Market Close : Smart recovery amids volatile sessions..

Weak play in the market from the start and had no support from global cues. Asian markets slipped into red while Europe trading mixed. Sensex saw some value buying in the mid sessions but couldn't sustain the momentum and selling crept in as investors played cautious ahead of FNO expiry. But bounced back as it witnessed some intense buying in the index heavyweights like SBI, RIL in the final sessions to trade and close high. Metal sector extended its gains tracking firm global metal prices as most of the stocks ended in green. Selective Pharma, Banking and FMCG stocks were in favor amongst the investors while Software and Telecom stocks bore the brunt of selling pressure. Real estate stocks were on fire as they rallied in the final session and ended with strong gains.

IT stocks came under selling pressure as the Indian Rupee rose to a fresh nine year high with the central bank not intervening to keep a check on it. The Rupee was seen at 40.84 per Dollar in the early sessions, strongest since May 1998 and last traded at 40.90. Rupee appreciating is a cause of concern for major IT companies as it directly impacts their revenue and profits as a major chunk of revenue is accounted by the exports.

Sensex ended up by 81 points at 14217.77. It was helped up by gains in Ranbaxy (369.1,+6 percent), Cipla (252.25,+5 percent), Hero Honda (687.35,+4 percent), ITC (161.75,+3 percent) and Grasim (2441.7,+3 percent). Restricting the gains were Infosys (2017.9,-2 percent), Satyam (466.45,-2 percent), TISCO (570.8,-1 percent), Bharti Tele (862.8,-1 percent) and NTPC (156.8,-1 percent)


Indian Bank reported strong Q4 March 2007 results with 69.1% growth in net profit for Q4 March 2007 at Rs 235 cr against Rs 139 cr the previous year. Total Income rose by 43.2% to Rs 1564 cr against Rs 1092 cr the previous year. The state run bank also claimed that its net non performing assets (NPA) declined to 0.35% as on 31 March 2007 from 0.79% as on March 2006. The gross NPA declined by 1.85% at end of March 2007 compared with 2.91% at end of March 2006. The stock rallied yesterday also as the RBI kept key rates unchanged at its monetary policy meeting and the stock rallied to close up by almost 17%.

As per some news, Tata Tea negotiations with Glaceau are going on and that some points of the deal still needed resolving. The news also said that Coke may also want to announce the deal with the same company when its North American bottlers meet in Atlanta next month or before that. The valuation of Glaceau is rumored to be at $3 billion up from a mere $2.2 billion just 8 months ago. Tata Tea had bought almost 30% stake in Glaceau for $677 million in August 2006 and also had valued Glaceau at $2.2 billion. Nothing to comment here till ther is more clearity here.

Jubilant Organosys informed that the company will acquire US based Hollister-Stier Laboratories LLC for $122.5 million to gain a foothold in the injectable drugs segment. The company also said that it would reimburse $16 million that Hollister had already spent on an on going capacity expansion which was expected to be completed by 2008. as per the calculation goes, Jubilant Organosys would be paying 11.2 times Hollister's fiscal 2006 normalized earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amorti