trading session. The BSE Sensex settled 3.67 points or 0.03% lower, recovering 145.20 points from the day's low, but off 66.80 from the day's high. The Sensex struck its highest level in nearly 6 months. The Nifty attained its highest closing in more than six months.

The BSE Sensex regained the psychological 12,000 level. It had fallen below that level in early afternoon trade.

Volatility was high. After an early slide triggered by profit taking after Monday's sharp surge, the market bounced back in morning trade. However, the recovery proved short-lived with the Sensex skidding to the day's low in early afternoon trade. It cut losses later. Volatility ruled the roost in afternoon trade.

The market firmed up in mid-afternoon trade as as index heavyweight Reliance Industries recovered. The BSE Sensex struck its highest level in nearly six months. A sudden fall was witnessed at about 14:41 IST. Volatility was high in late trade.

The BSE 30-share Sensex had jumped 731.50 points, or 6.41%, to 12,134.75 on Monday, registering its biggest single day point gain since 31 October 2008. The BSE Sensex had advanced 2,487.44 points or 25.78% in the calendar year 2009 till 4 May 2009.

Recovery in the Indian economy triggered a solid rally on the domestic bourses in the past few days. The rally was also a part of a sharp surge in global equities triggered by hopes the worst of the global economic recession may be over. From a 3-year closing low of 8,160.40 on 9 March 2009, the Sensex jumped 3974.35 points or 48.70% to 12134.75 on 4 May 2009.

Buying demand from foreign institutional investors (FIIs) aided the recent upsurge. FIIs bought shares worth a net Rs 1491.20 crore on Monday, 4 May 2009. Their inflow in calendar year 2009 totaled Rs 2203.90 crore.

Activity in Indian factories expanded for the first time in five months in April 2009 as a swelling orders pipeline pointed to a tentative recovery, a survey showed on Monday, 4 May 2009. The ABN AMRO Bank purchasing managers' index (PMI) based on a survey of 500 companies, rose to 53.3 in April 2009 from 49.5 in March 2009, climbing above the threshold of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. The latest reading is the highest in seven months and it has steadily risen after hitting a trough of 44.4 in December 20089.

Manufacturing makes up about 16% of India's gross domestic product. The boost in manufacturing index came from a surge in new orders. The new orders index rose to 54.9 in April 2009 from 49.5 in March 2009. Several research notes in the past few days have pointed to improvement in economic activity in the months ahead.

European shares rose with financials the biggest gainers on hopes that the results of US government stress tests on banks would reveal only modest shortfalls for the sector. Key benchmark indices in UK, France and Germany were up by between 0.10% to 2.87%

Most Asian markets rose on Tuesday, 5 May 2009, as better-than-expected US home sales added to signs the worst of the global recession has passed. Key indices in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore were up by between 0.29% and 2.25%. Trading in Tokyo was closed until Thursday for Golden Week, while trading in South Korea was closed for the Children's Day holiday.

A government report on 30 April 2009 showed Japan's industrial production rose in March 2009 for the first time in six months and at twice the pace estimated by economists. The CLSA China Purchasing Managers' Index rose in April 2009, the first gain in nine months, CLSA Asia Pacific Markets said yesterday, 4 May 2009.

Trading in US index futures showed the Dow could rise 11 points at the opening bell on Tuesday, 5 May 2009. Earlier in the day, the Dow futures were in red.

The Wall Street Journal reported that ten of the 19 US banks undergoing government stress tests will need to raise capital. The results of the government's Supervisory Capital Assessment Program, otherwise known as the "stress test," imposed on 19 major banks will be released Thursday, 7 May 2009. The Federal Reserve has already said that most US banking organizations had enough capital.

US stocks rallied on Monday, 4 May 2009 driving the S&P 500 into positive territory for the year as investors bet banks' capital shortfalls may be manageable and housing data fueled hopes the recession is easing. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 214.33 points, or 2.61%, to 8,426.74, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 29.72 points, or 3.39%, to 907.24 and the Nasdaq Composite index climbed 44.36 points, or 2.58%, to 1,763.56.

US government on Monday reported that construction spending in the country rose for the first time in six months in March 2009 as stimulus spending kicked in, while pending sales of existing homes rose 3.2% for the month.

Last week, the Federal Reserve monetary policy committee said the outlook for the US economy has improved a bit in recent weeks but that low interest rates would be needed for some time to ensure it recovers from its deep recession.

The BSE 30-share Sensex ended marginally lower by 3.67points, or 0.34%, to 12,092.96, as per provisional closing. The Sensex opened 24.59 points higher at 12,159.74. At the day's high of 12,197.88, the Sensex gained 63.13 points in mid-afternoon trade, its highest level since 6 October 2008. At the day's low of 11,985.88, the Sensex lost 148.87 points in early afternoon trade.

The S&P CNX Nifty rose 7.90 points, or 0.22%, to 3,661.90, its highest closing since 3 October 2008. Nifty May 2009 futures were at 3,659, at a discount of 2.90 points as compared to the spot closing. Turnover in NSE's futures & options (F&O) segment surged to Rs 52,712.16 crore from Rs 46,344.80 crore on Monday, 4 May 2009.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On BSE, 1615 shares rose as compared with 933 that declined. A total of 99 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Mid-Cap index rose 1.85% to 3,718.87 and the BSE Small-Cap index climbed up 1.98% to 4,162.58. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

The BSE Mid-Cap index has risen 165.38 points or 45.63% from its low of 2,553.49 on 9 March 2009. The BSE Small-Cap index has rebounded 1295.90 points or 45.20% from its low of 2,866.68 on 9 March 2009.

BSE clocked a turnover of Rs 5811 crore, higher than Rs 4,753.56 crore on Monday, 4 May 2009.

Sectoral indices on BSE displayed mixed trend. The BSE Consumer Durables index (up 0.98%), the BSE PSU index (up 0.71%), the BSE Capital Goods index (up 1.77%), the BSE Realty index (up 8.63%), the BSE Auto index (up 0.16%), the BSE Power index (up 1.19%), BSE Healthcare index (up 0.22%), BSE Bankex (up 2.36%), and the BSE Metal index (up 3.50%), outperformed the Sensex.

The BSE IT index (down 2.11%), BSE TECk index (down 1.10%), the BSE FMCG index (down 2.15%), the BSE Oil & Gas index (down 0.38%), underperfomed the Sensex.

Among the 30-member Sensex pack, 19 slipped while the rest gained.

Rate sensitive real estate shares rose on hopes lower rates will revive demand. Most of the realty deals including sale of commercial property and housing sales is driven by finance.

India's largest realty developer by sales DLF shot up 11.25% to Rs 260.05 on high volume of 84.96 lakh shares on the BSE. It was the top gainer from the Sensex pack. Reportedly, the company intends raising Rs 5,500 crore to retire debt through the sale of non-strategic assets like power units and hotels.

Unitech (up 11.47%), HDIL (up 7.97%), and Indiabulls Real Estate (up 4.06%), gained.

Sobha Developers jumped 8.83% to Rs 112.15 after its board of directors in a meeting held on 4 May 2009 board approved increase in foreign institutional investors investment limit up to 100% of its equity

India's largest private sector bank by net profit ICICI Bank vaulted 8.52% to Rs 574.10 after its American depository receipt (ADR) advanced 14.16% on Monday, 4 May 2009.

India's largest mortgage finance firm by total income HDFC slumped 5.19% to Rs 1856 on profit taking after a 13.79% surge on Monday, 4 May 2009 triggered by better-than-expected Q4 results. The stock's rating was cut to hold from buy by Deutsche Bank, which said the shares were fairly valued. It was the top loser from the Sensex pack.

India's largest private sector steel maker by sales Tata Steel galloped 8.37% to Rs 285. The stock flared up on reports the company has raised prices of long steel products used in the construction industry. Tata Steel has increased spot prices by Rs 300 to Rs 500 a tonne on some long products, marking the first rise since prices crashed in the middle of last year. The price increase was effective 1 May 2009.

Other steel stocks also advanced. JSW Steel (up 9.47%), Bhushan Steel (up 6.46%), Jindal Steel & Power (up 1.74%) and Ispat Industries (up 3.71%), rose.

India's largest truck maker by sales Tata Motors jumped 5.77% to Rs 272.05 after the company received 2.03 lakh bookings for its mini-car Nano, the world's cheapest car, more than double from the initial sales plan of the company. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 4 May 2009. Tata Motors raised about Rs 2500 crore from consumer bookings for its Nano, the world's cheapest car.

But India's top small car maker by sales Maruti Suzuki India fell 1.66% to Rs 825. The company reportedly plans to launch a 660 cc car in the coming years. Meanwhile, the company also plans to upgrade the Omni engine to make it compliant with the latest emission norms and launch an executive sedan to compete with the Toyota Corolla and the Honda Civic.

India's largest tractor maker by sales Mahindra & Mahindra slipped 2.86% to Rs 534.10 on profit booking after Monday's 11.86% rally triggered by strong sales in the month just gone by. Total sales of vehicles rose 14.85% to 23,004 units in April 2009 over in April 2008.

India's largest pharma company by sales Ranbaxy surged 3.46% to Rs 176.55 after the company said it has launched phase-III clinical trials for its Anti-Malaria drug Arterolanc Maleate Piperaquine phosphate in India, Bangladesh and Thailand. The company expects to complete the trial and apply for marketing authorisation by late calendar year 2010. It was the top gainer from the Sensex pack.

Jubilant Organosys spurted 13.38% to Rs 133 after the company said its unit has singed a pact with AstraZeneca for research collaboration. The company made this announcement during trading hours today, 5 May 2009.

Capital goods stocks rose after L&T, India's largest engineering and construction company by sales, recently said it expects strong order flow in the current financial year ending March 2010. L&T advanced 2.48% to Rs 976. India's largest power equipment marker by sales Bharat Heavy Electricals gained 0.94% to Rs 1723.

Suzlon Energy gained 10.69% to Rs 73 extending gains for the third session after the firm raised its stake in Germany's REpower Systems to 76%, after paying Martifer 30 million euros last week.

Outsourcing focussed IT stocks slumped on a firm rupee. India's second largest software services exporter by sales Infosys plunged 3.77% to Rs 1567.80 even as its ADR gained 6.71% on Monday, 4 May 2009.

India's largest software services exporter by sales TCS lost 2.61% to Rs 649.80. The stock lost on reports Chrysler, the bankrupt US automaker, plans to scale down its offshore outsourcing of information technology projects to vendors such as TCS in the near term, as America's third-largest automaker prepares to undergo a massive business transformation steered by the Obama administration and sell its assets to Italy's Fiat.

However India's third largest software services exporter by sales Wipro rose 0.95% to Rs 368.05 after the company said its unit Wipro Infotech has won a nine-year outsourcing contract from Unitech Wireless. The stock rebounded sharply from day's low of Rs 353.40

The rupee rose today, 5 May 2009 helped by gains in other Asian currencies. The partially convertible rupee was at 49.45 per dollar, stronger than its Monday's close of 49.91/92.

A stronger rupee affects operating profit of IT firms negatively as they earn most of their revenues from exports.

India's second largest cellular services provider by sales Reliance Communication rose 2.81% to Rs 235.60, extending yesterday's 6.75% surge. Consolidated net profit as per Indian GAAP declined 3% to Rs 1454.31 crore on 10% growth in sales to Rs 5797.77 crore in Q4 March 2009 over Q4 March 2008. The company unveiled the results on Thursday, 30 April 2009

India's largest private sector firm by market capitalisation and oil refiner Reliance Industries (RIL) was down 0.97% to Rs 1867. Nevertheless, the stock came off day's low of Rs 1838.25. Reports the Securities & Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has issued show cause notice to its refining unit Reliance Petroleum (RPL) for alleged insider trading and violation of the Fraudulent and Unfair Trade Practices (FUTP) triggered slide on the counter. RPL lost 0.68% to Rs 116. RPL is set to be merged with RIL, with RPL shareholders getting 1 share of RIL for every 16 held.

Shares of oil marketing firms HPCL (down 3.42%), BPCL (down 3.19%), and IOC (down 1.32%) fell as oil rose. State-run oil marketing firms suffer revenue loss on domestic sale of petrol, diesel, LPG and kerosene at a controlled price.

Light, sweet crude for June 2009 delivery rose $1.27, or 2.4%, to $54.47 a barrel on Monday, 4 May 2009 as investors responded to better-than-expected readings on pending home sales and construction spending in the US

Cement shares retraced from day's high after gaining on the back of healthy dispatches in April 2009. India's largest cement maker by sales ACC fell 1.14% to Rs 648. The stock came off day's high of Rs 670.90. ACC's cement dispatches rose 4.05% to 1.8 million tonne in April 2009 over April 2008. The company announced the monthly dispatches figures after trading hours on Monday, 4 May 2009.

India's largest dam builder Jaiprakash Associates fell 0.51% to Rs 146.50. The stock declined from day's high of Rs 152.45. The company's cement dispatches increased 28% in April 2009 over April 2008

India's second largest cement maker by sales Ambuja Cements fell 2.68% to Rs 79.80. The stock came off the day's high of Rs 83. The company's cement dispatches rose 10.7% rise in cement dispatches to 1.64 million tonnes in April 2009 over April 2008.

Aditya Birla group cement firms Grasim (down 0.27% to Rs 1793, off day's high of Rs 1842), and UltraTech Cement (down 1.01% off day's high of Rs 605.20), fell. The Aditya Birla group group today, 5 May 2009 said dispatches grew 17.4% at 31.82 lakh tonnes in April 2009 over April 2008.

FMCG shares considered as defensives in times of market downturn, slipped as investors shifted their focus to high growth stocks in a rising stock market. Hindustan Unilever (down 1.17%), Britannia Industries (down 2.05%), ITC (down 3.86%), Marico (down 0.73%), edged lower.

ICICI Bank was the top traded counter on BSE with turnover of Rs 324 crore followed by Reliance Capital (Rs 298.19 crore), Unitech (Rs 251.63 crore), DLF (Rs 214.95 crore) and Reliance Industries (198.39 crore).

Unitech topped the volume chart on BSE clocking volume of 4.69 crore shares followed by Suzlon Energy (2.20 crore shares), Reliance Natural Resources (2.15 crore shares), IFCI (1.87 crore shares) and HDIL (1.14 crore shares).

Sugar shares gained on reports India may slow imports of the sweetener after prices climbed to the highest in almost three years. Bajaj Hindusthan (up 21.63%), Balrampur Chini Mills (up 5.95%), and Shree Renuka Sugars (up 8.59%), rose.

ECE Industries gained 10% to Rs 143.45 after a block deal of 5.39 lakh shares was executed on BSE at Rs 133 per share. The block deal constituted 12.29% of the company's equity.

Everest Industries jumped 10.21% to Rs 75.55 after net profit soared 3541.18% to Rs 12.38 crore 116.75% surge in net sales to Rs 170.21 crore in Q4 March 2009 over Q4 March 2008. The company announced the results during trading hours today, 5 May 2009.