Sensex, Nifty settle at lifetime highs

The market saw steady buying interest throughout the day’s trading session except for the odd blip in late-afternoon trade, which was marked by some volatility. Shares from the metal pack were in theforefront, while auto and cement stocks also participated in the rally. Pharma and real estate shares were offloaded today, 13 July 2007.

The market opened on a strong note tracking cues from firm global markets. Data showed a slight rise in inflation for the week ended 30 June 2007: 4.27% per annum as against 4.13% in the previous week due to costlier food and manufactured products. However, it was lower when compared to the annual inflation rate of 5.21% during the comparable week of the previous year.

Meanwhile, the government today revised the inflation rate for the week ended 5 May to 5.74% from the provisional estimate of 5.44%.

The 30-share BSE Sensex surged 180.68 points to 15,272.72, an all-time closing high. It opened higher at 15,216.83 (also its low for the day), and rallied to strike an all-time high of 15,330.73 at 13:26 IST as buying intensified.

The S&P CNX Nifty rose 58.40 points to 4,504.55. It had struck an all-time high of 4,513.90 in intra-day trade.

The positive market breadth till mid-afternoon session turned negative on BSE, with 1,566 shares declining as compared to 1,164 that advanced, while 50 remained unchanged.

The BSE Mid-Cap Index rose 12.61 points, or 0.19%, to 6,795.30, after striking an all-time high of 6,863.71. The BSE Small-Cap Index gained 0.01% to 8,216.14. It also hit an all-time high of 8,320.47 during intra-day trades.

The total turnover on BSE vaulted in the last hour of trade, amounting to Rs 6,714 crore as compared to Rs 5,325 crore by 14:30 IST

Among the Sensex pack, 21 scrips were trading up, while the rest were down.

Metal stocks dominated the list of gainers. The BSE Metal Index surged 4.58% at 12,000.90, and was the top gainer among the sectoral indices on BSE.

Aluminiun and copper major Hindalco Industries galloped 6.20% to Rs 174.70 on high volumes of 49.99 lakh shares. It was the top gainer from the Sensex pack. The stock rose on hopes of consolidation in the global aluminium industry after global miner Rio Tinto launched today, 13 July 2007, a $38.1-billion offer to buy Canada's Alcan Inc. in an agreed deal to create the world's No. 1 aluminium producer, feeding expectations of more deals. Rio trumped a hostile bid by Alcoa Inc., now seen vulnerable to becoming a takeover target itself.

Sterlite Industries surged 4.03% to Rs 668. Its ADR jumped 7.8% on NYSE. Other shares from the metal pack, Sesa Goa (up 6.75% to Rs 1919.95), Tata Steel (up 2.92% to Rs 691.90), Hindustan Zinc (up 8.24% to Rs 799.80), and Sail (up 14% to Rs 164.60) edged higher.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) extended early gains and was up 2.74% to Rs 1,766 on 9.83 lakh shares. The government has set up a Group of Ministers (GoM) to look into all aspects - production to pricing - of gas to be produced from newer areas, particularly in the deep sea. The GoM, headed by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, would decide on production, utilisation, transportation and pricing of gas.

State-run oil exploration major Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) added 0.99% to Rs 901.80. Led by RIL & ONGC, the BSE Oil and Gas Index advanced 1.8% to 7,819.67.

Cement shares advanced on renewed buying after cement sales increased of 4.6% in June 2007 over June 2006. Production rose 5.6% to 13.66 million tonnes in June 2007 as against 12.94 million tonnes a year earlier, according to provisional figures compiled by the Cement Manufacturers' Association (CMA). Cement shares are seen to be benefiting from the recent hike of prices by Rs 3-to Rs 5 per 50-kilogram bag across India.

ACC (up 2.35% to Rs 1097.50), UltraTech Cement (up 2.94% to Rs 925.70), Ambuja Cements (up 2.20% to Rs 129) and Grasim Industries (up 1.61% to Rs 2865) gained from the cement pack.

Capital goods shares saw buying as investors bet on their strong order book position. State-run engineering major Bhel gained 2.96% higher to Rs 1,690 after striking an all-time high of 1,715. L&T rose 0.95% to Rs 2,400 after hitting an all-time high of Rs 2,450. Larsen & Toubro today bagged two contracts worth Rs 853 crore.

Cigarette major ITC gained 2% to Rs 156 on high volumes of 46.30 lakh shares after a block deal of 26.57 lakh shares was struck on the counter at Rs 155.30 per share on BSE by 10:18 IST.

ICICI Bank gained 0.36% to Rs 970, after state-owned Dubai International Capital said on Thursday, 13 July 2007, it bought 2.87% of India's second-largest lender with more than $79 billion in assets. The agency was now one of the largest investors in the bank.

Auto stocks gained as fears of interest rate hike in near future eased. Tata Motors (up 3.72% to Rs 174.70), Mahindra & Mahindra (up 2.52% to Rs 823.30) and Maruti Udyog (up 0.16% to Rs 829) gained from the auto pack. The BSE Auto Index rose 1% to 5,058.45.

IT major TCS lost the most in the Sensex pack. It was down 2.51% to Rs 1,132 on 3.80 lakh shares. The company unveils its Q1 June 2007 results on Monday 16 July 2007.

But IT bellwether Infosys was 0.69% to Rs 1,935 on renewed speculation that it is bidding for Capgemini.

The rupee was steady on Friday, 13 July 2007, despite the dollar's weakness against some currencies and surging stocks as traders were worried that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) may again intervene aggressively to curb gains. At 10:05 IST, the partially convertible rupee was at 40.50/40.51, unchanged from the previous close.

Pharma shares saw some unwinding today. Cipla (down 0.89% to Rs 211.60), Ranbaxy Laboratories (down 1.44% to Rs 353.45), and Dr Reddy’s Laboratories (down 1.93 % to Rs 669) edged lower. The BSE Healthcare index lost 0.51% to 3,848.65.

Real-estate stocks slipped after a recent rally. The BSE Realty index, launched by BSE on Tuesday, 10 July 2007, surged today and struck an all-time high of 8,041.37. It settled 1.31% lower at 7,777.64, and was the top loser among the sectoral indices on BSE. Unitech (down 1.58% to Rs 563.50), Parsvnath Developers (down 3.95% to Rs 377.40), Sobha Developers (down 2.52% to Rs 927) and Mahindra Gesco Developers (down 1.10% to Rs 562) slipped.

Aditya Birla Nuvo surged 10.91% to Rs 1512.05 on reports that the Aditya Birla group is scouting for emerging opportunities in the financial services sector. The group had roped in Prudential Corporation (Asia) chief executive (fund management) to head its financial services portfolio.

Monnet Ispat (up 12.21% to Rs 329), Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation (up 8.86% to Rs 928), Madras Aluminium (up 14.15% to Rs 634), Man Industries (up 11.20% to Rs 309) and Kothari Products (up 10% to Rs 870.50) surged from the small and mid-caps pack.

Real-estate major DLF lost 1.78% to Rs 599.70. It is reportedly buying 100 acres of land from the DCM Group in west Delhi. This is the country’s largest land deal. The deal has been struck at Rs 1,750 crore, beating Unitech’s Rs 1,500-crore land deal in Noida a few months ago.

India Infoline jumped 5.94% to Rs 811 on reports that it's planning to venture into consumer finance business. Reportedly, the company is looking for private equity funding or a strategic partner for its new venture, India Infoline Finance Holding (IIFH). The newly formed holding company for the retail financing business will be valued at Rs 800 crore - Rs1,000 crore. India Infoline will infuse around Rs 200 crore into IIFH directly, and around $100 million would be raised either through private equity or stake dilution to the extent of 30%-40%.

Great Offshore advanced 2.83% to Rs 826.95 after it received a Rs 1,000-crore contract from ONGC. The contract is slated to commence before May 2009. The company made the announcement after market hours yesterday, 12 July 2007.

Tata Metaliks declined 4% to Rs 141.95 even though net profit increased 45.32% in Q1 June 2007 to Rs 15.36 crore as against Rs 10.57 crore in Q1 June 2006. Sales jumped 32.82% to Rs 211.28 crore (Rs 159.07 crore). The results were announced during the market hours today 13 July 2007

All the Asian markets rallied on Friday, 13 July 2007, buoyed by a strong overnight rally on the Wall Street, with indices in South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan hitting record highs. China’s Shanghai Composite down 0.04% to 3,914.25, was the only exception

Hong Kong's Hang Seng (up 1.27% at 23,099.29), Japan's Nikkei (up 1.42% at 18,238.95), Taiwan's Taiwan Weighted (up 1.25% at 9,471.30), Singapore's Straits Times (up 0.83% at 3,654.61) and South Korea's Seoul Composite (up 2.78% at 1,963.73) edged higher.

All the European indices were trading with gains

Wall Street shares soared on Thursday, 12 July 2007, propelling the Standard & Poor's 500 index and Dow Jones Industrials Average to record highs as investors tossed aside concerns about the health of the economy amid sluggish retails sales.

The Dow Jones surged 283.86 points, or 2.09%, to 13,861.73. Thursday's rally was the biggest one-day percentage gain for the blue chip index since October 2003 and the biggest single-session point gain since October 2002. The Dow also reached a new trading high of 13,869.94.

The S&P 500 rose 28.94 points, or 1.91%, to 1,547.70, above its record close of 1,539.18, set on 4 June 2007. The Nasdaq Composite index rose 49.94 points, or 1.88%, to 2,701.73. Still, the index, bloated by the late 1990s tech boom, is nowhere near its closing record of 5,048.62, set in March 2000.

Sensex rallies on metal and auto stocks

The market witnessed a sharp pull-back after witnessing a slump for the last couple of sessions. The rally was mainly triggered by the buoyancy in heavyweights, metal and auto stocks. Realty stocks on the bourses also rallied sharply today, as the market value of DLF, India's biggest real estate firm, crossed rupees one-trillion mark on hopes that the Reserve Bank of India may not raise interest rates at a credit review later this month. Firm close in other Asian indices also helped the market to rally. The Sensex resumed with a positive gap of 53 points at 14964 and surged on sustained buying in front-line stocks. The index moved within a range thereafter. However, hectic buying towards the close helped the Sensex to touch the day's high of 15112 and end the session at 15092, up 182 points. The Nifty closed by adding 59 points at 4446.

Among the sectoral indices the Metal index led the upsurge with gains of 3.34% at 11475 followed by the BSE Realty index (up 3.33% at 7880), the BSE Auto index (up 1.75% at 5007) and the BSE Bankex (up 1.57% at 8216). The market breadth was extremely positive. Of the 2,713 stocks traded on the BSE 1,793 stocks advanced, 858 stocks declined and 62 stocks ended unchanged.

Out of the 30 Sensex stocks, 25 managed to end in the green while five stocks ended with losses. Hindalco was the leading gainer and soared 7.03% at Rs166. Reliance Energy jumped 6.82% at Rs669, HDFC Bank shot up by 4.42% at Rs1,201, BHEL advanced 4.12% at Rs1,641, Reliance Communication moved up by 4.04% at Rs562, Bajaj Auto added 3.11% at Rs2,195 and M&M gained 2.86% at Rs803. Among the laggards Ambuja Cement dropped 1.17% at Rs126, ONGC shed 0.95% at Rs893, Infosys declined by 0.41% at Rs1,922, Satyam fell 0.25% at Rs480 and L&T slipped marginally at Rs2,377.

Over 2.49 crore Reliance Natural Resources shares changed hands on the BSE followed by Nagarjuna Fertilizers (1 crore shares), IFCI (97.49 lakh shares), IKF Technologies (86.40 lakh shares) and Tata Teleservices (70.30 lakh shares).

GMR Infrastructure registered a turnover of Rs454 crore on the BSE followed by DLF (Rs228 crore), Time Technologies (Rs148 crore), Reliance Energy (Rs133 crore) and Unitech (Rs118 crore).

Sensex, Nifty strike record closing highs

The market started on a strong note and gained strength throughout the trading session as buying continued even at higher levels. Hopes of more inflows to mutual funds contributed to the rally. All the sectoral indices save one logged gains, with shares from auto, banking, real estate, capital goods and metal sector contributing to the rally, supported by firm global markets. IT pivotals, however, underperformed.

The 30-shares BSE Sensex surged 181.42 points or 1.22% at 15,092.04. This is an all-time closing high for the Sensex. It opened higher at 14,963.53, tracking upbeat global markets, and advanced to an intra-day high of 15,112.22 by 15:15 IST, coming close to crossing the all-time high of 15,114.95, which was touched on 10 July 2007. The benchmark index oscillated in a range of 148 points. However, there was absence of volatility.

The S&P CNX Nifty struck an all-time high of 4,451.95. It rose 59.15 points to 4,446.15. It also settled at its lifetime closing high. The Nifty July 2007 futures settled at 4,443.35, a slight discount of 2.8 points compared to spot closing

The market breadth was strong on BSE with a little over 2 gainers for every loser: 1,820 shares advanced as compared to 894 that declined, while 61 remained unchanged.

The BSE Mid-Cap Index 1.17% higher at 6,782.69, after striking an all time high of 6,803.35. The BSE Small-Cap Index rose 1.74% to 8,215.56. It also struck an all time high of 8,222

The turnover on BSE vaulted in last one hour of trade. BSE clocked a turnover of Rs 6,080 crore as against Rs 5,494 crore on Wednesday, 11 July 2007. Today's high turnover indicates fresh buying momentum.

The NSE F&O turnover was at Rs 43,187.29 crore as compared to Rs 34,043.56 on Wednesday, 11 July 2007.

Today's rally was despite industrial production growth slowing for the second month, in May 2007, as the highest interest rates in five years crimped demand and currency gains weakened exports. Output at factories, utilities and mines rose 11.1% from a year earlier, following a revised 12.4% increase in April 2007.

Manufacturing output was up 11.9% in May from a year earlier, the slowest pace in four months, while consumer goods output growth halved to 9.8%.

Among the Sensex stocks, 22 gained, while only five declined.

Aluminium and copper major Hindalco Industries galloped 6.94% to Rs 165.70 on high volumes of 55.31 lakh shares. It was the top gainer among the Sensex stocks. The stock advanced on hopes of consolidation of global aluminum industry. As per reports, Alcan Inc. is closer to arranging a friendly deal involving Rio Tinto as it fights a hostile $28.8-billion bid from Alcoa Inc.

Other metal shares Tata Steel (up 2.35% to Rs 670.90), JSW Steel (up 3.28% to Rs 690), Hindustan Zinc (up 0.76% to Rs 738.95), Sterlite Industries (up 5.41% to Rs 643), and Sail (up 4.72% to Rs 144.35) edged higher.

The BSE Metal Index surged 3.34% to 11,475.26, and was the top gainer among the sectoral indices on BSE.

Reliance Energy (REL) vaulted 6.50% to Rs 666.50 on its plans to invest Rs 60,000 crore to add 15,000 mega watts (MW) of power over the next five years. This will boost the company's generation capacity almost 17 times from 941 MW now. The stock was also boosted by market rumors that promoters may hike their stake in REL by 5%, taking it around to 40%

Auto shares surged on renewed buying as fears of further interest rate hike receded. The BSE Auto Index rose 1.8% to 5,006.55. Maruti Udyog (up 2.80% to Rs 828.40), Tata Motors (up 1.09% to Rs 740) and Mahindra & Mahindra (up 3.38% to Rs 807.25) gained.

Motorcycle maker Bajaj Auto advanced 3.30% to Rs 2,199 after the company said its profitability will increase in the second half of the fiscal year as it introduces new models to woo buyers deterred by higher borrowing costs.

The company reported during market hours today, 12 July 2007, a 21% decline in consolidated net profit at Rs 201.15 crore in the first quarter ended June 2007 when compared with Rs 255.77 crore in Q1 June 2006. Consolidated income from operations declined to Rs 2,206.43 crore, from Rs 2,294.28 crore.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) rose 1.13% to Rs 1721, on 4.19 lakh shares. The Bombay High Court today postponed, to July 18, a hearing on Reliance Industries' (RIL) appeal against an interim order that restricted it from selling gas from its block in the Krishna-Godavari basin to any company other than NTPC and Reliance Natural Resources (RNRL).

Meanwhile, RIL is reportedly preparing to bid for constructing and operating a $7 billion greenfield refinery in Central America.

Banks were in demand on a view that interest rates have peaked for the time being. The BSE Bankex was up 1.7% at 8,215.51. State-run banking major State Bank of India advanced 0.76% to Rs 1,554, while private sector banks ICICI Bank (up 1.39% to Rs 967) and HDFC Bank (up 4.49% to Rs 1,202) also advanced.

Oriental Bank (up 4.76% to Rs 254), Bank of India (up 2.69% to Rs 254.15), Bank of Baroda (up 2.05% to Rs 283.50), and Federal Bank (up 1.16% to Rs 313), also moved upwards.

Capital goods shares rallied on belief that these companies are expected to show robust growth in earning in the next couple of years on strong order book position. The BSE Capital Goods Index was up 1.5% at 12,940.79.

Stare-run engineering major Bhel surged 4.63% to Rs 1,649.50 after striking an all-time high of Rs 1,650.

Astra Microwave (up 14.27% to Rs 179.80), Bharat Bijlee (up 7.32% to Rs 2400), Alstom Power (up 6.87% to Rs 880.50), Gammon India (up 4.29% to Rs 457), and Siemens India (up 3.68% to Rs 1459.90) also advanced from the capital goods space.

Hindustan Unilever advanced 1.41% to Rs 205.25. As per reports, parent Unilever is once again seen as a takeover target. One report cited competitor Colgate-Palmolive Company of the US as a potential buyer. Unilever shares surged on the European bourses amid these rumors on Wednesday 11 July 2007. Parent company Unilever holds 36.01% in Hindustan Unilever. Parent Colgate-Palmolive Company USA holds 40.06% in Colgate-Palmolive (India). Colgate-Palmolive India was down marginally by 0.05% to Rs 381.35.

IT pivotals underperformed in a strong market. The BSE IT Index rose marginally by 0.03% to 4,870.06. Infosys (down 0.66% to Rs 1,917), and Satyam Computers (down 0.59% to Rs 478) and Wipro (down 0.02% to Rs 510.15) declined, while TCS rose 1.06% to Rs 1,159.

IT bellwether Infosys on Wednesday, 11 July 2007, cut its EPS and revenue guidance for FY 2008 in rupee terms following the rupee's surge against the US dollar.

The Indian rupee fell 1% against the dollar on Thursday due to central bank intervention. In early afternoon deals, the partially convertible rupee was at 40.60/61 per dollar, after falling to the day's low of 40.75 from high of 40.33 earlier. The rupee hit a nine-year high of 40.28 per dollar in late May 2007.

Salora International (up 20% to Rs 124.85), Murudeshwar Ceramics (up 19.96% to Rs 109.10), Stovec Industries (up 19.96% to Rs 125.90) and Sayaji Hotels (up 19.95% to Rs 73.95), were the top gainer from the small-cap and mid-cap pack

Arihant Foundations (down 7.49% to Rs 405.20), Cravatex (down 6.67% to Rs 154), Jayant Agro (down 5.31% to Rs 112.30), Birla Kennametal (down 5% to Rs 362), and Wearology (down 5% to Rs 252.15) slipped form the small-cap and mid-cap pack

GMR Infrastructure galloped 13.86% to Rs 954 on high volumes of 48.79 lakh shares. It also struck an all-time high of Rs 980 in intra-day trade on BSE. It was the top traded counter on BSE with turnover of Rs 458.54 crore. The company had bagged the tender for developing the Sabiha Gokcen International (SGA) airport in Istanbul, Turkey. SGA is the second airport in Istanbul besides Istanbul Ataturk airport, on 11 July 2007.

Real-estate stocks rallied on renewed buying interest on hopes that interest rates have peaked. The BSE Realty index, launched by BSE on Tuesday, 10 July 2007, surged today and struck an all-time high of 7,934.49. It settled 3.33% higher at 7,880.70. A heavyweight in this index, Unitech surged 6.05% to Rs 575, and another heavyweight DLF surged 3.14% to Rs 609. Indiabulls Real Estate (up 1.15% to Rs 507.15) and Mahindra Gesco Developers (up 1.67% to Rs 567.50) also gained.

Greenply Industries surged 7% to Rs 177.50 on successfully implementing its expansion project at its laminate unit at Behror, Rajasthan.

Aban Offshore rose 1.67% to Rs 3126 after Hardy Exploration & Production (India) Inc. extended its contract with the company for two years with effect from 28 July 2007. The revenue estimated during the extended period amounts to $63.875 million, the company said

VST Industries slumped 5.96% to Rs 375 on turning ex-dividend after distributing a large dividend of Rs 20 per Rs 10 share. The company's equity capital is Rs 15.44 crore, with 1.54 crore outstanding shares.

Megasoft rose 2.96% to Rs 153 after it acquired the Boston Communications Group Inc. for $65 million. The company made the announcement after market hours yesterday, 11 July 2007. The company leveraged internal accruals and long-term debts for acquiring BCGI. Founded in 1988, BCGI is a leader in providing solutions for prepaid and postpaid billing, payments and access management.

KEC International rose 1.4% to Rs 563 on bagging two Rs 176-crore contracts in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and Abu Dhabi, UAE. The work involves supply, erection, installation and commissioning of 380-kilo-vat (KV) transmission line comprising a total distance of 53 kilo metres (km) on the outskirts of Riyadh.

Lanco Infratech gained 8.7% to Rs 251.25. On 9 July 2007, it announced that the 500-mega watt (MW) (4x125) Teesta VI hydro power project being developed by Lanco Energy, a subsidiary of the company, in Sikkim has achieved financial closure. The project, estimated to cost Rs 3,000 crore, would be financed with a debt of Rs 2,400 crore and equity of Rs 600 crore.

Chennai Petroleum Corporation advanced 4.32% to Rs 296.95 on reporting a rise of 26.93% in net profit in Q1 June 2007 to Rs 323.15 crore as against Rs 254.58 crore in Q1 June 2006. Sales declined 2.61% to Rs 6296.61 crore (Rs 6465.61 crore). The results were announced after market hours on Wednesday, 11 July 2007.

Meanwhile, as per reports, the committee on secretaries has given a go-ahead to public sector enterprises (PSEs) to invest a part of their cash reserves, estimated at over Rs 2,50,000 crore, in mutual funds. Reports suggest that PSEs may be allowed to invest up to 10% of surplus cash in equity mutual funds.

All the Asian indices advanced today, 12 July 2007, helped by the recovery on Wall Street. However Japanese Nikkei lost 0.36% at 17,961.75, after opening higher.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng (up 0.89% at 22,809.02), Taiwan's Taiwan Weighted (up 0.68% at 9,354.41), Singapore's Straits Times (up 0.82% at 3,624.56) and South Korea's Seoul Composite (up 1.06% at 1,909.75) edged higher. China's Shanghai Composite rose 1.30% to 3,915.91.

European markets were trading mixed.

Bank of Japan (BoJ) left its key policy rate unchanged at 0.50% for the fifth month on Thursday, 12 July 2007, a widely expected move that sets the scene for a possible rate hike next month.

Wall Street bounced back on 11 July 2007, boosted by takeover activity ahead of second-quarter earnings reports. Investors, shaken by profit warnings earlier in the week, appeared to be cautiously optimistic as they awaited quarterly earnings reports. The Dow Jones advanced 76.17 points, or 0.56%, to 13,577.87.

Broader indexes also staged a rebound. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 8.64 points, or 0.57%, to 1,518.76, while the Nasdaq Composite index moved higher by 12.63 points, or 0.48%, to 2,651.79.

Oil prices were higher on Thursday, 12 July 2007 as the market continued to fret over US gasoline (petrol) reserves. New York's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for August 2007 delivery, was eight cents higher at $72.64 a barrel. Brent North Sea crude for August 2007 delivery rose 10 cents to $75.54.

Intraday Stock Ideas

NIFTY (4387) Supp 4365 Res 4410

BUY Bombay Dyeing (618) SL 612
Target 630, 633

BUY Colgate (382) SL 378 
Target 390, 392

BUY Bharat Forge (312) SL 308
Target 320, 322

SELL Hero Honda (699) SL 705
Target 689, 686

SELL GSFC (174) SL 178
Target 166, 164

Infy storm passes, relief likely for bulls

The only safe ship in a storm is leadership.

With IT leader Infosys cutting guidance, the critical question now is what is the way forward for the markets in general and IT stocks in particular. Infosys results show that the rupee appreciation is having a major impact on the software industry. Even the top rung companies like Infosys are not able to fend it off. Though things my improve a little in the ensuing quarters, one has to take a call on the sector from a 12-month horizon. In the short-term, the IT sector may continue to be a laggard.

Today, things are looking bright, on the back of the overnight rally on Wall Street and healthy trend across Asian markets. But, our market will be driven by the quarterly numbers as the result season has only just begun. We do not see a non-stop advance from here as the indices are near lifetime highs. There will be many pit stops before the bulls can reach another milestone (16k, 17k or even 18k on the Sensex).

Uncertainty continues for the broader market given the sharp spike from the February-March crash. Valuations are not cheap by any means, and that too for a market which has not delivered great returns year-to-date vis-a-vis other emerging markets. As a result, we expect the current choppiness to continue for a while as the upside from here looks capped.

The large caps appear to be richly valued and in some cases even overvalued. Only a select few will have legs to rise sharply from these levels. The action, therefore may be outside the main indexes. However, one has to be extremely careful while picking the small- and mid-caps.

US stocks logged modest gains on Wednesday, on the back of renewed M&A news despite the lack of any significant earnings or economic news. Positive assessment of the economy by Fed officials also helped boost the sentiment.

Nucor Corp. and Alcoa led the S&P 500 Index to its sixth gain in seven days after Chaparral Steel agreed to be bought for $4.22bn and the Times of London reported that Alcan may be the target of a bidding war.

The S&P 500 advanced 8.64 points, or 0.6%, to 1518.76. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 76.17 points, or 0.6%, to 13,577.87. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 12.63 points, or 0.5%, to 2651.79.

Biotech firm Genentech reported a quarterly surge in earnings and revenues, handily beating Wall Street estimates. But shares of the California-based company declined in after-hours trading after finishing up 1.4% in regular trading.

Shares of the fast food operator Yum Brands, the parent company of Pizza Hut and KFC, climbed over 2% after the company said its quarterly results topped expectations, while it raised its annual profit forecast.

Motorola shares slipped in extended trading after the mobile phone maker warned of a loss and lower revenue in the second quarter and that it did not expect its mobile device business to be profitable for 2007.

Oil prices finished lower after a weekly report on US fuel inventories showed a surprise decline in oil inventories. US light crude for August lost 25 cents to $72.56 a barrel. The front-month contract was quoting 7 cents up at $72.63 a barrel in extended trading.

In the bond market, Treasury prices fell, lifting the yield on the 10-year benchmark note to 5.09%, up from 5.02% late on Wednesday. The dollar fell to a record low against the euro for the second-straight session amid continued subprime worries. The greenback edged higher against the yen. COMEX gold for August fell $2.30 to $662.10 an ounce.

European markets fell as exporters were hurt by weakness in the dollar and financial-services stocks were dumped because of worries about a downbeat US housing market. The pan-European Dow Jones Stoxx 600 index lost 0.3% to 392.71. The German DAX 30 closed down 0.8% at 7,898.54, the French CAC-40 ahead 0.3% to 6,001.09 and the UK's FTSE 100 declined 0.2% to 6,615.10.

In the emerging markets, the Bovespa in Brazil rose 0.85% to 56,356 while the IPC index in Mexico advanced 0.55% to 31,916 and the RTS index in Russia added 0.9% to 1995.

Asian markets are up sharply this morning.

BHP Billiton led the rally among regional metal shares on higher commodity prices and speculation of further takeovers in the industry. Rio Tinto, the world's third-largest mining company, rose to a record after the Times of London said it was set to bid for Alcan.

South Korea's Posco paced a rally in steelmakers after US-based Chaparral Steel agreed to be bought for $4.22bn.

The Morgan Stanley Capital International Asia-Pacific Index climbed 0.3% to 157.59 at 10:44 a.m. in Tokyo, after falling yesterday by the most in two weeks. An index of materials shares including BHP posted the biggest advance among its 10 industry groups.

Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average added 0.4% to 18,127.90. The yen weakened against the dollar and euro. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong was up 274 points at 22,881. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.3 percent. All markets open for trading advanced.

An index of six metals traded on the London Metal Exchange (LME) added 1.1% overnight. Copper advanced 0.4%, zinc gained 2.1% and nickel climbed 2%.

Volatile day ended in negative territory as key indices witnessed a sea-saw trading session. Benchmark Sensex gyrated over 150 points and NSE Nifty nearly by 70 points. The markets opened on a weak note as weak global cues and lower guidance from IT frontrunner Infosys dragged the key indices lower. Selling pressure in the IT, Auto, Select Banking and Capital Good stocks also further dragged the markets down. Realty stocks were the pick of the day as DLF, IB Real-estate and Unitech gained momentum. Finally, the 30-share Sensex lost 99 points to close at 14910. NSE-50 Nifty slipped 18 points to close at 4387.

Infosys dropped by over 4.5% to Rs1929. The IT heavyweight reported a consolidated net profit of Rs10.79bn for Q1 FY08 versus Rs11.44bn in the previous quarter. However, revenues were flat at Rs37.73bn compared to Rs37.72bn in the January-March quarter. The company cut its earning forecast as rupee has been continuously appreciating against the US Dollar hitting the company's earning's. The scrip touched intra-day high of Rs2000 and a low of Rs1925 and recorded volumes of over 47,00,000 shares on NSE.

HDFC edged lower by 0.6% to Rs1904. The company declared that they have sold 15.25mn shares to CMP Asia for 1730 per share. The scrip touched intra-day high of Rs1933 and a low of Rs1900 and recorded volumes of over 2,00,000 shares on NSE.

Sadbhav Engineering edged lower 0.4% to Rs590. The company announced that they have sold 1.6mn shares at Rs575 per share to large investors. The scrip touched intra-day high of Rs597 and a low of Rs589 and recorded volumes of over 13,000 shares on NSE.

Natco Pharma gained by 1% to Rs134 after the company purchased US Based Savemart Pharmacy. The scrip touched intra-day high of Rs143 and a low of Rs132 and recorded volumes of over 1,00,000 shares on NSE.

Realty stocks shined in a dull market led by gains in heavy weight DLF as the scrip was up over 3% to Rs590, IB Real-estate surged by over 7% to Rs501, Parsvnath was up by 2% to Rs383, Akruti Nirman advanced by 1% to Rs501 and Unitech added 3% to Rs542.

Cement stocks were also among the major gainers. Heavy weight ACC surged by over 3.5% to Rs1071, Mangalam Cement advanced 2.5% to Rs169, India Cement gained 1.1% to Rs219. However, Gujarat Ambuja was down by 1.55 to Rs127.

IT stocks were the top losers as the index was down nearly by 3%. The Indian rupee further strengthened against its currently trading at Rs40.38 per dollar. Satyam Computer lost 3.4% to Rs480, TCS declined 3% to Rs1148, Wipro declined 1.6% to Rs511 and Mphasis BFL slipped 2.6% to Rs306.

Banking stocks also were under pressure on back of profit booking. ICICI Bank slipped 1.1% to Rs953, PNB was down by 1.6% to Rs529, SBI declined by 0.6% to Rs1541 and Corp Bank lost 1.2% to Rs347.

Results Today:

Bajaj Auto, Geojit Financial, Jaybharat Textiles, Kilburn Engineering, KSL & Industries, Pyramid Saimira, Reliance Industrial Infrastructure, Technocraft and UTI Bank.

Fund Activity:

FIIs were net buyers of just Rs993.4mn (provisional) in the cash segment on Wednesday. On the other hand, local institutions were net sellers at Rs3.15bn. In the F&O segment, FIIs offloaded stocks worth Rs10.16bn on the same day.

On Tuesday, FIIs poured in Rs7.02bn in the cash segment. Mutual Funds were net sellers of Rs1.68bn.

Major bulk Deals:

Citigroup has bought Ahmednagar Forgings while Deutsche Securities has sold the stock; Bear Stearns has sold Global Vectra Helicorp; DSP Merrill Lynch has sold India Infoline; Citigroup has purchased JM Financial; Morgan Stanley has picked up Karuturi Networks; Citicorp Banking has sold Lupin; HSBC has bought Pritish Nandy Communications and Lotus Global has sold Shiva Cement.

Insider Trades:

Prithvi Information Solutions Limited: Mr. V Satish Kumar, Managing Director has purchased from open market 5000 equity shares of the company on 3rd July, 2007.

Financial Technologies (India) Limited: Funds under the management of FMR Corp and its direct and indirect subsidiaries and Fidelity International Limited and its direct and indirect subsidiaries has sold in open market 112763
equity shares of the company on 29th June, 2007.

Pyramid Saimira Theatre Limited: UBS Securities Asia Limited - A/C Swiss Finance Corporation (Mauritius) Ltd has sold in open market 280000 equity shares of the company on 6th July, 2007.

Divi's Laboratories Limited: OPPENHEIMER FUNDS INC. AC OPPENHEIMER Developing markets has purchased from open market 120,000 equity shares of the company on 9th July, 2007.

Lower Circuit:

Anant Raj Industries, Hindustan Dorr, Borosil.

Upper Circuit:

Tripex Overseas, Evinix, Goldstone Technology, Sunil Hitech, GVK Power, Tanla, GMR Industries, Shree Ashtavinyak, Radha Madhav, Ganesh Forgings, Bank of Rajasthan, Ramco Systems.

Delivery Delight :( Rising Price & Rising Delivery)

Ashok Leyland, Ballarpur Industries, Cummins India, Elder Pharma, Essar Oil, Grasim, HLL, Indian Hotels, JP Associates Jindal Stainless, Prism Cement and Sintex Industries.

Abnormal Delivery:

Tulip IT Services, Sakthi Sugars, Punj Lloyd, HT Media, Tata Elxsi, Avaya Global Connect, Corporation Bank and 3M India.

Major News & Announcements:

Reliance Communication places $400mn order with Alcatel-Lucent

NTPC Board approves Rs10bn investment in Aravali Venture

KEC International secures two projects worth Rs1.76bn

Accentia Technology plans $3 acquisition of BPO firm

Dabur India to absorb Dabur Foods

Infotech Enterprise sells 8.5% stake to GA Global investments

Sadbhav Engineering sells 1.6mn shares at Rs575 a share to large investors

HCL Tech wins 3-year contract from Konica Minolta

Natco Pharma buys US Based SaveMart Pharmacy

HDFC sells 15.25mn shares to CMP Asia for 1730 per share

Daily Strategist Note

The NIFTY futures saw a rise of 1.27% in OI with lower opening but later on recovered and closed almost flat indicating that lot of short positions built  up in the initial hours of trade but later on  market remained flat indicating that if it sustains above 4380 levels we may see shorts covering their positions in the market thus one should not make aggressive short positions in the market.  The Nifty July series futures discount came from 14 points to 1 point indicating shorts covering their positions and fresh long positions built up at lower levels.  The FII were sellers in index futures to the tune of 654 crs and buyers in index options to the tune of 255 crs indicating hedged positions built up by them.  The PCR has remained unchanged to 1.55 levels indicates strength may be seen in the market at current levels. IV in the market was 23.65 and HV was 16.34.
 
Among the Big guns, ONGC saw 0.29% drop in OI with prices coming up indicating buying emerging at lower levels in the counter suggesting some strength may be seen in the stock.  RELIANCE  saw flat OI with prices almost flat  indicating some consolidation may be seen in the stock before any sharp direction o either side.
 
In the TECH counters INFOSYSTCH saw rise of 6.22% OI with prices negative but later on remained flat indicating lot of short positions built up in the counter indicating that if the counter sustains at current levels we may see aggressive short covering.  TCS, & SATYAMCOMP saw drop in positions with prices down  thus suggesting liquidation of long  positions I the counter suggesting some profit booking may be seen in these stocks.
 
In the CEMENT  counters ,  ACC saw rise of  4.74 %   in OI with  prices moving up suggesting long positions built up in the counter suggesting strength may be seen in the stock.  INDIACEM saw rise in OI with prices marginally up indicating    buying emerging in the counter and we may see some consolidation at current levels. GUJAMBCEM saw built up in OI with prices coming down indicating short positions built up in the counter suggesting some weakness may remain in the counter.
 
In the Metal pack, TATASTEEL & JSWSTEEL saw rise in OI with prices positive suggesting further strength may be seen in the counter. SAIL saw rise in OI with prices up indicating fresh long positions built up in this stock suggesting further strength may be seen.  HIINDALCO saw rise in   OI with prices flat indicating some consolidation may be seen in the counter.  NATIONALUM saw 2.38% rise in OI with prices positive suggesting fresh buying emerging thus indicates of further strength.  STER  saw rise in OI with prices coming down indicating built up of short positions in the counter suggesting some weakness may be seen.
 
We feel that the volume and built up in OI suggests that market may show some volatility with positive bias in the coming days and market is having support around 4350 levels. One should trade with strict stop losses to be adhered too as market is at all time high.

Internet Problems

Please be patient while we go through the weirdest internet issues which BSNL won't resolve because they are busy giving company to street dogs. I just wish those dogs give them a real deep bite in unmentionable places

You can leave the choicest abuses to Mr. Raja

You will continue to recieve intermittent updates

Mid-caps rally in an otherwise subdued market

Weak global cues, modest earnings from Infosys and rising crude oil prices kept Indian floats lower today. IT bellwether Infosys Technologies today reported    
a net profit of Rs1,028 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2007, down 8.5% from Rs1,124 crore in the quarter ended March 31, 2007. Tracking the same, the Sensex resumed with a negative gap of 62 points at 14948 but recovered immediately and touched the day's high of 15015. But, the party did not last. The fresh bout of selling in technology, auto and banking stocks dragged the Sensex to its day's low of 14830 by the afternoon. The market remained subdued thereafter as investors preferred to remain on the sidelines. The Sensex finally closed the session by shedding 99 points at 14911. The broad based Nifty ended the session at 4387, down 19 points.

Surprisingly, the breadth of the market was positive. Of the 2,694 stocks traded on the BSE, 1,444 stocks advanced, 1,183 stocks declined and 67 stocks ended unchanged. The sectoral indices had a mixed outing. The BSE IT index slipped sharply and dropped 3.34% followed by the Teck index (down 1.99%) and the BSE Auto index (down 0.52%). However, the BSE Realty index rallied sharply and gained 3.38% followed by the BSE Metal index (up 1.48%) and the BSE CD index (up 1.30%).

Among the major losers Infosys Technologies slumped by 4.47% at Rs1,930, TCS plummeted by 3.34% at Rs1,147, Satyam Computer tumbled by 3.28% at Rs481, Wipro shed 2.02% at Rs510, Ambuja Cement crashed by 1.84% at Rs128, Tata Motors dropped 1.69% at Rs732 and Ranbaxy declined by around 1.44% at Rs357. However, Grasim surged 3.40% at Rs2,819, Tata Steel jumped 3.40% at Rs656, ACC zoomed 3.16% at Rs1,069, Reliance Energy added 2.14% at Rs626 and HUL gained 1.96% at Rs202. BHEL, ONGC, Bharti Airtel, HDFC Bank and Dr Reddy's Lab closed with modest gains.

Reality stocks, however, registered solid gains. India Bulls Real Estate was in the forefront and vaulted 7.03% at Rs501. Among the other major gainers DLF soared 3.27% at Rs590, Unitech surged 3.06% at Rs542, Sobha Developers advanced 1.98% at Rs955 and Parsvanath Developers scaled up 1.94% at Rs383.

Over 2.12 crore shares of Reliance Natural Resources shares changed hands on the BSE followed by IFCI ( 1.18 crore shares), Nagarjuna Fertilizers (1.17 crore shares), Silverline Technologies (1.13 crore shares) and G V Films (96.42 lakh shares).

Value-wise Infosys Technologies registered a turnover of Rs298 crore on the BSE followed by DLF (Rs190 crore), Roman Tarmat (Rs154 crore), GMR Infrastructure (Rs148 crore) and Indiabulls Real Estate (Rs139 crore).

Infosys Q1: Net down 6% QoQ at Rs 1,079cr

Infosys Technologies, India's second largest software exporter, has under-delivered on its own usually conservative guidance by almost 4%.

The strong appreciation of the rupee during the past quarter against global currencies, specificially the US dollar, has taken its toll on the software bellwether.

Though the company has recorded a 35% and 25% increase in net profit and topline on a year-on-year basis, the bottomline has dipped, sequentially, by close to 6%. The topline, however, has remained stagnant. While YoY operating profit has moved up by close to 22%, it has dropped by almost 10% sequentially.

Net profit for the first quarter of FY08 at Rs 1,079 crore includes a reversal of tax provisions amounting to Rs 51 crore. The company, which might find it hard to add another billion during the year, has posted a 25% YoY increase in topline to Rs 3,773 crore.

CEO & MD S Gopalakrishnan, however, put up a brave face and said: "As clients recognise the strategic imperative of global sourcing in an increasingly flat business world, the demand for large end-to-end players like Infosys continues to be strong. We continue to focus on being a partner of choice to our customers."

The company, which usually sets the trend for the software services industry in India, has added that rupee appreciation will indeed take a toll on its bottomline and has revised its guidance downwards. The dollar guidance has, however, been revised upwards.

Infosys has guided the markets that during the second quarter of the current fiscal, its topline, in rupee terms, will grow by around 15%, while it will move up in the range of around 18% during the entire fiscal.

This is a telling story on how the Indian exporters are caught in a whirlwind of the appreciating rupee - given the fact that Infosys has been growing its topline by at least 30% over the past few quarters.

In dollar terms, the topline for the entire year is expected to grow around 30% just kissing the $4 billion mark, while for the second quarter, it will grow by a little over 30%.

Said V Balakrishnan, CFO, Infosys: "The sharp appreciation of the rupee against all major currencies impacted our operating margins during the quarter. However, our robust and flexible operating and financial model enabled us to maintain our net margins while absorbing the impact of appreciating currency, higher wages and visa costs."

Infosys added 35 new clients during the first quarter, and increased its employee base to almost 76,000. While there was a gross addition of 7,004 employees, net addition was only at 3,730 as Infosys BPO saw heavy attrition.

Sensex drops 97 points

The market stayed weak almost throughout the day's trading session. All the global markets were in the red, with the exception of Shanghai Composite. IT stocks lost ground after IT bellwether Infosys Technologies today, 11 July 2007, cut its FY 2008 EPS and revenue guidance in rupee terms. Shares from the auto and banking pack also saw some profit booking. However, cement, metal and offshore oil services firms edged higher.

The BSE 30-share Sensex was down 96.96 points to 14,912.92, as per provisional closing. It opened lower at 14,948.15 and slumped to 14,829.55, tracking weak global markets. At the day's low of 14,829.55, the Sensex had shed 180.33 points for the day. The Sensex staged a smart recovery from the day's low and moved into the positive zone at one point of time in mid-morning trade, when fresh selling emerged, once again pulling it lower.

The Sensex swung 186 points in the day in volatile trade.

The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 5,473 crore compared to Rs 4,147 crore by 14:30 IST.

Among the Sensex pack, 18 declined while the rest advanced

IT pivotals saw intense selling pressure right from the opening bell. Four of the top five losers from the Sensex were IT stocks.

IT bellwether Infosys Technologies slumped 4.65% to Rs 1,926, on high volumes of 15.32 lakh shares. It was the top traded counter on BSE with turnover of Rs 2,98.55 crore. It was the top loser from the Sensex pack.

The company today revised upwards its EPS guidance for FY 2008 (year ending 31 March 2008) in dollar terms to a growth of 28.4% to 29.7% compared to the earlier guidance of 25.7% to 27.7% growth. It has also slightly raised the revenue guidance in dollar terms to 29% to 31%, from the earlier guidance of a growth of between 28% to 30%.

EPS guidance in rupee terms has been cut to reflect a growth of 15.6% to 16.8% compared to the earlier guidance of 20% to 22% growth. It has also reduced the revenue guidance in rupee terms to 16.9% to 18.3%, from the earlier guidance of a growth of 22.6% to 24.6%.

Infosys' consolidated net profit as per Indian GAAP was down 5.6% to Rs 1079 crore in Q1 June 2007, from Rs 1,144 crore in Q4 March 2007. Revenue was almost unchanged at Rs 3,773 crore in Q1 June 2007 compared to Rs 3,772 crore in Q4 March 2007.

Satyam Computers shed 3.25% to Rs 481, TCS lost 3.10% to Rs 1,151 and Wipro lost 1.97% to Rs 510.50.

Auto stocks edged lower on profit booking. Tata Motors (down 1.97% to Rs 729.90), Mahindra & Mahindra (down 0.81% to Rs 782) and Maruti Udyog (down 0.37% to Rs 810) edged lower

Leading private sector lender ICICI Bank declined 1.10% to Rs 953 and State Bank of India slipped 0.88% to Rs 1537.

Steel maker Tata Steel galloped 4.20% to Rs 660.55 on 13.27 lakh shares. It was the top gainer among Sensex constituents. A recent report by a brokerage states that India's steel consumption will grow 16% annually until 2012, or twice as fast as in the past five years, fueled by demand for construction projects worth $1 trillion. The construction industry, growing 60% a year, will keep steel mills running at near full capacity. The brokerage house expects global steel prices to rise in 2008 and 2009

Bhushan Steel (up 0.38% to Rs 713), JSW Steel (up 2.38% to Rs 670), Hindustan Zinc (up 3.27% to Rs 731) and Sail (up 1.66% to Rs 137.75) were the other gainers from metal sector.

Cement stocks advanced on renewed buying on expectation of strong Q1 June 2007 results. Cement major ACC (up 3.32% to Rs 1071.10), UltraTech Cement Company (up 1.60% to Rs 896.55), Birla Corporation (up 4.28% to Rs 286.20) and Grasim (up 2.77% to Rs 2802) edged higher.

Reliance Energy (REL) vaulted 2.10% to Rs 625.50 on its plans to invest Rs 60,000 crore to add 15,000 mega watts (MW) of power over the next five years. This will boost the company's generation capacity almost 17 times from 941 MW now. The stock was also boosted by market rumors that promoters may hike their stake in REL by 5%, taking it around to 40%

Offshore oil services firms were in demand on reports that rig rates have gone up by 10-15% globally. Dolphin Offshore (up 2.46% to Rs 285), Aban Offshore (up 1.88% to Rs 3075), Selan Exploration (up 7.11% to Rs 105.50) and SEAMEC (up 6.92% to Rs 250.20), all gained

All Asian markets fell today, 10 July 2007, reacting to the sharp overnight fall on the Wall Street. The Japanese market fell, led by exporters such as Toyota Motor Corp. and Sony Corp., as the US dollar weakened against the yen. Japan's Nikkei plunged 1.11% to 18,049.51.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng (down 0.64% at 22,739.03), Taiwan's Taiwan Weighted (down 1% at 9,290.95), and Singapore's Straits Times (down 0.61% at 3,598.26) edged lower.

However China's Shanghai Composite recovered after the initial fall. It was up 0.33% to 3,865.72l

All the European indices were trading with losses.

US stocks fell sharply on Tuesday, 10 July 2007, after investor enthusiasm was hit right at the outset of earnings season after both Home Depot Inc. and Sears Holdings lowered their forecasts.

The Dow Jones declined 148.27, or 1.09%, to 13,501.70. Broader stock indicators also dipped. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 21.73, or 1.42%, to 1,510.12, while the Nasdaq Composite index lost 30.86, or 1.16%, to 2,639.16.

As per provisional data, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 583.02 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net sellers of shares worth Rs 206.70 crore on Tuesday, 10 July 2007.

Daily Strategist Note

The NIFTY futures saw a rise of 1.43% in OI with prices in a very narrow range suggesting both bulls and bears were aggressive in the market indicating that the uncertainty may prevail in the market. The Nifty July series futures discount came to 14 points indicating profit booking happened in the market.  The FII were sellers in index futures to the tune of 280 crs and buyers in index options to the tune of 202 crs indicating hedged positions built up by them.  The PCR has changed from 1.54 to 1.55 levels indicates strength may be seen in the market at current levels. IV in the market was 24.10 and HV was 16.82.

 
Among the Big guns, ONGC saw 0.45 % rise in OI with prices coming up indicating buying emerging at lower levels in the counter suggesting some strength may be seen in 09% with prices flat to negative indicating some consolidation may be seen in the stock before any sharp direction o either side.
 
In the TECH counters INFOSYSTCH saw rise of 0.31% OI with prices positive indicating that the counter saw built up of positions in expectation of result thus we may see sharp movement in the stock in next trading sessions.TCS & SATYAMCOMP saw drop in positions with prices up thus suggesting short covering seen in the market. WIPRO saw rise in OI with prices marginally down indicating selling pressure emerging in the counter suggesting some weakness may be seen.
 
In the AUTO counters, M&M saw rise of 1.16%   in OI with prices moving up suggesting long positions built up in the counter suggesting strength may be seen in the stock.  TATAMOTORS & MARUTI saw rise in OI with prices up indicating    long positions built up in theses counter suggesting further strength may be seen.
 
In the Metal pack, TATASTEEL & JSWSTEEL saw drop in OI with prices positive suggesting further strength may be seen in the counter. . SAIL saw rise in OI with prices up indicating fresh long positions built up in this stock suggesting further strength may be seen.  HIINDALCO saw flat OI with prices flat indicating some consolidation may be seen in the counter.NATIONALUM saw 10.18% rise in OI with prices positive suggesting fresh buying emerging thus indicates of further strength. STER saw rise in OI with prices coming down indicating built up of short positions in the counter suggesting some weakness may be seen.
 
We feel that the volume and built up in OI suggests that market may show some volatility with positive bias in the coming days and market is having support around 4350 levels. One should trade with strict stop losses to be adhered too as market is at all time high.

Infosys lowers guidance

All progress has resulted from people who took unpopular positions.

The markets are in a shaky position today with global weakness coupled with a downward revision in Infosys' full-year guidance. The IT heavyweight has reported a consolidated net profit of Rs10.79bn for Q1 FY08 versus Rs11.44bn in the previous quarter. However, revenues were flat at Rs37.73bn compared to Rs37.72bn in the January-March quarter. The company has missed its revenue guidance for the first quarter. It had given Q1 revenue guidance of Rs38.96-39.13bn while reporting its full-year results in April. On the bottomline however, Infosys has surpassed its own guidance of Rs10.05bn. The real disappointment is on the outlook. The company says its FY08 revenues will grow by 17-18% year-on-year and earnings per share (EPS) by 13-14%. FY08 EPS is now seen a t Rs78-79.

We have to wait for the Other Income numbers and more importantly listen to what the IT bellwether has to say on its full-year guidance. The IT sector and the market may take their cues from the comments made by Infosys top management on the outlook going forward. At the same time, one has to remember that the market is at an all-time high. Signals from the global markets are not great this morning and oil prices too remain quite high.

The partially-convertible Indian currency closed yesterday at 40.40 per dollar. Higher visa costs and salary hikes, and the IT biggies surely would have had one of their toughest quarters in recent memory. We will have to wait and hear the guidance and outlook going ahead. The bottomlines of most software firms are likely to be hit owing to the 6.5% sequential growth in the rupee over the January to March quarter. Even as the market has recovered from the February-March jolt, IT shares have underperformed by a wide margin. So, in a way the bad news may be factored in. Any untoward development, such as a downward revision in FY08 EPS guidance, could peg them back further. On the flip side, if the "expected bad news" from Infosys is not so bad, there could be a spike up in IT stocks and the market.

Global markets have tumbled, led by renewed concerns over the US housing market. So, we expect a weak opening on the back of the grim global scenario. But, our market will have different issues to grapple with today. All in all, it promises to be an action-packed day.

Disappointing earnings forecasts from the retail sector, renewed concerns about the subprime mortgages and rising crude oil prices sent US stocks tumbling on Tuesday.

Both the Standard & Poor's 500 Index and Nasdaq Composite Index posted their worst decline in a month on growing concerns that the housing slump will hamper earnings as companies start to report second-quarter results this week. Oil's rise above $73 a barrel also dimmed the outlook for profits.

The S&P 500 lost 21.73 points, or 1.4%, to 1510.12. The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 148.27 points, or 1.1%, to 13,501.70. The Nasdaq slid 30.86 points, or 1.2%, to 2639.16.

US stocks extended their decline after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said inflation expectations remain imperfectly anchored in part because the public doesn't know the central bank's goal for prices. Still, increases in energy prices over the past few years have not led either to persistent inflation or to a recession in contrast to the 1970s, he said in a speech in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Across the Atlantic, European stocks suffered their biggest drop in a month after Home Depot cut its forecast, copper prices retreated and the dollar fell to a record low against the euro. Europe's Stoxx 600 index lost 1.1% to 394.02.

The German DAX 30 dropped 1.4% to 7,964.76, the French CAC 40 declined 1.4% to 6,019.22 and the UK's FTSE 100 closed down 1.2% at 6,630.90. 

In the emerging markets, the Bovespa in Brazil was down nearly 1% at 55,882 while the IPC index in Mexico fell 1.1% to 31,743 and the RTS index in Russia dropped 1.1% to 1977.

Asian stocks fell for the first time in three days after metals prices dropped and earnings reports in the US suggested that demand is cooling in the region's biggest export market.

The Morgan Stanley Capital International Asia-Pacific Index slid 0.7% to 157.58 at 10:28 a.m. in Tokyo, after rising to a record yesterday. All 10 industry groups fell. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong was down 225 points to 22,660.

Japan's Nikkei dropped 1.2% to 18,035.90, set for its biggest decline in two weeks. Exporters were dragged lower after the yen yesterday posted its second- biggest jump this year. Other markets open for trading declined.

Bulls took a breather ahead of the result announcement by the IT bellwether Infosys. After opening on a strong note profit booking in the index heavy weights like Bharti Airtel, SBI, L&T and ACC dragged the markets lower. The broader index i.e. The BSE Mid-Cap and the Small Cap indexes also were under pressure. However, support from the Auto and the IT index saved the markets from a huge fall. Finally, the 30-share Sensex lost 35 points to close at 15009. NSE-50 Nifty slipped 13 points to close at 4406.

GMR Infrastructure spurred by over 6.5% to Rs795 after the company announced that its venture won tender for Sabiha Gokeen Airport at Istanbul, Turkey. The scrip has touched intra-day high of Rs797 and a low of Rs746 and has recorded volumes of over 3,00,000 shares on BSE.

Suzlon declined by 3.3% to Rs1445 amid reports that the government is probing the accounts of its subsidiaries as part of a wider exercise to look into the use of IPO money since 2004. The scrip touched intra-day high of Rs1490 and a low of Rs1435 and recorded volumes of over 3,00,000 shares on NSE.

L&T declined by 1.1% to Rs2389. The company secured order worth Rs5.4bn from IOC. The scrip touched intra-day high of Rs2435 and a low of Rs2380 and recorded volumes of over 8,00,000 shares on NSE.

Tulip IT advanced by 1.5% to Rs805 after the company announced that it has secured ILD License from DOT. The scrip touched intra-day high of Rs842 and a low of Rs797 and recorded volumes of over 2,00,000 shares on NSE.

FMCG stocks were on the receiving end. ITC slipped by 1.3% to Rs153, Colgate was down by 1% to Rs382, Britannia slipped by 2% to Rs1682 and Tata Tea dropped 1% to Rs55. However, HLL gained by 1.6%to Rs198.

Capital Good stocks were on the receiving end as profit booking dragged tem lower. Frontline stock L&T slipped 1.1% to Rs2389, BHEL as down by 1% to Rs1565, ABB declined by 0.8% to Rs1106 and Gammon India dropped 1% to Rs425.

IT stocks ended firm despite the rupee strengthening against the US Dollar currently at Rs40.40 per dollar. Satyam Computer advanced by 1% to Rs497; Infosys gained by 1.3% to Rs2020 and TCS was up by 0.6% to Rs1183.

Auto stocks held on to their gains led by heavy weight Tata Motors as the scrip surged by over 3.8% to Rs743, Maruti was up by 2.3% to 813, M&M gained by 1.01% to Rs787 and Bajaj Auto added 1% to Rs2126.

Cement stocks took the day off after continuously rising for couple of trading sessions. Gujarat Ambuja dropped 2.5% to Rs129, ACC was down by 1.2% to Rs1035 and Grasim declined 1.2% to Rs2727.

Results Today:

Bajaj Auto Finance, Bihar Tubes, Chennai Petro, Country Club, GV Films, iGate Global and Maharashtra Scooters.

Fund Activity:

FIIs were net buyers of Rs5.83bn (provisional) in the cash segment on Monday. On the other hand, local institutions were net sellers at Rs2.07bn. In the F&O segment, FIIs offloaded stocks worth Rs1.43bn on the same day.

On Friday, FIIs poured in Rs8.89bn in the cash segment. Some part of this may still have been due to the ICICI Bank follow-on public offering. Mutual Funds were net sellers of Rs1.91bn.

Major bulk Deals:

Credit Suisse has sold Ankit Metal; Kotak PMS has bought Bihar Tubes; Bear Stearns has picked up Euro Ceramics; Macquarie Bank has sold Hexaware; Citigroup Global has purchased Macmillan; Goldman Sachs has bought Om Metal; HSBC MF has picked up Pritish Nandy Communications; UBS has purchased Tricom India and HSBC Global has bought Welspun India.

Insider Trades:

Spentex Industries Ltd: Schemes of Sundaram BNP Paribas Mutual Fund a) Sundaram BNP Paribas Select Midcap; b) Sundaram BNP Paribas Tax Saver (OE); c) Sundaram BNP Paribas SMILE Fund; d) Sundaram BNP Paribas Rural India Fund has sold in open market 1538273 equity shares of the company on 5th July, 2007.

Lower Circuit:

Anant Raj, Zenith Info and Best & Cromp.

Upper Circuit:

Ram Informatics, Tripex Overseas, Info edge, Tanla, Kothari Products, Ganesh Firgings, Silverline, Bank of
Rajasthan, Ruby Mills and Diamond Cables.

Delivery Delight :( Rising Price & Rising Delivery)

Ashok Leyland, Bajaj Auto, Bank of India, CESC, Cipla, Dr Reddy's, Essar Shipping, Godrej Industries, Nagarjuna Fertilizers, ONGC, SRF and SAIL.

Abnormal Delivery:

Thermax, Kesoram Industries, IGL, Federal Bank, UTI Bank, Sun Pharma Biocon and NTPC.

Major News & Announcements:

S&P cuts rating on Tata Steel to 'BB'

GAIL, Apollo Tyres sign agreement for steam conversion project

HDFC Bank Q1 profit at Rs3.21bn (up 33.7%), total income at Rs26.42bn (up 47%)

Output at six key industries grows 8.7% in May

GMR Infrastructure consortium wins bid for Sabiha Gokeen Airport at Istanbul, Turkey

Tulip IT bags ILD License from DoT

Time Technoplast to discontinue operations at Sahibabad Unit

Reliance Energy would add 15000 MW capacity, says Anil Ambani

L&T gets order worth Rs5.4bn from IOC

HEG to hive of Steel unit

Shasun Chemicals sign technology-licensing Agreement with Lundbeck, Danish Co.

Dollex Industries to consider stocks split on 19th July

Ranbaxy receives final USFDA approval for Amlodipine Besylate Tablets

Intraday Stock Ideas

Nifty (4406) Supp 4385 Res 4427

Buy Jet Air (803)
SL 797 Tgt 814, 817

Buy Nitin Fire (410)
SL 405 Tgt 420, 422

Buy Can Bank (272)
SL 268 Tgt 280, 282

Sell Orchid Chem (245)
SL 249 Tgt 237, 325 

Sell Amtel Auto (409)
SL 414 Tgt 400, 398

Morning Call

Market Grape Wine :

In House :

Nifty at a support of 4380 & 4351 levels with resistance at 4442 & 4463 levels .

Buy : Intraday : RNRL above 41.1 target of 44.5 s/l of 39.9

Buy : Intraday : RenukaSugar above 655 target of 675 s/l of 649

Buy : in F&O Maruti above 810 target 825 s/l of 804

Sell : in F&O UltraCemco below 877 target of 855 s/l of 885

Out House :

Markets at a support of 14909 & 14848 levels with resistance at 15115
& 15191 levels .

Buy : SBIN at dips

Buy : Century & JPAsso at dips

Buy : Bhel & Divis at dips

Buy : ACC at dips

Buy : IDBI & IFCI at dips

Buy : ICRA & Madhucon

Buy : Sail & JSW

Buy : IBReal & DLF at dips

Dark Horse : WelspunGuj , ACC , BajajHind , Divis , SBIN ,
IbullReal & Century

Rumour Mill : IFCI turns down offer

IFCI has turned down UTI bank's offer at 85 bucks per share to Sellout.

IFCI could enjoy a longer run if the market continues with its bull run

Disclaimer: Rumours are trash - don't believe them :)