Sensex settles above 14,400

The market surged in the second half of the trading session as fears of immediate elections eased after India's biggest communist party, Communists Party of India (Marxists), or CPM, said after trading hours on Thursday, 23 August 2007, it does not want to pull down the government over a nuclear deal with the United States. The market saw a bout of volatility. Despite the rally today, the turnover was dull.

The highlight of today's trading session was that the domestic market ignored weak global cues. Most of the Asian markets and European markets were trading lower today, 24 August 2007. US markets settled flat on Thursday, 23 August 2007. Over the recent past, local bourses have been closely tracking world markets.

India's wholesale price index rose 4.10% in the 12 months to 11 August 2007, slightly up from the previous week's 4.05%, due to higher food and manufactured product prices, government data showed on Friday, 24 August 2007.

The BSE 30-share Sensex rose 260.89 points or 1.84% to settle at 14,424.87. It had opened higher at 14,237.26 and advanced further to hit 14,455.49 as buying continued. The index slipped to a low of 14,163.61. It had oscillated in a range of 291.88 points for the day.

The S&P CNX Nifty was up 75.20 points or 1.83% at 4190.15. The Nifty August 2007 futures settled at 4169.90, a discount of 20.25 points as compared to the spot closing

The market breadth was positive on BSE with 1581 shares advancing as compared to 1112 that declined, while 62 remained unchanged.

The BSE Mid-Cap Index settled 1.4% higher at 6,190.45, while the BSE Small-Cap Index gained 1.32% to7,522.25. But both the indices underperformed the broad market index.

The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 3608 crore as against Rs 4914.46 crore on Thursday, 23 August 2007. The NSE F&O turnover was Rs 43336.32 crore as compared to Rs 56000.15 crore on Thursday, 23 August 2007.

All the sectoral indices on BSE settled higher. The BSE Metal index (up 2.84% to 10,276.60), BSE PSU index (up 2.30% to 6,626.05), BSE Auto index (up 2.37% to 4,569.26) and BSE Capital Goods index (up 2.31% to 12,622.23), were outperformers compared with the broad market index.

BSE Oil & Gas index (up 1.78% to 7,516.68), BSE Realty index (up 0.45% to 6,783.21), BSE Bankex (up 1.36% to 7,315.43), BSE Health Care index (up 1.10% to 3,424.02), BSE Consumer Durables (up 0.64% to 3,987.01), BSE TECk index (up 1.48% to 3,466.72), BSE FMCG Index (up 0.84% to 1,877.97), and BSE IT index (up 1.20% to 4,408.48) were underperformers compared to broad market index.

Among the 30-member Sensex pack, 27 advanced while only 3 of them slipped.

India’s top truck maker Tata motors jumped 6.11% to Rs 660.15 on 4.08 lakh shares. It was the top gainer from the Sensex pack. On Thursday, 23 August 2007 it launched two light commercial vehicles, Magic and Winger in the metropolis. Magic and Winger are being produced in the Pune facility of the company. The stock had lost 14.31% in the past one month to Thursday, 23 August 2007.

Reliance Energy (up 4% to Rs 734), and ACC (up 3.75% to Rs 1008.90) were the other gainers from the Sensex pack.

India’s leading power equipment maker Bharat Heavy Electricals gained 5.32% at Rs 1750. It had bagged contracts worth Rs 6500 crore for setting up power project units on Wednesday, 22 August 2007. The orders were placed by Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC).

India’s biggest engineering & construction firm by sales L&T rose 1.61% to Rs 2435. L&T has sought shareholders' nod for raising up to $700 million through issues that could include global depositary receipts (GDRs), American depositary receipts (ADRs), foreign currency convertible bonds or other equity related instruments.

State Bank of India, the country’s largest bank by net profit, advanced 3.81% to Rs 1469 after the Parliament on Thursday, 23 August 2007, passed a bill to replace an ordinance enabling transfer of the Reserve Bank of India’s stake in State Bank of India to the Union government.

The SBI (Amendment) Bill, 2007 was approved by the Rajya Sabha by a voice vote yesterday, while it got the Lok Sabha’s clearance on Tuesday, 21 August 2007.

A block deal on the SBI counter was executed in the FII segment of NSE on Thursday, 23 August 2007. The strike price was Rs 1750, a premium of 23.70% over the ruling market price.

India’s biggest private sector firm by market capitalisation and oil refiner Reliance Industries (RIL) rose 2% to Rs 1778 on 5.62 lakh shares. The Empowered Group of Ministers, formed to look into pricing and utilisation of natural gas produced from new fields like the KG-D6 of RIL, is likely to hold its first meeting on 27 August 2007. RIL had proposed increase in gas price from $4.33 per million British thermal unit to $4.58, which was opposed by key consuming sectors like fertiliser and power.

Cement shares rallied for the second straight day today, 24 August 2007 following Swiss cement major Holcim’s open offer to acquire an additional 20% stake in Ambuja Cement, India’s second largest cement producer by sales, yesterday, 23 August 2007.

ACC (up 3.75% to Rs 1008.90), UltraTech Cement (up 0.55% to Rs 872.60), Birla Corporation (up 5.71% to Rs 277), India Cements (up 5.73% to Rs 229.75), Ambuja Cement (up 2.34% to Rs 135.85), and Grasim Industries (up 0.42% to Rs 2762) ended higher.

Switzerland's Holcim yesterday, 23 August 2007 said it had acquired a 3.9% additional stake in Ambuja Cements from the founding families at Rs 154 share, in a deal worth $220 million. This will be followed by an open offer.

IT shares also participated in the rally today. Satyam Computers (up 3.36% to Rs 436.90), Wipro (up 1.25% to Rs 454), TCS (up 1.02% to Rs 1017.95), and Infosys (up 0.39% to Rs 1815.50), all posted gains. The Indian rupee was hovering at 41.07 against the dollar, almost unchanged from Thursday (23 August 2007)’s close of 41.04/41.06

HDFC Bank (down 0.25% to Rs 1097), Dr Reddy’s (down 0.29% to Rs 629) and Bajaj Auto (down 0.50% to Rs 2217), were the losers from the Sensex pack.

SEL Manufacturing Company galloped 16% to Rs 215.30 on huge volumes of 1.02 crore shares after it received an export order for exporting readymade garments to the extent of $18 million (approximately Rs 73.80 crore). It was the top traded counter on BSE with turnover of Rs 212.20 crore

Among the side counters, Patel Airtemp (up 20% to Rs 41.75), Vadilal Industries (up 20% to Rs 56.20), Stewarts & Lloyds (up 13.33% to Rs 170), Steelcast (up 12.58% to Rs 200), and Asian Granito (up 12.45% to Rs 106.55), advanced

Alfred Herbert (down 11.95% to Rs 147), Jindal Worldwide (down 9.09% to Rs 123), Sutlej Industries (down 5.31% to Rs 65.10), Wpil (down 5.12% to Rs 40.80), and Era Construction (down 5% to Rs 468.05) slipped.

Western India Shipyard jumped 4.86% to Rs 17.25 on reports ABG Shipyard plans to buy the company for Rs 200 crore. ABG Shipyard slumped 6.46% to Rs 474.50. Reportedly, ABG Shipyard will get management control and a 40% stake in the company held by financial institutions led by ICICI Bank. The deal will not be followed by an open offer as it is a court-initiated sale.

Gujarat State Petronet spurted 3.55% to Rs 55.55 after it approved issuing up to 22 million preference equity shares to International Finance Corporation. The approximate equity investment by IFC would not exceed $30 million.

ICSA (India) soared 10% to Rs 1561.15 after it announced its board would meet on 30 August 2007 to consider a stock-split.

Panoramic Universal vaulted 4.85% to Rs 107 after announcing a board meet on 30 August 2007 to consider raising Rs 65 crore through a rights issue. The board will also consider issuing non-convertible preference shares to promoter group on private placement basis to raise Rs 50 crore.

Cairn India slipped 0.86% to Rs 143.90 despite reports of the government approving the company's proposal to lay the 582-kilo metre pipeline from Barmer district of Rajasthan to Gujarat coast for transporting crude oil it had discovered in Rajasthan

Turnkey construction firm Madhucon Projects galloped 8.80% to Rs 243.80 after a large block deal of 11 lakh shares changed hands at Rs 229 per share on the BSE. The block deal constituted nearly 3% of its equity capital of the company.

Jaiprakash Hydro-Power rose 3.89% to Rs 45.40, after NSE lifted the ban on its trading in the F&O segment on the stock from today, 24 August 2007.

Financial Technologies (India) (FTIL) was up 0.49% to Rs 2040 after it bought 4.50 lakh shares of NSE from ICICI Bank at an outlay of Rs 125 crore, yesterday 23 August 2007. The average share price of NSE works out to be Rs 2778.

Chennai Petroleum slumped 6.82% to Rs 245.10 after it turned ex-dividend of Rs 12 per share today. It has face value of Rs 10 each.

Mercator Lines (MLL), the Mumbai-based shipping company rose 3.20% to Rs 53.60 on reports that it is raising around $250 million in the largest-ever Indian offering in Singapore. It will offload 30% stake in its wholly-owned subsidiary Mercator Lines (Singapore) through the proposed IPO.

Chennai-based Aban Offshore gained 3.20% to Rs 2634.90 on reports it is planning to list its wholly-owned subsidiary, Aban Singapore, in Singapore. The subsidiary was the vehicle used to acquire the Norwegian company Sinvest in 2006.

Areva T&D India rose 4.84% to Rs 1480 after securing turnkey sub station contract from Essar Steel worth Rs 63 crore. Also, Maharashtra State Electricity Transmission Company (MSETCL) awarded a turnkey solutions order worth Rs 33.90 crore to the company.

Chambal Fertilisers & Chemicals jumped 4.33% to Rs 46.65 on reports that its subsidiary is likely to sign an MoU with the Orissa government for setting up a 2,000-mega watt thermal power project with an investment of Rs 8,000 crore in the state. The project will come up at Saria in Dhenkanal district.

Shree Renuka Sugars declined 0.37% to Rs 460.80. It announced before market hours today, 25 August 2007, that it has completed the acquisition of the ethanol plant of Dhanuka Petro-Chem, a division of Dhanuka Cold Storage located at Khopoli, Maharashtra for a total consideration of approximately Rs 6 crore. The company has plans to increase the ethanol capacity of this unit from 100 klpd to 250 klpd, in the near future.

It also set up a wholly owned subsidiary viz. Shree Renuka Biofuels Holdings FZE in Sharjah International Free Zone (SAIF Zone) for its overseas investments.

Reliance Capital (RCL) gained 3.16% to Rs 1089 after it reportedly picked up 26% stake in Victory Transformer & Switchgear (VTSL), a fully-integrated transformer manufacturing company, for Rs 75 crore. VTSL’s revenue has grown at a CAGR of 89% over the last two years, and it has an order book of over Rs 200 crore.

HCL Infosystems edged higher by 6% to Rs 174.35 on reports that it has bagged a contract from BSNL includes convergent billing and customer relationship management for BSNL and would be implemented in 18 months, worth Rs 500 crore

Though CPM softened its stand on withdrawing support to the ruling coalition government at the Centre, it reiterated the government should not go ahead with negotiations with the International Atomic Energy Agency and Nuclear Suppliers Group over a nuclear deal with the US.

The Left Front’s opposition to the nuclear deal with US had stoked concerns over the past few days that if the Communist allies of the ruling coalition government at the Centre decide to pull their support, the government will be reduced to a minority, triggering fresh elections.

Most of the Asian markets settled lower today, 24 August 2007. Hang Seng (down 0.20% at 22,921.89), Japan's Nikkei (down 0.41% at 16,248.97), Taiwan's Taiwan Weighted (down 0.49% at 8,690.09), Singapore's Straits Times (down 0.04% at 3,369.45) and South Korea's Seoul Composite (down 0.47% at 1,791.33) edged lower.

However, Shanghai Composite was up 1.49% to 5,107.66. It also struck an all time high of 5,125.35

Most of the European indices were trading lower today, 24 August 2007. UK's FTSE 100 (up 0.10% to 6,203.90) and CAC 40 (up 0.15% to 5,531.81) rose while DAX lost 0.39% to 7,482.86.

The US market ended on flat note yesterday, 23 August 2007. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed almost unchanged at 13,235.88, marginally down by 0.25 points. Tech-heavy Nasdaq dropped 11.1 points to close at 2,541.7. S&P 500 lost 1.57 points to end at 1,462.5.

Oil prices steadied at below $70 a barrel on Friday, 24 August 2007, after Mexico's state oil firm said Gulf oil rigs suffered only minor damage from powerful Hurricane Dea. US light crude for October delivery dipped 5 cents at $69.78 a barrel.

Political worries puncture early rally

The market saw a complete trend reversal in late afternoon trading today, 23 August 2007. Boosted by strong Asian and European markets, the market was firm till early afternoon trade. It, however, faltered in afternoon trade on a sudden sell-off due to political uncertainties.

Volatility was intense throughout the day, with the market swinging between positive and negative zone

The BSE 30-share Sensex lost 84.68 points or 0.59% at 14,163.98. It had opened higher at 14,458.33 and advanced further to hit 14,544.93 as buying continued. From here, the benchmark index declined sharply to touch a low of 14,128.72.

At the day’s high, the Sensex had gained 306.27 points. At the day’s low, it had lost 119.94 points. The Sensex oscillated 426.21 points in the day.

From an all time high of 15,868.85 24 July 2007, the BSE Sensex is down 1704.87 points.

The S&P CNX Nifty slipped 38.20 points or 0.92% at 4,114.95. The Nifty August 2007 futures settled at 4113.80, a discount of 1.15 points as compared to spot closing.

The Central Committee of the CPI (M) today, 23 August 2007, endorsed the party Politburo's opposition to the Indo-US nuclear deal and authorised it to do whatever it can to block the deal. The Politburo had warned the government of serious consequences if it went ahead with negotiations with the International Atomic Energy Agency and Nuclear Suppliers Group.

If the communist allies of the ruling coalition decide to pull their support, the government will be reduced to a minority and that could trigger fresh elections.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong on BSE till early afternoon session. But it turned weak later as small- and mid-caps succumbed to selling pressure. On BSE 1,749 shares declined as compared to 943 that rose, while 67 remained unchanged.

In the opening session, the market breadth was strong on BSE, with 1,129 shares advancing as compared to 271 that declined

The BSE Mid-Cap Index was down 0.88% to 6,105.11, while the BSE Small-Cap Index declined 1.25% to 7,424.39. Both these indices were sharply off from their day’s high of 6,285.19 and 7,679.04, respectively

Most sectoral indices on BSE settled lower. The BSE Metal index (down 0.88% to 9,992.40), BSE Realty index (down 0.80% to 6,752.71), BSE PSU index (down 1.47% to 6,477.17), BSE Oil & Gas index (down 1.68% to 7,385.15), BSE Bankex (down 2.21% to 7,224.29), BSE Health Care index (down 1.15% to 3,386.60) and BSE Auto index (down 0.23% to 4,463.46), underperformed the Sensex.

BSE Consumer Durables (down 0.18% to 3,961.50), BSE TECk index (down 0.17% to 3,416.10), BSE FMCG Index (up 1.11% to 1,862.39), BSE IT index (up 0.18% to 4,356.28), BSE Capital Goods index (down 0.49% to 12,336.67) outperformed the Sensex.

The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 4779 crore as compared Rs 4404 crore on Wednesday, 22 August 2007. The NSE F&O turnover was Rs 56,000.15 crore as compared to Rs 51,749.7 crore on Wednesday, 22 August 2007.

Among the 30-member Sensex pack, 15 advanced while the other 15 slipped.

India’s third largest pharma company in terms of sales Cipla slumped 4% to Rs 168.50 on 6.48 lakh shares, slipping sharply from the day’s high of Rs 179.95. It was the top loser from the Sensex pack.

Banking and financial shares came under selling pressure. State Bank of India (down 3.10% to Rs 1412.80, off the session’s high of Rs 1500), ICICI Bank (down 2.45% to Rs 826, off the session’s high of Rs 869), HDFC Bank (down 1.27% to Rs 1105, off day’s high of Rs 1159.70) ended in red.

Reliance Energy (down 2.60% to Rs 706) and ONGC (down 2.20% to Rs 791 were the other losers from the Sensex pack.

India’s top car maker Maruti Udyog advanced 2.39% to Rs 785 on 2.05 lakh shares. It was the top gainer from the Sensex pack. Earlier this week a foreign brokerage recommended buy rating on the stock with a target of Rs 1050.

Cement stocks rose following Swiss cement major Holcim’s open offer to acquire an additional 20% stake in Ambuja Cement, India’s second largest cement producer by sales.

ACC (up 2% to Rs 972), UltraTech Cement (up 0.25% to Rs 855), Birla Corporation (up 6.83% to Rs 263.30), India Cements (up 3.90% to Rs 218.40), Ambuja Cement (up 1.15% to Rs 132), and Grasim Industries (up 0.85% to Rs 2749.95) ended higher.

Switzerland's Holcim today said it had acquired a 3.9% additional stake in Ambuja Cements from the founding families at Rs 154 share, in a deal worth $220 million.

FMCG stocks, considered as defensive in a volatile market held firm. ITC, the country’s biggest cigarette manufacturer, advanced 2.27% to Rs 162 on its plans to set up small-format stores in rural areas, on the lines of its existing hypermarket chain Choupal Sagar, by early next year. It also plans to raise the number of its fruit and vegetable outlets to about 200 in three years. ITC also plans to operate 50 of the Choupal Fresh stores by March 2008 in Hyderabad, Pune and Chandigarh.

Other FMCG stocks Tata Tea (up 2.80% to Rs 690) and Hindustan Unilever (up 1.43% to Rs 199) rose. On Wednesday, 22 August 2007, the BSE FMCG index had gained 2.38% to 1841.90

Bharti Airtel, the country’s largest listed mobile service provider, gained 1.22% to Rs 858 on reports it is looking to sell the management control of its passive infrastructure business, Bharti Infratel. As per reports, a clutch of private equity funds and Reliance Communications are in the race. Bharti Infratel is the largest tower infrastructure company in the country with over 40,000 towers.

India's largest engineering and construction firm by sales Larsen & Toubro was up 0.89% to Rs 2405.50 after company won a repeat order for construction of two ships from Netherlands's RollDock BV (erstwhile Zadeko Shipmanagement CV) of The Netherlands valued at over $70 million.

India’s leading power equipment maker Bharat Heavy Electricals slipped off its day’s high of Rs 1725, to settle 0.12% lower at Rs 1664.90. It had bagged contracts worth Rs 6500 crore for setting up power project units on Wednesday, 22 August 2007. The orders have been placed by Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC). The stock had lost 9.18% to Rs 1666.95 on 22 August 2007 from Rs 1765.45 on 23 July 2007.

Dr Reddy's Laboratories rose 1% to Rs 633. It had got an approval from the US Food and Drug Administration for cholesterol-lowering simvastatin tablets on Wednesday 22 August 2007. The stock lost 6.87% in the past month to Rs 626.75 on 22 August 2007.

IT stocks were mixed. Wipro (down 1.44% to Rs 447) and TCS (down 1.41% to Rs 1010), slipped. While Infosys (up 1.14% to Rs 1810), and Satyam Computers (up 0.84% to Rs 421), rose.

Reliance Industries (RIL), the country’s top private sector entity by market capitalisation and oil refiner, slipped 1.73% to Rs 1737.80 on 9.92 lakh shares. It had moved in a range of Rs 1732.10– Rs 1809.95. As per reports, RIL will foray into solar power generation through pilot projects that will supply electricity to a few villages in Maharashtra. In the next 8-12 months, pilots will be launched in 38 villages in Maharashtra.

Among the side counters, Rasoi (up 20% to Rs 295.20), Emkay Shares (up 9.68% to Rs 110), Sanghi Industries (up 9.66% to Rs 73.80), International Combustion (up 8.24% to Rs 375) and Sahara Housing (up 9.97% to Rs 75) surged.

RT Exports (down 11.19% to Rs 26.20), Ginni Silk Mills (down 13.92% to Rs 25), Jai Corp (down 5% to Rs 5935.25), Era Construction (down 5% to Rs 492.65), and Saregama (down 9.98% to Rs 221.45) declined.

Real-estate stocks advanced on fresh buying after the recent sharp fall. Ansal API (up 2.20% to Rs 252.70), Indiabulls Real Estate (up 0.13% to Rs 460.50), Omaxe (up 9.81% to Rs 301), and Sobha Developers (up 1.83% to Rs 748.80) were up. The BSE Realty index had lost 16.56% to 6,806.90 on 22 August 2007 from 8,379.28 on 23 July 2007.

Three block deals of 23.07 lakh shares each were struck on the Bank of Maharashtra counter on BSE at average price of Rs 48.18 per share in opening trade. The stock slipped 0.10% to Rs 48.10 on high volume of 70.19 lakh shares.

Asian Granito India settled at Rs 94.75 on BSE, a discount of 2.3% over the IPO price of Rs 97. The stock debuted at Rs 100.15, hit a low of Rs 82.10 and high of Rs 103.35. On BSE, 1.42 crore shares changed hands in the counter. Asian Granito India's IPO had ended on 31 July 2007 with 4.51 times subscription.

Easun Reyrolle rose 1.25% to Rs 209.85 after the company's board approved raising long term funds. The funds will be raised in Indian and or international markets by issue of equity shares/GDRs/ADRs/FCCBs/convertible bonds.

BPO firm Firstsource Solutions was up 0.10% to Rs 70.55 on reports of it emerging as the front-runner to acquire US-based MedAssist Inc. which provides a range of healthcare and related services.

Birla Kennametal rose 4.55% to Rs 255 after its board of directors at its meeting held on 22 August 2007 approved the sub-division of each of 1 (one) existing share of Rs 10 each into 5 (five) shares of Rs 2 each. The company made this announcement after market hours on Wednesday, 22 August 2007.

Godfrey Phillips India was up 0.64% to Rs 1250. It turned Rs 25 per share ex-dividend from today. It has a face value of Rs 10 per share.

Grindwell Norton had declined 4% to Rs 142.75 after it decided to sell its stake in Lincoln Hellos India to its joint venture partner, Lincoln GmbH for Rs 100 crore.

ITD Cementation India surged 14.69% to Rs 462.95 its joint venture with its promoter, Italian-Thai Development Public Company, Thailand, was awarded a Rs 893-crore contract by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation.

All the Asian markets, which opened before the Indian markets, settled higher. At its meeting today, the Bank of Japan left interest rates unchanged at 0.50%, the lowest among major economies. The BOJ had last raised interest rates in February 2007.

Hang Seng (up 2.77% at 22,966.67), Japan's Nikkei (up 2.61% at 16,316.32), Taiwan Weighted (up 2.82% at 8,732.84), Singapore's Straits Times (up 1.49% at 3,370.91), and South Korea's Seoul Composite (up 2.29% at 1,799.72) edged higher.

China's benchmark Shanghai Composite Index surpassed the 5,000-level for the first time today, 23 August 2007 as bullish investors snapped up blue chips on a strong outlook for corporate earnings. The Shanghai Composite Index settled 1.05% or 52.41 points higher to 5,032.49. It also hit an all-time high of 5,050.38 in intra-day trade. The Shanghai Composite Index has gained 88% since the beginning of the year.

All the European markets, opened after the Indian markets, were trading higher today. Key European indices in Germany, France and UK were up between 0.70% and 0.90%.

US stocks rose on Wednesday, 22 August 2007, as takeover activity resurfaced and credit markets stabilised, luring investors back into riskier assets such as equities.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 145.27 points, or 1.11%, to 13,236.13. Broader stock indicators jumped as well. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 16.95 points, or 1.17%, to 1,464.07, while the Nasdaq Composite index gained 31.50 points, or 1.25%, to 2,552.80.

Crude oil prices rebounded from lower levels on Thursday, 23 August 2007, as world stock markets rallied on hopes that the worst of the credit squeeze may be past and traders braced for supply delays in the wake of Hurricane Dean. US crude rose 29 cents to $69.55 a barrel, while Brent crude gained 16 cents to $68.86 a barrel.

Sensex settles above 14,200; firm global markets aid recovery

The market which saw series of wild swings in first half of the day amid negative bias, surged in the second half on value buying coupled with short covering. Strong Asian and European markets today, 22 August 2007, boosted local bourses. The market breadth recovered from early weakness, but still ended negative.

Today's recovery is commendable, coming in the backdrop of Tuesday (21 August 2007)’s 438-point fall in Sensex that was triggered by concerns arising from the fluid political situation in New Delhi, with the prospect of a general election looming large

Sensex gained 259.55 points or 1.86% to settle at 14,248.66. It had opened with an upward gap of 66.29 points at 14,055.40. Sensex hit high of 14,281.48 and low of 13,870.70. Sensex swung in a band of 410.78 points for the day.

At the day's high, the Sensex had gained 292.37 points. It had lost 118.41 points at the day's low.

The benchmark index, BSE Sensex, is down 1620.19 points from its all time high of 15,868.85, struck on 24 July 2007.

The S&P CNX Nifty advanced 78.25 points or 1.92% at 4153.15. The Nifty August 2007 futures settled at 4153.70, a marginal premium of 0.55 points as compared to the spot closing.

The market breadth was weak on BSE with 1568 shares declining as compared to 1122 that advanced, while 67 remained unchanged.

The BSE Mid-Cap Index rose 0.41% to 6,159.62 while the BSE Small-Cap Index lost 0.26% to 7,518.70. Both these indices underperformed the broad market.

The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 4387 crore as against Rs 4867 crore on Tuesday, 21 August 2007. The NSE F&O turnover was Rs 51749.70 crore, as compared to Rs 45485.53 crore on Tuesday, 22 August 2007.

Most of the sectoral indices on BSE settled with gains. The BSE Metal index (up 2.38% to 10,081.33), BSE TECk index (up 1.88% to 3,421.97), BSE Capital Goods index (up 3.40% to 12,397.50) and BSE FMCG Index (up 2.38% to 1,841.90), outperformed the Sensex

BSE IT index (up 1.25% to 4,348.53), BSE PSU index (up 1.26% to 6,573.94), BSE Oil & Gas index (up 1.39% to 7,511.33), BSE Consumer Durables (down 0.09% to 3,968.76), BSE Bankex (down 0.87% to 7,387.92), BSE Realty index (down 0.55% to 6,806.90) and BSE Health Care index (down 0.13% to 3,426.00) and BSE Auto index (down 0.03% to 4,473.79), underperformed the Sensex.

Among the 30-member Sensex pack, 27 advanced while the rest slipped.

Reliance Energy, the country’s second largest power generation and distribution company in terms of sales jumped 5.92% to Rs 733 on 12.55 lakh shares. It was the top gainer from Sensex pack. The stocks lost 8.20% to Rs 692 on 21 August 2007 from Rs 748.30 on 10 August 2007.

India’s leading power equipment maker Bharat Heavy Electricals soared 4.69% to Rs 1665 after winning contracts worth Rs 6500 crore for setting up power project units. The orders have been placed by Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC).

India’s largest listed cellular operator, Bharti Airtel surged 4.22% to Rs 847.55 on reports it will double its tower capacity to 80,000 by March 2008 as it grows its network to reach more towns and cities across the country, while expanding in the metros. Currently it has 40,000 towers.

Shares from metal sector recovered from sharp recent fall that was triggered by falling metal prices on London Metal Exchange (LME). India’s largest private sector steel maker Tata Steel surged 3.96% to Rs 567.70.

Other metal stocks, Sterlite Industries (up 4.31% to Rs 567.10), Sesa Goa (up 1.28% to Rs 1736.10) and Hindustan Zinc (up 2.47% to Rs 692), also edged higher

Dr Reddy's Laboratories rose 1.50% to Rs 631, recovering from a low of Rs 612.20 after it got an approval from the US Food and Drug Administration for cholesterol-lowering simvastatin tablets.

India’s largest cigarette manufacturer ITC jumped 3.94% to Rs 158.20 on high volumes of 26.07 lakh shares. As per reports, ITC has taken over Australian agri-biotech company Technico Pty for an undisclosed sum as part of a strategy to strengthen its foods business. The deal was executed through its subsidiary Russell Credit, ITC, which recently launched its Bingo brand potato chips. Technico provides bulk potato supply chain management.

Reliance Industries (RIL), the country’s top private sector entity by market capitalisation and oil refiner rose 1.47% to Rs 1773 on 10.64 lakh shares. It had slipped to day’s low of Rs 1717. As per reports, RIL will foray into solar power generation through pilot projects that will supply electricity to a few villages in Maharashtra. In the next 8-12 months, pilots will be launched in 38 villages in Maharashtra.

India’s third largest pharma company in terms of sales Cipla saw intense volatility. It rose 0.23% to Rs 177.60 on 11.20 lakh shares. The stock recovered sharply from day’s low of Rs 160.

India’s top truck maker Tata Motors lost 2.10% to Rs 621 and was the top loser from Sensex pack.

State Bank of India (down 0.58% to Rs 1455.25) and HDFC (down 0.16% to Rs 1898.55), were the other losers from Sensex pack.

Reliance Industries topped the turnover chart on BSE with turnover of Rs 188.77 crore followed by State Bank of India (Rs 150.26 crore), Zylog Systems (Rs 145.45 crore), GMR Infrastructures (Rs 127.64 crore) and Orbit Corporation (Rs 101.31 crore).

Real estate stocks slumped on selling pressure. Ansal API (down 3.23% to Rs 247.50), Parsvnath Developers (down 1.94% to Rs 274.80), Unitech (down 3.14% to Rs 459), and Sobha Developers (down 0.96% to Rs 735.20), slumped. The BSE Realty index lost 17.97% to 6,738.53 on 21 August 2007 from 8,183.02, on 20 July 2007.

India's largest real estate developer in terms of market capitalisation DLF rose 0.80% to Rs 560.60. It clinched a deal to develop an integrated town ship in Kolkata. DLF also launched its first IT SEZ at Nagpur, Maharashtra on 140 acres of land. This SEZ project will involve an investment of about Rs 1000 crore. The IT Park is expected to be operational in a period of 3 years and being an IT SEZ, it would cater to all the international and national IT/ITES companies.

Jaiprakash Hydro Power slipped 0.86% to Rs 46.30 after the National Stock Exchange banned fresh positions in the derivatives contracts of the stock as it had crossed the 95% position limit.

Deccan Aviation jumped 5.22% to Rs 140.10 on reports that the airline plans to increase fares in a range of Rs 500-1000 per seat to become profitable, and the company expects to break-even by April-June 2008 quarter.

MNC associate engineering company Siemens surged 9.35% to Rs 1235 after Peter Loscher, president and CEO of Siemens AG affirmed that Siemens group is looking at doubling its sales in India in the next three years by focussing on healthcare, infrastructure and energy.

India's largest listed airline firm in terms of revenue Jet Airways was up 3.18% to Rs 762 on reports the airline has received the government’s permission to fly to three new foreign destinations—Birmingham, Madrid and Geneva.

Patni Computer Systems jumped 5.98% to Rs 444 on recent reports that two US private equity funds Texas Pacific Group and Apax Partners, are close to buying stakes of two Patni promoters Ashok and Gajendra in Patni Computer Systems. The Patni ADR jumped 9.5% on New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Tuesday, 21 August 2007.

Macmillan India rose 2.20% to Rs 263 after its board of directors at its meeting held on 21 August 2007 approved the acquisition of majority shareholders of Frank Bros and Company Publishers, a renowned publishing company with 70 years of presence with a loyal customer base.

Lanco Infratech gained 1.43% to Rs 241 after it received letter of acceptance from Airports Authority of India for construction of a new Terminal Building at Varanasi Air Port at negotiated amount of Rs 82.39 crore. The company made this order win announcement after market hours on Tuesday, 21 August 2007

Among the side counters, Rasoi (up 20% to Rs 246), SEL Manufacturing (up 20% to Rs 171.35), Sujana Tower (up 20% to Rs 146.60), Chambal Fertilisers (up 16.55% to Rs 50), Dollex Sahara Housing (up 10% to Rs 68.20), and Baba Arts (up 12.18% to Rs 59.40), advanced.

Zee News (down 15.38% to Rs 55), Monnet Sugar (down 13.80% to Rs 30.95), Jindal Hotels (down 9.69% to Rs 39.60), Siel (down 9.06% to Rs 25.60) and Sterling Tools (down 8.84% to Rs 65) declined sharply.

Indian Hotels rose 0.64% to Rs 118.65 after a block deal of 21.90 lakh shares was struck on counter at Rs 117.90 per share on BSE at 10:02 IST.

Carborundum Universal slipped 1.43% to Rs 172.50. The company said on Tuesday, 21 August 2007, it had entered into an agreement to acquire the industrial ceramics division of IVP.

Shares of the fourth largest public sector bank in terms of operating income Bank of India was down 2.25% to Rs 217.25, off from a low of Rs 206.15 after the bank decided to revalue some of its properties taking into account the appreciation in their value.

India's fifth-largest software company by sales HCL Technologies was up 2% to Rs 295.50 after it said it would acquire the balance 49% stake in HCL EAI Services Inc. HCL Technologies, through its unit HCL America Inc, already holds 51% of HCL EAI. HCL EAI develops and deploys enterprise application integration services for customers globally.

In Europe, key benchmark indices in London, Germany and France rose between 0.80% to 1.20%.

All the Asian indices settled higher today, 22 August 2007. Hong Kong's Hang Seng (up 2.84% to 22,346.86), Singapore's Straits Times (up 2.88% to 3,321.50), South Korea's Seoul Composite (up 1.34% to 1,759.5) and Shanghai Composite (up 0.50% to 4,980.75) gained.

However, Japan's Nikkei was unchanged at 15,900.64

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 30.49 points, or 0.23%, to end at 13,090.86 on Tuesday, 21 August 2007. But the Standard & Poor's 500 Index inched up 1.57 points, or 0.11%, to 1,447.12. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 12.71 points, or 0.51%, to 2,521.30.

Oil nudged up from intra-day steep losses on Wednesday, 22 August 2007 as traders looked toward an expected decline in weekly US crude and gasoline stocks after discounting the threat of a significantly weakened Hurricane Dean to oil flows. US crude gained 30 cents to $69.87 a barrel.

With the Indo-US nuclear deal hotting up the political scene, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), or CPI(M), top brass is meeting today to decide on the next steps amid signals that the government is in no mood to heed its ultimatum on the contentious issue. The two-day Central Committee meeting of the Marxist party has to take tough decisions on how far it could go in its opposition to the government in the critical matter, amid growing apprehensions of a mid-term election.

The meeting comes at a time when the ruling Congress has indicated that the government will go ahead with negotiations with the IAEA in September 2007 in connection with the deal, notwithstanding Left objections. The Left party is maintaining that negotiations with IAEA on the safeguards agreement would bind India in perpetuity.

Meanwhile, the CPI has also called an emergency meeting of its National Executive on 28 and 29 August 2007 to decide on the ''next steps'' in view of the standoff between government and Left parties.

Recently, the Indian markets had underperformed its Asian peers due to political concerns. The benchmark index BSE Sensex lost 1879.74 points or 13.43% to 13,989.11 on 21 August 2007 from its all time high of 15,868.85, struck on 24 July 2007. The sharp fall was due to selling pressure from FIIs, who sold shares worth Rs 8,548.30 crore in the month of August, till 20 August 2007. In the month of July 2007, they pumped Rs 23,872.40 crore in the Indian equity market.

Market to consolidate

The market is expected to consolidate on mixed cues from global markets. The BSE 30-share Sensex lost 438.44 points or 3.04% at 13,989.11, on Tuesday, 21 August 2007, on political uncertainties. The benchmark index BSE Sensex has lost 1879.74 points or 13.43% from its all time high of 15,868.85, struck on 24 July 2007. The S&P CNX Nifty lost 134.15 points or 3.19% at 4074.90.

Asian indices were mixed today, 22 August 2007. Hong Kong's Hang Seng (up 1.16% at 21,981.19), Singapore's Straits Times (up 0.86% at 3,256.56), South Korea's Seoul Composite (up 1.04% at 1,754.29). gained.

However, Japan's Nikkei (down 0.18% at 15,872.09) and Taiwan's Taiwan Weighted (down 0.50% at 8,437.07) declined.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 30.49 points, or 0.23%, to end at 13,090.86. But the Standard & Poor's 500 Index inched up 1.57 points, or 0.11%, to 1,447.12. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 12.71 points, or 0.51%, to 2,521.30.

As per provisional data, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 138.24 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers of shares worth Rs 826.84 crore on Tuesday, 21 August 2007.

Oil nudged up from steep losses on Wednesday, 22 August 2007 as traders looked toward an expected decline in weekly US crude and gasoline stocks after discounting the threat of a significantly weakened Hurricane Dean to oil flows. US crude gained 30 cents to $69.87 a barrel.

Sensex settles below 14,000

Domestic markets suffered sever setback today, 21 August 2007, on concerns arising from the fluid political situation in New Delhi, with the prospect of a general election looming large. Volatility intensified in second half of the day. The political concerns started dampening the sentiment, visible from yesterday itself, when Indian markets underperformed their Asian peers.

US markets closed firm overnight while most Asian markets settled firm today, 21 August 2007. Most of the European indices were also trading higher after an initial fall.

The BSE 30-share Sensex lost 438.44 points or 3.04% at 13,989.11. It had opened higher at 14,512.19 and advanced further to hit a high of 14,534.51. However it started declining from here on intense selling to touch a low of 13,941.93 as selling continued.

At the day’s low, the Sensex had lost 485.62 points for the day. It oscillated 592.58 points for the day.

The benchmark index BSE Sensex has lost 1879.74 points or 13.43% from its all time high of 15,868.85, struck on 24 July 2007.

The S&P CNX Nifty lost 134.15 points or 3.19% at 4074.90. The Nifty August 2007 futures settled at 4060.05, a discount of 14.85 points as compared to spot closing.

On Monday, 20 August 2007, Left parties asserted that a freeze on the forthcoming negotiations on India-specific safeguards at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was a prerequisite for accepting the government’s suggestion of setting up a panel to look into Left’s concerns over the Indo-US nuclear deal.

Left parties had warned the government on Saturday, 18 August 2007, of serious consequences if it pursues with a nuclear deal with the United States. The four Communist parties have 60 members of parliament (MPs) in the 545-member lower house of parliament. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government could fall or be reduced to a minority if the Left withdraws support

All the sectoral indices on BSE suffered losses. The BSE Metal index (down 3.45% to 9,847.15), BSE IT index (down 3.68% to 4,294.86), BSE Realty index (down 4.59% to 6,844.63), BSE Healthcare index (down 3.06% to 3,430.42), BSE PSU index (down 3.29% to 6,491.97), and the BSE TECk index (down 3.5% to 3,358.81) were underperformers when compared with the broad market index.

Though trading in the negative territory, the BSE Capital Goods index (down 2.57% to 11,989.97), BSE Oil & Gas index (down 2.79% to 7,408.02), BSE Consumer Durables (down 1.56% to 3,972.30), BSE FMCG Index (down 2.45% to 1,799.05), and BSE Auto index (down 2.69% to 4,475.14) had outperformed the broad market index.

The market breadth was weak on BSE with 2234 shares declining as compared to 509 that advanced, while 44 remained unchanged.

The BSE Mid-Cap index slipped 3.30% to 6,134.23. From a recent high of 6,665.67 on 8 August 2007, the BSE Mid-Cap index has declined 4.84% to 6,342.78 on 20 August 2007.

The BSE Small-Cap index lost 3.80% to 7,538.45. From a recent high of 8,051.22 on 8 August 2007, the BSE Small-cap index had declined 2.71% to 7,832.36 on 20 August 2007.

The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 4201 crore as compared to Rs 3,877.61 crore on Monday, 20 August 2007. The NSE F&O turnover was Rs 45485.53 crore as compared to Rs 40,075.04 crore on Monday, 20 August 2007.

All the 30-member Sensex pack were trading with losses

Banking stocks tumbled on concerns of sub-prime lending in US. State Bank of India plunged 5.50% to Rs 1465.30 on 8.05 lakh shares. it was the top loser from the Sensex pack.

HDFC Bank (down 1.80% to Rs 1105) and ICICI Bank (down 4.20% to Rs 835.45) also slipped

Reliance Energy (down 5.16% to Rs 688) and Mahindra & Mahindra (down 4.66% to Rs 612), and were the other key losers from Sensex pack.

Reliance Communication lost 4.22% to Rs 486.50 after denying recent reports it was in talks with Malaysia's Maxis Communications to buy a controlling stake in its Indian unit Aircel Cellular. India's second largest cellular services provider Reliance Communications slipped 2.44% to Rs 495.55. It added 14.6 lakh mobile customers in July 2007 taking its total subscriber base to about 3.7 crore. It had gained 14.5 lakh users in June 2007.

India's top cellular services provider Bharti Airtel slipped 0.65% to Rs 821.70. The company plans to double the number of wireless towers to 80,000 by the end of March 2008.

Bhel, the country’s largest power equipment maker, declined 0.66% to Rs 1599.80. It had hit a high of Rs 1648 on securing order worth Rs 6500 crore to set up two power projects of 1,000 megawatts each

Reliance Industries, the country’s biggest private sector entity by net profit and oil refiner, slipped 2.77% to Rs 1742.10 on 10.65 lakh shares. As per reports, the company has made an oil discovery in the Krishna basin while drilling the third well. The discovery is estimated at around 20 meters of thickness, making it possibly one of the largest oil discoveries on India’s east coast.

IT stocks came under pressure on concerns that they may face tougher market conditions if the US credit woes squeeze IT spending.

Wipro (down 4.94% to Rs 446.30), Satyam Computer Services (down 4.03% to Rs 415.05), and Infosys Technologies (down 3.76% to Rs 1760.15) slipped.

Tata Consultancy Services slipped 4.03% to Rs 1012 after it denied the reports of bagging an outsourcing contract worth $1.5 billion multi-year outsourcing deal from Prudential plc, the UK-based financial services major. WNS Global Services, the country’s second largest BPO firm, said late last week it has been hit by the turmoil in the US sub-prime lending market.

IT companies derive more than half of their revenue from the United States. The rupee was hovering at 41.10 against the US dollar, stronger than Friday's (17 August 2007) close of 41.33/34.

From a recent high of 4,808.43 on 8 August 2007, the BSE IT index had eroded 7.26% to 4,459.07 on 20 August 2007. The BSE IT index had touched a 52-week high Rs 5611.33 on 19 February 2007 and a 52-week low of Rs 4129.09 on 11 September 2006.

Ambuja Cements (down 0.51% to Rs 127.25), HDFC (down 0.45% to Rs 1906.90) and Dr Reddy’s Laboratories (down 0.12% to Rs 624.50) outperformed the market.

Central Bank of India settled at Rs 115.40 on BSE, a premium of 13.14% over its IPO price of Rs 102. It made its debut at Rs 130.10 on BSE. The stock touched a high of Rs 133.25 and a low of Rs 114 during the day. About 2.43 crore shares were traded on the counter on BSE. The Central Bank of India (CBI) IPO had ended on 27 July 2007 with 62.07 times subscription

Real estate stocks were hammered. Ansal API (down 3.06% to Rs 257), Sobha Developers (down 4.66% to Rs 750.55), DLF (down 3.63% to Rs 558.25), Unitech (down 3.23% to Rs 477), and Omaxe (down 12.90% to Rs 273), slumped.

Machino Plastics (up 18.12% to Rs 73.65), Stovec Industries (up 10.48% to Rs 174), Sundaram Fasteners (up 5.52% to Rs 55.45), Perfect Circle (up 5% to Rs 24.15), and JP Hydropower (up 4.52% to Rs 47.40) were the top gainers from the small-cap and mid-cap basket.

English India Clays (down 13.22% to Rs 537), Basant Agro (down 13.20% to Rs 47.35), Zylog Systems (down 13% to Rs 429), Shah Alloys (down 12% to Rs 66.85), and JBF Industries (down 11.52% to Rs 134) were the top losers from the small- and mid-cap basket.

TCI Industries was frozen at 5% upper circuit filter at Rs 4318.50. The scrip has been hitting 5% upper circuit filter for the previous 28 sessions from 9th July 2007 till 20 August 2007. As per reports, the company owns Mukesh Mills property at Colaba, which is worth over Rs 1000 crore.

Rane Engine Valves lost 1% to Rs 281.30 after the Rane Group announced a restructuring to eliminate residual crossholdings and consolidation of group company investments. Rane Brake Linings surged 7.60% to Rs 156.

Bongaigaon Refinery & Petrochemicals tanked 8.64% to Rs 51.30 on turning ex-dividend for a dividend of Rs 3.50 per share on face value Rs 10 each.

Ispat Industries grew 1.07% to Rs 16.01. Recent reports suggest that the company is planning to invest about Rs 10,000 crore within five years to ramp up domestic production. It is also planning to expand overseas through capacity expansion and backward integration.

TRF declined 4.46% to Rs 891.10. After market hours on Monday, 20 August 2007, it scheduled a meeting of board of directors to be held on 8 September 2007, to consider the shareholders' agreement entered with Baker Technology, Singapore, and TRF for acquisition of 51% paid-up share capital of York Transport Equipment (Asia) PTE, Singapore.

JSW Steel slipped 6% to Rs 542 after hitting the day’s high of Rs 599.95.

Gokaldas Exports jumped 10.20% to Rs 252 after the company said private equity firm Blackstone Group is acquiring 70% stake in the company for nearly Rs 660 crore through a two-step deal: 50% from the Bangalore-based Hinduja family and 20% stake through an open offer to other shareholders at an offer price of Rs 275 per share. Post-acquisition, the total stake of the Hinduja family would come down to 19.22%, from current 69.22%.

Exide Industries was unchanged at Rs 55, off its high of Rs 59. It company informed BSE that a meeting of the board of directors of the company will be held on 28 August 2007, to consider an issue of equity shares on a rights basis.

California Software rose 1.71% to Rs 86.40. A unit of Chemoil Energy today, 21 August 2007, offered to buy 20% additional stake in California Software at Rs 100 a share. Kemoil, a Hong Kong-based investment holding company of Chemoil, said it would acquire 2.47 million shares of California Software. After this transaction Kemoil would hold 47.71% in the company.

Construction firm Gayatri Projects fell 7.74% to Rs 255. The company said on today, 21 August 2007, its board would meet on 28 August 2007 to consider raising the foreign fund limit to 49%.

Indusind Bank slumped 6.70% to Rs 49.40 after denying market talks of a foreign bank picking up a stake in the bank. On Monday, 20 August 2007, the Indusind Bank stock had ended up 3.11% to Rs 52.95 boosted by these rumours.

Allcargo Global Logistics shed 1.52% to Rs 840.50 after it said on Monday, 20 August 2007, its board would meet on 27 August 2007 to consider acquisition of Transindia Freight Services.

Patni Computer Systems galloped 7.82% to Rs 422, on reports that private equity firms are close to buying a stake in the software services firm. Private equity (PE) funds Texas Pacific Group and Apax Partners are close to purchasing the stake of two Patni brothers Ashok and Gajendra in Patni Computer Systems.

Dolphin Offshore declined 6.10% to Rs 217.90 despite securing a $8.5-million order from Punj Lloyd. The contract is for providing underwater diving services for the ONGC Heera Redevelopment project. The contract value could be extended by another $3.5 million by providing additional diving services.

HOV Services (down 5.40% to Rs 175.15), Bharat Fertilizer Industries (down 9.39% to Rs 67), Kilburn Engineering (down 13.58% to Rs 63.95), Zyden Gentec (down 9.93% to Rs 34), Bajaj Hindustan Sugar & Industries (down 4.27% to Rs 125.40) and Ion Exchange (India) (down 4.58% to Rs 187.50), declined after BSE said these stocks will be included in trade to trade segment from 24 August 2007.

Most of the Asian markets were trading higher today, 21 August 2007. Hang Seng (up 0.62% at 21,729.35), Shanghai Composite (up 1.03% to 4,955.27), Japan's Nikkei (up 1.06% at 15,899.24) and South Korea's Seoul Composite (up 0.28% at 1,736.18) advanced

However, Taiwan's Taiwan Weighted (down 0.43% to 8,479.05) and Singapore's Straits Times (down 2.82% at 3,228.66) slipped.

US blue-chip stocks rose on Monday, 20 August 2007 after reversing direction in the last hour of trade as the flight to safety in the short-term Treasury bills flagged, suggesting concerns over the stability of credit markets were receding. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 42.27 points, or 0.32%, to end at 13,121.35. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index edged down 0.03% to 1,445.55. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 3.56 points, or 0.14%, to end at 2,508.59.

Oil prices dropped today, 21 August 2007, as traders shifted focus from the threat of Hurricane Dean on US energy facilities in the Gulf of Mexico to worries about global stock markets. Light, sweet crude for September delivery lost 36 cents to $70.76 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Market rebounds in global recovery

The market rebounded today, 20 August 2007, after posting three straight sessions of losses, as global markets reversed their falling trend. However the turnover was low today. Short covering also propelled the domestic market. However, volatility was witnessed since mid-afternoon trade.

The strong opening of the Asian markets, which had begun trading earlier, exerted a strong influencing the Indian market. All the European markets, which opened later, were trading higher today, 20 August 2007.

The strong show by the global markets today followed the Federal Reserve' 50 basis-point cut in discount rate at which it lends to banks, on Friday 17 August 2007.

The BSE 30-share Sensex jumped 286.03 points or 2.02% at 14,427.55. It had opened with a huge upward gap of 370.76 points to 15,512.28 and advanced further to hit a high of 15,680.09 as buying continued. The benchmark index touched a low of 14,406.91 at the fag end of the trading session on profit booking at higher level.

The S&P CNX Nifty advanced 101 points or 2.46% at 4209.05. The Nifty August 2007 futures settled at 4205, a discount of 4.05 points as compared to spot closing

In the calendar year 2007, the BSE Sensex is up 641 points or 4.64% from its close of 13,786.91 on 29 December 2006

The turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 3,819 crore as against Rs 5,320 crore on Friday, 17 August 2007. The NSE F&O turnover was Rs 40,075.04 crore as compared to Rs 64879.41 crore on Friday, 17 August 2007.

The market breadth, in sync with overall buoyant market, was strong as small-cap and mid-cap stocks resumed their rally: 1,901 shares advanced as compared to 828 that declined, while 51 remained unchanged.

The BSE Mid-Cap Index rose 1.3% to 6,342.78 while the BSE Small-Cap Index gained 1.8% at 7,832.36. Both were underperformers when compared to the Sensex.

All the sectoral indices on BSE posted gains, except the BSE IT index which declined 0.92% to 4,459.07.

The BSE Metal index (up 3.95% to 10,199), BSE Oil & Gas index (up 2.61% to 7,620.91), BSE PSU index (up 2.61% to 6,713.14), BSE Realty index (up 2.19% to 7,173.66), and BSE Capital Goods index (up 2.50% to 12,330.37) outperformed the Sensex.

The BSE Consumer Durables (up 0.90% to 4,035.14), BSE FMCG Index (up 1.80% to 1,844.22), BSE Auto index (up 0.84% to 4,599.04), BSE Healthcare index (up 1.47% to 3,538.59), and the BSE TECk index (up 0.70% to 3,480.90) underperformed the Sensex.

The fertiliser sector was the star of the day as shares surged on reports that the government, for the first time, had issued fertiliser bonds worth Rs 7,500 crore to part-finance the additional subsidy burden on fertiliser companies arising from rising price of imported feedstock and fertilisers. As per reports, these bonds will be freely tradable in the market. The move came as the recoveries made by the government were not enough to pay for the additional subsidy.

Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilisers (RCF), (up 19.04% to Rs 53.15), National Fertilizers (up up 13.39% to Rs 36), Coromandel Fertilisers (up 10.12% to Rs 93), Nagarjuna Fertilisers (up 16% to Rs 37.70), Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilisers Company (GNFC) (up 13.23% to Rs 135.20) and Fertilisers & Chemicals Travancore (up 12.53% to Rs 26.05), all surged.

Chambal Fertilisers & Chemicals (CFCL) surged 19.92% to Rs 44.85. On Friday, 17 August 2007, CFCL said its Singapore-based subsidiary Chambal Biotech sold its entire holding in Australia's Technico to Russell Credit, Kolkata. Post- transaction, Technico has ceased to be a subsidiary of the company.

Among the 30-member Sensex pack, 25 advanced while the rest slipped.

IT stocks were laggards on concerns that the sector, which gets more than half of its revenue from United States, may face tougher market conditions if the US credit woes squeeze IT spending. Rupee was hovering at 41.06 against the US dollar, stronger than Friday (17 August 2007)’ close of 41.33/34.

India’s fourth largest software services exporter Satyam Computers lost 1.84% to Rs 432.10 on 9.32 lakh shares. It was the top loser from Sensex pack.

Wipro (down 0.68% to Rs 472.25) and Infosys (down 1.35% to Rs 1830) also declined. India’s largest IT services provider Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) slipped 0.10% to Rs 1055 on reports that it is close to securing an approximately Rs 6000 crore outsourcing contract with the UK-based Prudential Insurance. Prudential Insurance is one of the leading life and pensions provider in the UK and services over seven million customers. The stock came off day's high of Rs 1097.85

Just a couple of days ago, WNS Global Services, the country’s second largest BPO firm, announced that it has been hit by the turmoil in the US sub-prime lending market. Most US financial companies use Indian software firms for outsourcing technology services. There is a fear that if the credit problem worsens, then there might be a cutback in IT spending by them.

HDFC Bank, the counrty’s second largest private sector bank by net profit, jumped 5.68% to Rs 1130 on 58,368 shares. It was the top gainer from the Sensex pack.

India's largest private sector bank by net profit ICICI Bank surged 4.99% to Rs 867.20 on 7.61 lakh shares. The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), on 18 August 2007, reportedly approved ICICI Bank's proposal to sell up to 24% stake in its newly-formed wholly-owned subsidiary ICICI Financial Services, the proposed holding company for its insurance and asset management ventures, to foreign investors. ICICI Bank’s ADR soared 12.80% or $4.89 to $42.92, on Friday 17 August 2007.

Other banking stocks Kotak Mahindra Bank (up 7.75% to Rs 684), Bank of India (up 2.35% to Rs 235), Axis Bank (up 4.74% to Rs 601.90), Andhra Bank (up 1.68% to Rs 78.75) and Vijaya Bank (up 1% to Rs 50.80) also posted gains

Telecom pivotals advanced on fresh buying. India's second largest cellular services provider Reliance Communications rose 2.97% to Rs 508 on reports that the company is in talks with Malaysia's Maxis Communications to buy a controlling stake in its Indian unit Aircel Cellular. Maxis is Malaysia's largest mobile operator. Aircel is valued at about $7 billion. Maxis holds 74% in Aircel while the owners of south India-based Apollo Hospitals Enterprises control the rest. Reliance Communications added 14.6 lakh mobile customers during the month of July taking its total subscriber base to about 3.7 crore. It added 14.5 lakh users in June 2007.

Bharti Airtel, the country’s largest cellular service provider in terms of sales surged 4.41% to Rs 829.50. As per reports, it has entered into an agreemnet with Selecto Systems for providing telecom network infrastructure and services for its IT SEZ-Haryana Technology Park (HTP).

India’s second largest bike maker Bajaj Auto rose 0.84% to Rs 2270 after its equity shareholders and unsecured creditors approved the scheme of arrangement between itself, Bajaj Holdings & Investment, and Bajaj Finserv in a meeting on 18 August 2007.

Maruti Udyog rose marginally by 0.02% to Rs 780.20, coming off the session’s high of Rs 812.75. Maruti Udyog has raised discounts on many of its car models amid slowdown in demand caused by higher interest rates.

India’s largest private sector entity by market cap and oil refiner Reliance Industries was up 1.95% to Rs 1786.90 on 6.69 lakh shares. As per reports, the D6 block in the Krishna-Godavari basin, jointly owned by Reliance Industries and Niko Resources, is likely to see investment of Rs 10,500 crore more in the current financial year. The entire D6 block is estimated to see total investment of $5.2 billion (Rs 21,359 crore).

ONGC (up 4.20% to Rs 815.50), Ranbaxy Laboratories (up 3.49% to Rs 364.90) and Bhel (up 3.47% to Rs 1613) were the other gainers from the Sensex pack.

Metal scrips rose tracking recovery in global industrial metals prices. Tata Steel, the country’s largest private sector steel maker rose 4.73% to Rs 570. India’s largest aluminium maker Hindalco gained 0.86% to Rs 141.20 and Sterlite Industries jumped 9.33% to Rs 564.90. India’s top zinc maker Hindustan Zinc moved up 1.6% to Rs 681 even as it cut zinc prices by 1.9% to Rs 1.51 lakh per tonne with effect from Saturday, 18 August 2007.

Among the side counters, Pioneer Embroideries (up 20% to Rs 139.65), Deltron cables (up 20% to Rs 97.20), Akar Tools (up 19.97% to Rs 43.55), Maharashtra Scooters (up 18.69% to Rs 282.90), and Siel (up 19.92% to Rs 28.60) advanced. Rasi Electrodes (down 9.98% to Rs 47.35), Milkfood (down 5.52% to Rs 303), Ankit Metal (down 9.38% to Rs 48.30), Khoday India (down 5% to Rs 376.40), and Camlin (down 6.35% to Rs 160) declined.

Aban Offshore jumped 7.10% to Rs 2761 on reports of Great Offshore was close to buying Norwegian firm, Petrojack SA. Reportedly Great Offshore is close to buying Norwegian firm, Petrojack SA for about $500 million. Aban holds 18.04 % in Petrojack.

Ajanta Pharma slipped 0.56% to Rs 97, after hitting a high of Rs 106.45. It would transfer the technology of its anti-scar product to Taiwan-based Orient Europharma. Under the agreement, Ajanta Pharma will transfer the technology of its anti-scar product, ‘Vaniza’ to Orient Europharma for Taiwan, Macau, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysian markets and Orient will manufacture the product at its plant in Taiwan. Ajanta did not disclose the value of the deal.

Pantaloon Retail India gained 2.30% to Rs 488 after its board of directors scheduled an extraordinary general meeting on 18 September 2007 for giving approval to initial public offering (IPO) of Future Capital Holdings.

Hanung Toys & Textiles soared 5.20% to Rs 141.65 after it secured a Rs 600-crore order from Sweden's IKEA for exporting soft toys and kids furnishings. The company expects the business with IKEA to reach a level of €15 million in the first year, €23 million in the second year, € 30 million in the third year and €40 million in the fourth year from now.

Real-estate firm Sobha Developers rose 1.03% to Rs 786.90 after the company said it plans to set up an integrated township project in Kerala involving an investment of Rs 5000 crore.

Punjab National Bank gained 1.87% to Rs 492.25 on media reports it may bid for acquiring 26% strategic stake in IFCI. IFCI was up 3.22% to Rs 64.20 .

JSW Steel rose 1.63% to Rs 577 after its board decided to meet on 21 August 2007 to consider buying a plate mill, double joining & coating, and pipe mill facility in the United States. The company made this announcement before the market hours today, 20 August 2007.

Patni Computer Systems surged 7.30% to Rs 390.50 on reports that two US private equity funds - Texas Pacific Group and Apax Partners - are set to buy the stake of two Patni brothers Ashok and Gajendra.

Hindustan Copper (HCL) gained 2.68% to Rs 157.20. It surged 21.46% in the past week from Rs 126.05 on 10 August 2007 to Rs 153.10 on 17 August 2007 on reports it plans to enter gold mining in India and is scouting copper mines abroad.

The benchmark BSE Sensex posted the fourth straight weekly loss, losing 726.73 points to 14,141.52 in the week ended Friday, 17 August 2007. The S&P CNX Nifty was down 225.30 points to 4,108.05 in the week. A whole host of factors from unwinding of yen carry trade positions, redemption pressure faced by hedge funds, heavy selling by foreign institutional investors (FIIs) and sub-prime concerns haunted local bourses throughout the week.

All the Asian markets settled higher today, 20 August 2007, including Japan's Nikkei (up 3% at 15,732.48), Hong Kong's Hang Seng (up 5.93% at 21,595.63), Taiwan's Taiwan Weighted (up 5.26% at 8,515.60), Shanghai Composite (up 5.33% to 4,904.56), Singapore's Straits Times (up 6.12% at 3,322.38) and South Korea's Seoul Composite (up 5.69% at 1,731.27).

US stocks rallied on 17 August 2007 after posting losses for six consecutive previous trading sessions as the Federal Reserve cut its key discount rate by 0.5% to 5.75 %. The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 233.30 points, or 1.82 %, to 13,079.08. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 34.67 points, or 2.46 %, to 1,445.94, and the Nasdaq Composite index was up 53.96 points, or 2.20 %, to 2,505.03.

Meanwhile, in a bid to end the stand off with the Left on the nuclear issue, the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government on Sunday, 19 August 2007, announced the setting up of an expert committee to look into the concerns raised by the Left on the Hyde Act passed by the US Congress. The debate on the nuclear issue in parliament will take place on 27 August and 29 August 2007.

Left parties warned the government on Saturday, 18 August 2007, of serious consequences if it pursues with a nuclear deal with the United States. The four communist parties have 60 members of parliament (MPs) in the 545-member lower house of parliament. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government could fall or be reduced to a minority if the left withdraws support.

India is committed to developing its nuclear energy capability and other sources of power as its oil bill will impose an "unbearable burden" as growth continues, the prime minister said on Monday, 20 August 2007.

Crude oil fell in New York on signs Hurricane Dean's more southerly track may mean it will miss the largest oil production regions of the Gulf of Mexico. Crude oil for September delivery dropped as much as 94 cents, or 1.3%, to $71.04 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange

Market to head higher

The market is expected to rally, as global markets rebounded after recent fall. Local bourses posted losses for three previous trading sessions, tracking weak global markets. On Friday, 17 August 2007, the Sensex lost 216.69 points, or 1.51%, to 14,141.52, in a highly volatile trade, dancing to global cues. The S&P CNX Nifty shed 70.55 points, or 1.69%, to 4,108.05, on that day.

The benchmark index BSE Sensex posted fourth straight weekly loss, loosing 726.73 points to 14,141.52 in the week ended Friday, 17 August 2007. The S&P CNX Nifty was down 225.30 points to 4,108.05 in the week. A whole host of factors right from yen carry trade unwinding, hedge fund redemption pressure, heavy FII selling and sub-prime concerns haunted local bourses throughout the week.

Asian markets rebounded today, 20 August 2007 taking their cue from Wall Street's recovery on Friday, 17 August 2007, after the Federal Reserve cut a key interest rate. Japanese Nikkei (up 3.69% at 15,836.57), Hong Kong's Hang Seng (up 2.62% at 20,922.08), Taiwan's Taiwan Weighted (up 5.02% at 8,496.31), Singapore's Straits Times (up 4.65% at 3,276.35) and South Korea's Seoul Composite (up 4.79% at 1,716.51) all edged higher.

US stocks rallied on Friday, 17 August 2007, after posting losses for the 6 straight previous trading sessions, as the Federal Reserve cut its key discount rate by 0.5% to 5.75 %. The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 233.30 points, or 1.82 %, to 13,079.08. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 34.67 points, or 2.46 %, to 1,445.94, and the Nasdaq Composite index rose 53.96 points, or 2.20 %, to 2,505.03.

As per provisional data, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 3535.76 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers of shares worth Rs 1944.48 crore on Friday, 17 August 2007.

Crude oil fell in New York on signs Hurricane Dean's more southerly track may mean it will miss the largest oil production regions of the Gulf of Mexico. Crude oil for September delivery dropped as much as 94 cents, or 1.3%, to $71.04 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange

Sensex suffers second biggest point fall

Domestic markets suffered sever setback today, 16 August 2007, and settled near day’s low on intense selling pressure throughout the day. Earlier today, the market opened on a extremely bearish note following weak global cues. The turnover was high today.

The Japanese yen appreciated sharply against the US dollar today, and was hovering at 114 level, due to unwinding of yen carry trade.

All the sectoral indices on BSE settled with losses. All the Asian and European markets were gripped by intense selling pressure.

Back home, the BSE 30-share Sensex slumped 642.70 points or 4.28% at 14,358.21, the second biggest point fall in a day. The Sensex opened with a sharp 416-point downward gap at 14,584.92 and slipped to touch a low of 14,345.03 at 15:22 IST.

Sensex oscillated 203.89 points between the day's low of 14,345.03 and high of 14,584.92

The S&P CNX Nifty lost 191.60 points or 4.38% at 4,178.60. The Nifty August 2007 futures were at 4144.95, a discount of 33.65 point as compared to spot closing

The Sensex’s biggest single day fall of 826 points had occurred on 18 May 2006. Fears that a possible change in taxation laws on sale of shares would raise tax-liability for FIIs had triggered sharp fall on that day when margin calls had accentuated the decline.

All the sectoral indices on BSE were trading lower. The BSE Auto index (down 3.11% to 4,662.17), BSE Oil & Gas index (down 4.37% to 7,504.59), BSE PSU index (down 3.93% to 6,729.50), BSE Capital Goods index (down 4.43% to 12,214.56), BSE Healthcare index (down 2.83% to 3,526.95) and BSE TECk index (down 3.80% to 3,535.42), all edged lower.

The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 5,291 crore as against Rs 4,232 crore on Tuesday, 14 August 2007. The NSE F&O turnover was Rs 46447.41 crore as compared to Rs 28493.98 crore on Tuesday, 14 August 2007

The market breadth indicating the overall health of the market was weak as small-cap and mid-cap stocks came under selling pressure. However, the breadth had improved from opening trade. On BSE, 1866 shares declined as compared to 861 that advanced, while 42 remained unchanged.

The BSE Small-Cap Index slipped 2.95 to 7,797.26 while the BSE Mid-Cap Index declined 3.21% to 6,352.44

All the shares from the 30-member Sensex pack declined.

BSE metal index bore the highest brunt amongst the sectoral indices in the market mayhem today. It fell 6.51% or 717 points to 10,299. It touched a high of 10,690 and low of 10,273 during the day.

Tata Steel, the country’s largest private sector steel maker, plunged 10.24% to Rs 576 on 26.01 lakh shares. It was the top loser from the Sensex pack.

Other metal shares Sterlite Industries (down 8.21% to Rs 558.45), JSW Steel (down 5% to Rs 614) and Sail (down 2.41% to Rs 143.85) were not spared either.

Hindalco Industries, the country’s largest aluminium company, lost 5.60% to Rs 145.35. As per reports, it plans to become supplier to the car market. The Aditya Birla flagship, which also makes copper and owns mines, will soon make high-grade aluminium products for the body-in-white segment of cars as part of an integration process following its recent acquisition of Novelis.

Tata steel, Sterlite Industries and Hindalco Industries have weightages of 27.51%, 17.73% and 13.99% respectively in BSE Metal index. BSE Metal Index had declined 8.89% over the last one month to 14 August 2007.

IT pivotals recovered from their lows as the Indian rupee fell to its weakest in two months as global funds sold emerging-market assets as losses from subprime loans in the US deepened. The Indian rupee was quoted at 41.17 per unit of US dollar. It had closed at 40.76 on Tuesday, 14 August 2007. The BSE IT index declined the least among the sectoral indices on BSE. It lost 2.61% to 4,637.13

Though Satyam Computers (down 1.47% to Rs 469), Infosys Technologies (down 1.65% to Rs 1922) and Wipro (down 2.73% to Rs 468), were trading lower, they had recovered sharply from their low. A rise in the rupee adversely affects the margin of IT companies. Hence, any signs of the rupee weakening boosts IT stocks.

Telecom shares were off-loaded. Mahanagar Telephone Nigam (MTNL) lost 5.20% to Rs 134.95 on reports that it has joined the race to pick up a 51% stake in Telkom Kenya. The other Indian listed players who are learnt to be bidding for a majority stake in the Kenyan government controlled company include Bharti Airtel and Reliance Communications

Bharti Airtel plunged 6.97% to Rs 798 and Reliance Communications lost 5.75% to Rs 494.35

India’s biggest power generation firm by sales National Thermal Power Corporation shed 3.21% to Rs 167.20. The Union Ministry of Coal has granted in-principle approval for allocation of a new coal block, Chhati Bariatu South, to NTPC. This will help the company's efforts to secure long-term supplies of coal.

India’s biggest private sector entity and oil refiner Reliance Industries lost 5.40% to Rs 1732.90 on 11.52 lakh shares. As per reports, the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council (EAC) has endorsed the gas price discovered by RIL by inviting bids from large consumers in the domestic market. RIL will also benefit from the government’s recent decision to impose anti-dumping duty of $545.22 (about Rs 22,000) per tonne on import of partially oriented yarn (POY) from China.

Ranbaxy Laboratories lost 3.56% to Rs 30.50 on reports that Europe’s third-biggest drugmaker Novartis has sued the company to block sale of a blood-pressure medicine Diovan, in the United States.

ACC (down 0.57% to Rs 984.70), Dr Reddy’s Laboratories (down 1.49% to Rs 628), and Hindustan Unilever (down 2% to Rs 196) outperformed the market.

BSE Realty index was the second worst performer among sectoral indices on BSE today. It slumped 5.56% or 410 points to 6980.08. Realty majors Unitech (down 8.06% to Rs 466.40), Indiabulls Real Estate (down 6.23% to Rs 458.95) and Sobha Developers (down 6.13% to Rs 741), edged lower.

Housing Development and Infrastructure declined 7.50% to Rs 504. As per reports, it has tied up with Lehman Brothers to bid for the redevelopment of Asia’s largest slum, Dharavi. The project is expected to generate close to Rs 25000 crore in revenue for the Maharashtra government.

Parsvnath Developers slumped 9.36% to Rs 299.80. Its board approved private placement of non-convertible debentures worth Rs 300 crore.

The third biggest fall was seen in Bankex which lost 5.42% or 424 points to 7,421, due to credit related problems globally. Banking heavyweights ICICI bank (down 5.17% to Rs 832.30), State Bank Of India (down 5.78% to Rs 1521.60) and HDFC Bank (4.62% to Rs 1094) declined.

Gabriel India (up 21.25% to Rs 31.10), English India Clays (up 20% to Rs 576), Jindal Hotels (up 19.91% to Rs 53.90), Titagarh Industries (up 14.92% to Rs 41.20), LML (up 9.93% to Rs 14.28), and DIL (up 7.96% to Rs 297) were the top gainers from the small-cap and mid-cap basket.

IVRCL Infrastructures (down 11.96% to Rs 333), Shakti Pumps (down 11.17% to Rs 132.40), Omnitech Solutions (down 10.30% to Rs 147.60), Petron Engineering (down 9.68% to Rs 199.20), and Orbit Corporation (down 9.89% to Rs 443.65) were the top losers from the small-cap and mid-cap basket.

IVR Prime Urban Developers settled at Rs 418.15 on BSE, a discount of 23.97% over the IPO price of Rs 550. The IVR scrip debuted at Rs 500. It touched a high of Rs 500 and a low of Rs 388. On BSE, 76.38 lakh shares of the scrip were traded. The IVR Prime Urban Developers IPO ended on 26 July 2007 with 5.75 times subscription. The stock also debuted in the NSE futures & options (F&O) segment today with lot size of 400 shares.

Kernex Microsystems India jumped 5% to Rs 312.20. On 10 August 2007, the company said it had executed a service contract with Konkan Railway Corporation, Mumbai, for providing operational maintenance and annual maintenance contract services for the anti-collision systems. The estimated amount of contract for operation and maintenance of ACD systems will be about Rs 28.50 crore.

Sical Logistics lost 6.85% to Rs 225.15. It acquired a cutter section dredger for $24.92 million to expand operations in the global offshore market. The dredger will be deployed in the Chinese dredging market, and is estimated to earn revenue of about $9.8 million annually.

Engineers India declined 2% to Rs 453 despite winning an order worth $27 million from Abu Dhabi Polymers Company, Abu Dhabi, to manage construction of petrochemical complex in Abu Dhabi. The company made this announcement after market hours on Tuesday 14 August 2007.

Realty major DLF was down 2.70% to Rs 587 in spite of reports of its imminent purchase of DCM Shriram Consolidated’s mill land in Delhi for Rs 1600 crore. As per reports, DLF is set to buy about 38 acres of land in New Delhi for more than Rs 1600 crore. The deal to buy Swatantra Bharat Mills from DCM Shriram Consolidated, about 4-5 km from Delhi's central business district will be the largest private sector land deal in the country.

DCM Shriram Consolidated slipped 1.92% to Rs 84.20, after hitting a high of Rs 90.10

Ispat Industries gained 5.48% to Rs 14.82 on media reports that it plans to invest about Rs 10,000 crore within five years to ramp up domestic production. Ispat Industries is also planning to expand overseas through capacity expansion and backward integration.

Bongaigaon Refinery and Petrochemicals advanced 4.17% to Rs 57.50 as investors mopped up the stock due to attractive dividend yield. The company has declared dividend of Rs 3.50 per share and the stock continues to trade cum-dividend. At the current market price of Rs 57.50, the dividend yield works out to 6%. The stock becomes ex-dividend from 21 August 2007.

Industrial Development Bank of India was down 5.07% to Rs 118. As per reports, the bank aims to raise Rs 300 crore in debt in the current fiscal year.

Hindustan Copper jumped 5% to Rs 145.85. After market hours on Tuesday, 14 August 2007, the government sanctioned the financial restructuring proposal of the company approving conversion of non-plan loan of Rs 50 crore into equity and waiver of 7.5% non-cumulative redeemable preference shares amounting to Rs 180.73 crore. The company also approved reduction of face value of equity shares from existing Rs 10 to Rs 5 per share.

Birla Kennametal advanced 5% to Rs 273.60 after it scheduled a meeting of the board of directors on 22 August 2007 to consider 5-for 1 stock-split.

Federal-Mogul Goetze (India) plunged 7% to Rs 148 after the company revised downward the price band for its rights issue. Federal-Mogul Goetze (India) said on Tuesday, 14 August 2007, its board had revised the pricing of its rights issue to Rs 145-Rs 170 per share, from the earlier band of Rs 180-Rs 215.

Domestic stock markets remained closed on 15 August 2007 on account of Independence day.

All Asian indices declined today, 16 August 207, as investors concerned over the health of global credit markets continued to sell stocks across the board.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng (down 3.29% at 20,672.39), Japan's Nikkei (down 1.99% at 16,149.49), Taiwan's Taiwan Weighted (down 4.56% to 8,201.37), Shanghai Composite (down 2.14% to 4,765.48), Singapore's Straits Times (down 3.70% to 3,152.16) and South Korea's Seoul Composite (down 6.93% to 1,691.98) edged lower.

US shares had tumbled yesterday, 15 August 2007, after the Federal Reserve added more cash to the banking system but failed to quash investors' jitters about problems in lending. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 167.45 points, or 1.29%, to 12,861.47. Broader stock indicators also declined. The S&P 500 index dropped 19.84 points, or 1.39%, to 1,406.70. The Nasdaq Composite index lost 40.29 points, or 1.61%, to 2,458.83.

Meanwhile as per reports, the Income Tax Department is likely to scrutinise tax returns of over 700 top companies, which include A-group category companies listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and NSE-500, to detect possible tax evasion. For the returns filed till 31 July 2007, the Income tax officers can serve the scrutiny notice any time on or before 31 July 2008. Reports further said that all stock brokers and commodity brokers as well as their sub-brokers earning Rs 1 crore or more in brokerage will also be brought under the scrutiny net.

India’s indirect tax receipts rose 11.6% to Rs 66417 crore in April-July 2007 on robust customs collections, the finance ministry said on Tuesday, 14 August 2007.

US oil prices slipped below $73 a barrel on Thursday, 16 August 2007, on signs a major storm brewing in the Atlantic might not endanger Gulf of Mexico oil platforms. US crude oil prices fell 52 cents to $72.81 a barrel. London Brent crude lost 56 cents to $71.08 a barrel.

Market may tumble on global meltdown

Domestic bourses are expected to correct sharply today, 16 August 2007, on weak global cues. Another cause for concern is the rally in yen against the US dollar. This may lead to unwinding of carry trade. Yen was hovering at 115.97 against the dollar today.

The BSE 30-share Sensex declined marginally by 16.30 points, or 0.11%, to 15,000.91, on 14 August 2007. The S&P CNX Nifty slipped 3.45 points, or 0.08%, to 4,370.20, on that day.

Stock markets remained closed on 15 August 2007, on account of Independence day.

All Asian indices declined today, 16 August 207 as investors concerned over the health of global credit markets continued to sell stocks across the board.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng (down 3% at 20,735.32), Japan's Nikkei (down 2.60% at 16,047.46), Taiwan's Taiwan Weighted (down 3.59% at 8,284.29), Singapore's Straits Times (down 3.96% at 3,143.59), South Korea's Seoul Composite (down 6.24% at 1,704.48) edged lower.

US shares had tumbled yesterday, 15 August 2007, after the Federal Reserve added more cash to the banking system but failed to quash investors' jitters about problems in lending. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 167.45 points, or 1.29%, to 12,861.47. Broader stock indicators also fell. The S&P 500 index dropped 19.84 points, or 1.39%, to 1,406.70. The Nasdaq Composite index lost 40.29 points, or 1.61%, to 2,458.83.

As per provisional data, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 331.52 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers of shares worth Rs 308.94 crore on Tuesday, 14 August 2007.

US oil prices slipped below $73 a barrel on Thursday, 16 August 2007, on signs a major storm brewing in the Atlantic might not endanger Gulf of Mexico oil platforms. US crude oil prices fell 52 cents to $72.81 a barrel. London Brent crude lost 56 cents to $71.08 a barrel

Triple digit sell-off continues in Wall Street

Dow closes below 13,000 mark for the first time in four months

Another fresh round of credit worries plagued the US market today, Wednesday, 15 August, 2007, after shares of Countrywide Financial witnessed heavy selling, pushing Financial stocks to the wall. The Federal Reserve once again tried to comfort the situation by another fresh round of $7-billion liquidity injection through repurchase agreement. But stocks stumbled in the final hour of trading to end with a triple-digit sell-off.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, after being up by almost 90 points earlier in the day, dropped by a huge 167 points while going into close to end the day at 12,861.47. Tech-heavy Nasdaq shed 40.29 points to settle at 2,458. S&P 500 lost 19.84 points to end at 1406.7.

All but one of the 30 Dow stocks closed in the red today. General Motors, Honeywell and Alcoa led the team of Dow laggards for the day. Johnson & Johnson was the only Dow winner.

With today’s decline, Dow has lost almost 800 points (6%) in the last five days. Nasdaq, too, has shed almost 160 points (5.4%). A tame inflation data and a healthy manufacturing index, too, failed to curb any loss that the market witnessed today.

The stock of Countrywide Financial, the nation's biggest mortgage lender, was down as much as 20% today after Merrill Lynch downgraded the stock from "buy" to "sell." The stock closed lower by 13%. The stock also got hammered after it was reported that dealers were currently quoting the company’s commercial paper at 12.5%.

KKR Financial Holding announces sale of residential mortgage loans

When the market opened in the morning, all the three indices opened in red. Another round of negative developments in the credit market exacerbated credit concerns among investors whose sentiments had been hard hit since the past few days from mortgage problems.

To make situation worse, KKR Financial Holding announced the sale of $5.1 billion of residential mortgage loans, saying it will no longer invest in such assets and may need to record a charge of up to $200 million. Its stock fell 31%.

The Consumer Price Index report showed that consumer prices rose 0.1% in July 2007. The number was in line with economists' expectations and down slightly from the 0.2% rise in June 2007. The core number, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, rose 0.2% last month, also in line.

Also, at the top of the hour, The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo index of builder confidence fell to 22, from 24 in July 2007. That was also the second weakest reading since the survey's inception in 1985.

HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank slip by 4% to 6%

Among Indian ADRs, banking stocks were hard hit. HDFC Bank closed 4% lower too $79.56. ICICI Bank registered a greater loss and was down by 6.1% at $39.4. Technology stocks were not far behind. Infosys Technologies shed 3%. VSNL was the top loser, down 5.4% to close at $18.87.

On the New York Stock Exchange, volume hit nearly 2 billion shares, while declining issues outpaced advancers 3 to 1. On Nasdaq, 2 billion shares were traded, with decliners ahead of advancers more than 2 to 1.

H-P to declare its earnings report tomorrow

Crude oil futures finished higher today after traders became concerned about a couple of tropical storms that are expected to hit some oil sensitive regions. The Energy Department’s crude inventory report also added to the firming up of the crude price. Oil rose after the government report showed a bigger-than-expected drop in U.S. inventories last week.

Crude-oil futures for light sweet crude for September delivery closed at $73.33/barrel (higher by $0.95/barrel or 1.31%) on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Yesterday, too, crude had closed higher by 76 cents at $72.38/barrel.

Dow component H-P will be tomorrow morning's headliner as it comes out with its earnings report. Other than this, the market will focus on Housing Starts (the number of privately owned new homes on which construction has been started over some period) and Jobless Claims (how many people have filed for unemployment benefits in the previous week). Later in the day will be the Philadelphia Fed Survey, which focuses on the manufacturing sector and provides insight into commodity prices.

Sensex ends almost unchanged

The market ended almost unchanged after seeing range-bound movement throughtout the day today, 14 August 2007. US stocks had also closed without much movement yesterday, 13 August 2007.

Asian indices were trading on a mixed note today, 14 August 2007. European indices were also trading mixed after opening lower today

Global markets, meanwhile, are watching with concern for cues from hedge funds. 15 August 2007 is the last day of the 45-day notice period required for investors to withdraw money from many hedge funds across the world for the current July-September 2007 quarter.

The BSE 30-share Sensex was down marginally by 0.77 points to 15,016.44, as per provisonal close. It had opened higher at 15,066.71 and climbed up to a high of 15,069.64. But from here, the index had started declining and touched a low of 14,946.66 at 13:12 IST. It recovered later from that low.

It oscillated in a narrow range of 105 points for the day

The S&P CNX Nifty rose 1.45 points to 4,375, as per provisonal close

The market breadth was strong on BSE with 1,580 shares advancing as compared to 1,113 that declined, while 88 remained unchanged.

Among the 30-member Sensex pack, 16 declined while the rest of them gained.

NTPC, the country’s largest power generation firm, rose 3.10% to Rs 173 on high volumes of 18.76 lakh shares. It was the top gainer from the Sensex pack. It struck an all-time high of Rs 176.80 in intra-day trade. Late last week, NSE decided to add NPTC in S&P CNX Nifty index in place of Dabur India from 24 September 2007.

State Bank of India (SBI), the country’s largest bank, moved up 0.10% to Rs 1614.70 on its plans to mop up nearly Rs 180000 crore over the next five years, including a Rs 14500-crore public offer this fiscal.

HDFC Bank (up 1.26% to Rs 1149.90), ONGC (up 1.99% to Rs 860) and Hindalco Industries (up 0.92% to Rs 153.90) were the other gainers from the Sensex pack.

India’s largest private sector company and oil refiner Reliance Industries (RIL) rose 0.45% to Rs 1837.10 on 4.47 lakh shares. It moved in a range of Rs 1815 and Rs 1842. As per reports RIL has received clearance from West Bengal's Food Processing and Horticulture department for its agri-retail business in the state.

ACC, the country’s second largest cement producer, slipped 2.40% to Rs 988 on 2.01 lakh shares. It was the top loser from the Sensex pack.

MNC associate FMCG giant Hindustan Unilever declined 1.55% to Rs 200.40 on profit booking after rallying 4% to Rs 203.50 yesterday, 13 August 2007. According to AC Nielsen's retail panel, HUL’s market share in the instant coffee market rose from 40.7% in the March 2007 to 47.4% in the June 2007 quarter. In fabric wash too, HUL's share in the June 2007 quarter went up to 37.8% from 36.4% in the preceding quarter. Also, HUL's share in shampoos increased from 46.9% to 47.5%.

HDFC (down 1.85% to Rs 1947) and Grasim (down 1.92% to Rs 2880.25) were the other losers from the Sensex pack.

Omnitech InfoSolutions was trading at Rs 164.55 on BSE, a premium of 56.71% over the IPO price of Rs 105. It listed at Rs 183.75 on BSE, and hit a low and high of Rs 155 and 183.75, respectively. About 89.92 lakh shares were traded on the counter on BSE. The company had fixed the issue price at the top end of the Rs 90-Rs 105 price band. Omnitech InfoSolutions IPO ended on 25 July 2007 with 61.84 times subscription.

Asian indices were mixed note today, 14 August 2007, after wavering around the previous session's closing levels during early trading. Nikkei 225 (up 0.27%), Shanghai Composite (up 1.09%), Singapore's Straits Times (up 0.18%), and Hang Seng (up 0.53%) gained

South Korea's Seoul Composite (down 1.70%) and Taiwan Weighted (down 0.31%), slipped.

US shares closed marginally lower yesterday, 13 August 2007. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 3.01 points, or 0.02%, to 13,236.53. Broader stock indicators were also down. The Standard & Poor's 500 index dropped 0.72 points, or 0.05%, to 1,452.92, and the Nasdaq Composite index retreated 2.65 points, or 0.10%, to 2,542.24.

As per provisional data, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 559.58 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers of shares worth Rs 137.76 crore on Monday, 13 August 2007.

US crude oil was little changed on Tuesday, 14 August 2007, after managing a slight gain a day ago, supported by central bank cash injections into the global financial system and storms brewing in the Atlantic basin. US crude oil futures slipped 7 cents to $71.55 a barrel. London's Brent crude fell 8 cents to $70.15 a barrel.

Market to consolidate

The market is expected to consolidate on muted cues from global markets. The BSE 30-share Sensex surged 148.96 points, or 1%, to 15,017.21, on Monday, 13 August 2007. The S&P CNX Nifty rose 40.30 points, or 0.93%, to 4,373.65.

The Nifty August 2007 futures discount declined consistently for the third straight session yesterday, 13 August 2007, indicating short covering at lower levels. The Nifty August 2007 futures settled at 4360, a discount of 13.65 points as compared to spot closing.

Asian indices were trading lower today, 14 August 2007 after wavering around the previous session's closing levels during early trading. Financial shares paced losses after US stocks declined overnight, with Sompo Japan Insurance and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group leading the decline in Japan. Nikkei was down 0.02% at 16,797.48.

Hang Seng (down 0.13% at 21,863.29), Singapore's Straits Times (down 0.08% at 3,378.05), South Korea's Seoul Composite (down 0.62% at 1,837.78), declined.

However, Taiwan Weighted gained 0.62% at 8,994.13

Wall Street shares gave up a moderate gain in late trading and closed marginally lower yesterday, 13 August 2007 after the Federal Reserve and other central banks added more cash to their banking systems, helping investors set aside some concerns about credit tightness.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 3.01 points, or 0.02%, to 13,236.53. Broader stock indicators also fell. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 0.72 points, or 0.05%, to 1,452.92, and the Nasdaq Composite index retreated 2.65 points, or 0.10%, to 2,542.24.

As per provisional data, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 559.58 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers of shares worth Rs 137.76 crore on Monday, 13 August 2007.

U.S. crude oil was little changed on Tuesday, 14 August 2007 after managing a slight gain a day ago, supported by central bank cash injections into the global financial system and storms brewing in the Atlantic basin. U.S. crude oil futures slipped 7 cents to $71.55 a barrel. London's Brent crude fell 8 cents to $70.15 a barrel.

Sensex settles above 15,000

The market posted decent gains as buying continued throughout the day, except for an odd blip in early afternoon trade. It opened higher today, 13 August 2007, on steady buying interest in index pivotals, tracking firm Asian markets that had opened earlier. However, the market was inflicted with volatility. All the sectoral indices on BSE posted gains, except BSE IT index.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh defended the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal in Parliament today, 13 August 2007, amid loud protests by the opposition.

The prime minister told the Lok Sabha that the Indo-US nuclear deal has not compromised nation's independent nuclear policy, adding that the deal benefits both India and the US. He asserted that future nuclear tests would be India's sovereign decision.

Among other markets, the Chinese market hit an all-time high. All the European indices also were trading higher.

The BSE 30-share Sensex surged 148.96 points, or 1%, to 15,017.21. It had opened with a 97.40-point upward gap at 14,965.65. From here it started declining to touch a low of 14,869.15 at 11:21 IST. It recovered from the lower level later in volatile trade to hit a high of 15,044.74 at 13:59 IST.

The S&P CNX Nifty rose 40.30 points, or 0.93%, to 4,373.65.

The Nifty August 2007 futures settled at 4,360, a discount of 13.65 points compared to spot closing.

Among the sectoral indices on BSE, the Bankex (up 0.70% to 7,827.77), the BSE Consumer Durables index (up 1.41% to 4,146.14), the BSE Healthcare index (up 1.11% to 3,641.14), the BSE Metal index (up 1.34% to 11,008.83), the BSE Oil & Gas index (up 0.71% to 7,810.81), the BSE PSU index (up 0.70% to 6,967.41), the BSE Realty index (up 0.56% to 7,304.39), and the BSE TECk index (up 0.44% to 3,677.91) posted gains.

The BSE Mid-Cap Index rose 67.55 points, or 1.04%, to 6,575.17, while the BSE Small-Cap Index gained 124.15 points, or 1.57%, to 8,028.28. Both these indices outperformed the broad market.

The market breadth was strong on BSE with 1,915 shares advancing as compared to 807 that declined, while 47 remained unchanged

The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 4126 crore as against Rs 5221 crore on Friday, 10 August 2007. The NSE�s F&O turnover was Rs 31,627.64 crore as compared to Rs 48,868.82 crore on Friday, 10 August 2007.

Among the 30-member Sensex pack, 27 gained while only 3 of them declined.

The Sensex posted the third straight weekly loss in the week ended 10 August 2007. The benchmark index shed 270.15 points, or 1.78%, to settle at 14,868.25 in the week ended 10 August 2007 tracking global weakness.

FMCG shares gained on fresh buying, pushing up the BSE FMCG index 1.53% at 1,932.16,outperforming the broad market. MNC associate FMCG giant Hindustan Unilever (HUL) soared 4% to Rs 203.50 on 3.51 lakh shares. It was the top gainer from the Sensex pack. According to AC Nielsen's retail panel, HUL�s market share in the instant coffee market rose from 40.7% in the March 2007 to 47.4% in the June 2007 quarter. In fabric wash too, HUL's share in the June 2007 quarter went up to 37.8% from 36.4% in the preceding quarter. Also, HUL's share in shampoos increased from 46.9% to 47.5%.

ITC (up 1.16% to Rs 165.25), Nestle India (up 2.61% to Rs 1260), Godrej Consumer (up 3% to Rs 140), and Bata India (up 0.80% to Rs 157) were the other gainers from the FMCG pack.

Tata Motors, India's largest bus and truck maker, surged 3.43% to Rs 692. It is reportedly planning to expand its auto sales in Southeast Asia using Thailand as a manufacturing base.

Bajaj Auto gained 2.51% to Rs 2377 ahead of shareholders' meeting on 18 August 2007 to consider the scheme of arrangement between the company, Bajaj Holdings and Investment, and Bajaj Finserv.

Maruti Udyog (up 2.91% to Rs 833.80) and Mahindra & Mahindra (up 2.82% to Rs 690) also advanced from auto pack. The BSE Auto Index,too, outperformed the broad market, rising 1.89% to 4,825.93. It was the best performing sectoral index on BSE

Cement shares advanced on renewed buying. Ambuja Cements (up 2.33% to Rs 129.55), ACC (up 1.11% to Rs 1012) and Grasim (up 0.90% to Rs 2910.20) posted gains.

IT pivotals were subdued as the Indian rupee strengthened against the US dollar. The BSE IT Index slipped 0.19% to 4,765.04,underperforming the market. India�s largest software services exporter TCS shed 1.13% to Rs 1132.15 on 64,092 shares. It was the top loser from the Sensex pack.

Satyam Computers (down 0.86% to Rs 475.30) and Wipro (down 0.16% to Rs 479.50) also declined. However Infosys rose 0.14% to Rs 1955. Rupee was hovering at 40.61 compared to Friday's (10 August 2007) close of 40.6350/6450.

Hit by an appreciating rupee and rising wage costs in the April-June 2007 quarter, most Indian software companies came out with results that disappointed investors and analysts. The BSE IT index slipped 3.24% in the last month from 4,897.95 on 13 July 2007 to 4,774.13 on 10 August 2007.

Reliance Industries, India�s biggest private sector entity and the country's largest oil refiner, rose 0.79% to Rs 1825 on 4.81 lakh shares. It moved in a range of Rs 1805.30 and Rs 1840.

NTPC, India's biggest power generator, was up 1.97% to Rs 168.05, while Dabur India rose 0.34% to Rs 103. NTPC will replace Dabur India in S&P CNX Nifty from 24 September 2007.

India�s largest private sector engineering company Larsen & Toubro (L&T) gained 0.20% to Rs 2437, off its day�s high of Rs 2462. The company today, 13 August 2007, said it won orders worth Rs 203 crore for Delhi's metro rail project to be executed in 30 months.

Bharat Heavy Electricals (Bhel), the country�s biggest power equipment maker, rose 0.74% to Rs 1707. Late last week, Bhel bagged orders worth over Rs 2900 crore for the supply and installation of the main plant package at the upcoming Jhajjar Super Thermal Power Project in Haryana involving three units of 500 MW each.

Led by Bhel and L&T, the BSE Capital Goods index rose 0.37% at 12,815.39. However, the index was an underperformer compared to the broad market.

State-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) was up marginally by 0.02% to Rs 843. It has reportedly demanded a 12.5% hike in price of natural gas it produces from fields given to it on nomination basis as it was incurring losses at the present price of Rs 3.2 per cubic meter.

India�s top drug maker by sales Ranbaxy Laboratories rose 1.67% to Rs 373.95. Ipca Laboratories, a mid-cap integrated drug producer, dropped 0.20% to Rs 688. The stock came off the day's high of Rs 709. A joint venture of drug makers Ranbaxy Laboratories and Ipca Laboratories has received the US Food and Drug Administration's approval to sell metformin HCL tablets.

India's second largest listed telecom service provider in terms of sales Reliance Communications rose 1.40% to Rs 528.65 on reports of its tower business unit plans to launch an exchange platform for sharing infrastructure.

Indian Hotels rose 3.13% to Rs 140.15 after its board of directors in a meeting held today decided to make two simultaneous but unlinked rights offers. The rights issue of equity shares is in the ratio of 1:5 (1 share for every 5 shares held) at a price of Rs 70 per share. The company will raise Rs 844 crore through this issue.

RDB Industries (up 20% to Rs 170.30), DCW (up 18.16% to Rs 14.90), Mercator Lines (up 13.15% to Rs 58.10) and Torrent Power (up 11.30% to Rs 77.60), were the top gainers from the small-cap and mid-cap basket.

Vaibhav Gems (down 6% to Rs 171.50), Autumobile Corporation of Goa (down 5.58% to Rs 401.30), Vyapar Industries (down 3.74% to Rs 106.75), BF Utilities (down 5% to Rs 2015), and Vivimed Labs (down 3.61% to Rs 137.55) were the top losers from the small- and mid-cap basket.

Everonn Systems soared 14.40% to Rs 592.80 on high volume of 69.36 lakh hares. It surged to Rs 611.10 on BSE, an all-time high,and was the top traded counter on BSE with turnover of Rs 399.75 crore.

Orbit Corporation (Rs 208.82 crore), IFCI (Rs 138.99 crore), Tata Steel (Rs 129.83 crore), and IDBI (Rs 126.90 crore) followed.

IDBI jumped 9.26% to Rs 126.90 on reports its 100% subsidiary IDBI Capital Market Services proposes to cash on the untapped retail broking business, particularly in north India, through 5,000 plus bank branches and online trading platform.

Saurashtra Cement galloped 10.26% to Rs 63.40 on reports that India Debt Management (IDM) is picking up a 14% stake in it. The comapny's board will meet on 16 August 2007 to consider allotment of 74.5 lakh equity shares of Rs 10 each to IDM by converting part of the convertible debentures issued to it at a price of Rs 35 per share. This will translate into a 14% equity stake for IDM.

Transport Corporation of India was down 2.04% to Rs 112.95 after Mauritius-based FID Funds picked up a 7% stake via preferential allotment at Rs 105.25 a share. TCI will issue 50 lakh equity shares of Rs 2 face value to FID Funds at Rs 105.25 per share.

Essel Propack declined 0.75% to Rs 59.90 after the company said on Monday, 13 August 2007, it plans to help the promoters in the revival of two firms, RAS Propack Lamipack and RAS Extrusions. RAS Propack Lamipack spurted 5% to Rs 5.16. Essel has agreed in principle to act as co-promoter for the revival.

Asian Electronics rose 0.95% to Rs 852.35, after hitting 5% circuit filter of Rs 886.65. The company set a 1-for-1 share swap ratio for merging Green Hydrocarbons India and US Instruments with itself.

Sobha Developers declined 2.20% to Rs 795.50 despite posting 141.42% rise in net profit to Rs 40.8 crore on a 30.87% rise in total income to Rs 269.2 crore in Q1 June 2007 over Q1 June 2007

Private sector lender Centurion Bank of Punjab climbed 4.13% to Rs 40.35 after it said on Friday, 10 August 2007, it had reduced its interest rates on deposits by 50-150 basis points.

Cranes Software International was up 1.30% to Rs 117 after convening shareholder meeting on 13 September 2007 to consider raising foreign fund limit to 60% from 49%.

Dish TV India gained 0.81% to Rs 87 on reports it plans to invest Rs 800 crore in the next three years to have a strong foothold in the competitive direct-to-home space. Investment will be for upgradation of the infrastructure and increasing number of channels on the platform.

BOC India advanced 3.83% to Rs 133 after it signed long-term gas supply contracts with two different entities. As per the contract, the company will supply 420 normal cubic meters (Nm3) of nitrogen per hour to GKN Sinter at its unit located at Pune. The second order is to supply 35 tons per day of oxygen to Electrosteel Castings at its unit located in Kolkata.

Jindal Steel and Power (JSPL) moved up by 6.19% to Rs 3910. Earlier in July 2007, JSPL had signed a contract to exploit the vast El Mutun iron ore deposits in Bolivia. The deal set out an investment of $2.1 billion by JSPL to mine iron ore and make steel at the site in eastern Bolivia.

Tata Power vaulted 5.19% to Rs 721.75. On 10 August 2007, Tata Power had signed an equipment deal with Toshiba Corporation for its 4,000-mega watts (mw) ultra mega power project in Gujarat.

Jaiprakash Associates spurted 5.15% to Rs 850.65. Earlier on 3 August 2007, the company had acquired Malvika Steel in Uttar Pradesh for Rs 207 crore and will be investing Rs 1800 crore over the next three years to take the capacity of the plant to one million tonne per annum.

Camlin rose 4.06% to Rs 169 ahead of its board meet on 18 August 2007 to consider issue of shares/warrants on preferential basis to private equity fund/ financial institution / foreign institutional investors for raising funds to finance the business expansion plans.

Tata Tea moved up 3.24% to Rs 715.50 on reports that firm is close to a joint venture deal in Russia and is also looking at new markets in South America and the far East. The company is also keen to increase its shares in the US beverage market.

Hindustan Construction Company edged higher by 2.12% to Rs 130 on bagging Rs 415 crore contract from Municipal Corporation of Brihanmumbai, Mumbai, for the construction of a tunnel from Maroshi to Ruparel College in Mumbai. The value of the contract is Rs 415 crore. The project is to be completed in 56 calendar months from the date of commencement of the work.

Kernex Microsystems India jumped 5% to Rs 282.30. On 10 August 2007, the company said it had executed a service contract with Konkan Railway Corporation, Mumbai, for providing operational maintenance and annual maintenance contract services for the anti-collision systems. The estimated amount of contract for operation and maintenance of ACD systems will be about Rs 28.50 crore.

Shipping Corporation of India rose 0.26% to Rs 195 after receiving government's approval for acquiring 12 vessels at a cost of Rs 3193.68 crore. The approval is for four Aframax tankers, two LR-II size product tankers, four Panamax bulk carriers and two cellular container vessels.

Gati Corporation was up 1.25% to Rs 101.15 on reports that the firm is close to acquiring a Delhi-based cold-chain management firm Kausar for Rs 35 crore. Kausar, which reported a turnover of Rs 19 crore in FY 2007, is listed on the Delhi Stock Exchange (DSE) but has not witnessed any trading activity in the past few months, reports suggest.

Peninsula Land advanced 4.25% to Rs 445 after three block deals of 4.88 lakh shares each were struck at an average price of Rs 428.27 per share in opening trade on BSE.

Visaka Industries rose 2.86% to Rs 86.30 after its board, in a meeting held on 10 August 2007, approved selling garment division and venturing into new business of manufacturing sandwiched aerocon panels/aerocon blocks, used in construction industry.

Hindustan Copper (HCL) advanced 5% to Rs 132.35 on reports it plans to enter gold mining in India and is scouting copper mines abroad. The stock has jumped 25% in the past five trading sessions, from Rs 99 on 3 August to Rs 126.05 on 10 August 2007. Meanwhile, recent reports suggest the Ministry of Mines had proposed a financial restructuring package worth Rs 637 crore for HCL's revival.

Asian markets edged higher today, 13 August 2007. Japan's Nikkei (up 0.21%), Taiwan's Taiwan Weighted (up 0.09%), Seoul Composite (up 1.14%) Hang Seng (up 0.45%) and Straits Times (up 0.64%) gained.

The Chinese market hit an all-time high on Monday, 13 August 2007, led by bank and petrochemical shares. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index touched its lifetime time high of 4,872.20. It ended 1.49% higher at 4,820.65

US stocks settled mixed on Friday, 10 August 2007, after the Federal Reserve injected $38 billion into the banking system to calm markets torn by worries about evaporating credit. This is its biggest injection to the financial system since the 2001 terrorist attacks. The Dow Jones industrials ended with just a 31-point deficit at 13,239.54. Broader stock indicators finished mixed. The Standard & Poor's 500 index edged up 0.55 points, or 0.04%, to 1,453.64, and the Nasdaq Composite index fell 11.60, or 0.45%, to 2,544.89.

Central banks in Europe, Asia and North America injected huge sums into the money market late last week in an effort to prevent money markets seizing up as the number of financial institutions revealing exposure to crumbling credit markets swelled.

Oil prices edged up above $71 a barrel on Monday, 13 August 2007, as central bankers injected cash into jittery financial markets and fundamental support came from expectations of robust demand. US crude for September delivery rose 22 cents to $71.69 a barrel