Nifty settles above 4,400

The market edged higher for second consecutive day today, 3 August 2007, after Wednesday’s bloodbath that was triggered by setback in global markets. The market saw steady buying interest throughout the day on sustained buying demand for index pivotals. Positive cues from US and Asian markets boosted the sentiment. All the sectoral indices on BSE posted gains. Shares from real estate, banking and cement were in demand. Pharma shares were subdued.

The BSE 30-share Sensex advanced 152.70 points or 1.02% at 15,138.40. It opened with an upward gap of 75.43 points at 15,061.13 and surged to a hit an intra-day high of 15,235.51

The S&P CNX Nifty gained 45.20 points or 1.04% at 4,401.55. The Nifty August 2007 futures settled at 4357, a discount of 34.55 points as compared to spot closing.

The market breadth was strong with small-cap and mid-cap stocks seeing buying interest. On BSE, there were close to 1.5 gainers for every loser: 1,581 shares advanced as compared to 1,081 that declined, while 73 remained unchanged.

The BSE Mid-Cap index was up 89.82 points or 1.38% at 6,605.24 and the BSE Small-Cap index inched higher by 86.08 points or 1.10% at 7,891.54.

The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 3981 crore as compared to Rs 4,435.42 crore on Thursday, 2 August 2007

NSE’s F&O turnover amounted to Rs 44285.38 crore as compared to Rs 38,783.38 crore crore on Thursday, 2 August 2007

Among the 30-member Sensex pack, 23 advanced while 7 slipped.

India’s largest commercial bank State Bank of India (SBI) rose 2.53% to Rs 1633, on 7.05 lakh shares, after gaining 2.95% on Thursday, 2 August 2007. It was the top gainer from the Sensex pack

SBI is holding talks with potential partners for its non-life insurance venture. It is keeping options open for going alone in the general insurance business. The bank plans to set up a holding company to transfer its share holding in its insurance and asset management subsidiaries. The new holding company, valued between $5 billion to $7 billion, would eventually be listed.

Other banking scrips also posted gains after the release of inflation data in afternoon today, 3 August 2007. The BSE Bankex gained 101.71 points or 1.28% at 8,048.51. The wholesale price index was 4.36% in the week to 21 July 2007, compared with 4.41% the previous week The government also revised the inflation rate for the week ended 26 May 2007 to 5.15% from 4.85%.

Dena Bank (up 1.16% to Rs 52.40), Oriental Bank of Commerce (up 1.67% to Rs 231.50), Punjab National Bank (up 0.40% to Rs 498), Bank of India (up 0.52% to Rs 243.90), Bank of Baroda (up 1.53% to Rs 296), Axis Bank (up 0.25% to Rs 622) and ICICI Bank (up 1.73% to Rs 915.95) gained.

India’s largest power generation firm NTPC soared 2.50% to Rs 166.35. Chhattisgarh State Electricity Board (CSEB) has made a written offer to NTPC to set up three mega power projects in the state in a joint venture. The plants will come up at Aklatra, Lara and Godna hamlets in Raigarh district. NTPC and the CSEB will have equity ratio of 74-26% ,while the production share will be in ratio of 51-49%.

India’s largest cigarette manufacturer ITC advanced 0.63% to Rs 168.80 on follow-up buying after foreign brokerage CLSA recently raised its price target to Rs 184, and upgraded it to buy from underperformer.

Reliance Energy (REL), India's second largest power generation and distribution company in terms of sales, eased from day’s high of Rs 772, to settle 0.10% lower at Rs 751.40. The stock had gained 2% yesterday, 2 August 2007 on reports it has emerged as the sole bidder for a Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) power project in the Purulia district of West Bengal. The REL stock has surged 23% in the past one month.

Cement stocks gained for the second consecutive day as buying continued in anticipation of firm cement prices. India’s second largest cement producer ACC surged 1.72% to Rs 1000. It gained 2% yesterday, 2 August 2007 after its cement dispatches jumped 14.68% to 16.4 lakh tonnes in July 2007 over July 2006.

Grasim gained 2.07% to Rs 2968.95 while UltraTech Cement rose 0.67% to Rs 905.10. The Aditya Birla Group said on Wednesday its cement shipments rose 13.1% to 24 lakh tonnes in July 2007 over July 2006. Grasim and UltraTech Cement belong to the Aditya Birla Group

However, Ambuja Cements lost 1% to Rs 129 on profit booking. Its cement dispatches rose 20% to 13.9 lakh tonnes in July 2007 over July 2006.

Interest-rate sensitive auto shares hardened on a view that interest rates will remain steady with inflation under control. The BSE Auto Index rose 49.57 points or 1.04% at 4796.65. Mahindra & Mahindra (up 0.44% to Rs 678.80), Bajaj Auto (up 1.63% to Rs 2330) and Tata Motors (up 0.69% to Rs 656.70) logged gains.

The country’s top small car manufacturer Maruti Udyog gained 1.40% to Rs 848 after its total vehicles sales rose 24.8% to 57,909 vehicles in July 2007 over July 2006. The company sold 52,839 vehicles in the domestic market in July 2007, a rise of 18.33% over the same period last year.

Reliance Industries (RIL), the country’s largest private sector company, slipped from day’s high of Rs 1838.90, and settled unchanged at Rs 1801.30, on 10.63 lakh shares. As per reports, the government is likely to clear the price quoted by RIL for its gas from the Krishna-Godavari basin without seeking to control the price.

IT pivotals posted modest gains, with the BSE IT index rising 55.19 points or 1.19% at 4704.30. Second biggest software services exporter Infosys rose 0.97% to Rs 1918 on reports that it has signed a multi-year agreement with Canadian Pacific (CP) to provide modular global sourcing services.

Satyam Computers (up 1.20% to Rs 471.80) and Wipro (up 1.48% to Rs 469.10) gained. However, India's largest software services provider TCS lost 0.12% to Rs 1094.

Mid-cap software stocks outperformed large-cap IT stocks. i-flex Solutions (up 6.53% to Rs 2169), MphasiS (up 5.92% to Rs 306), Financial Technologies (up 3.24% to Rs 2530) and Patni Computers (up 1.85% to Rs 438.30) advanced.

India’s biggest housing finance company HDFC rose 1.69% to Rs 1978 on reports that it has shortlisted three foreign firms for a stake in its insurance venture and will select one of them within 15 days. HDFC Chairman Deepak Parekh told shareholders last month that foreign firms were willing to pay a premium for the stake in the insurance company.

Capital goods favorites Bhel and L&T moved up. Bhel gained 0.79% to Rs 1712.20, while L&T rose 1.34% to Rs 2521.10

Pharma shares dipped on selling pressure. Dr Reddy’s was the top loser from the Sensex pack. It slipped 1.10% to Rs 624 on 89,870 shares. Ranbaxy Laboratories lost 0.93% to Rs 368.

However Cipla gained at the fag end of the day and was up 0.70% to Rs 187.15, from its low of Rs 184.

Simplex Projects settled at Rs 272.05 on BSE, a premium of 47% over IPO price of Rs 185. The stock had hit a low of Rs 266.70 and a high of Rs 323.75. On BSE, 67.19 lakh shares had changed hands in the counter on BSE. Simplex Projects IPO had received overwhelming investor response. The IPO was subscribed 85.53 times

Battered real-estate stocks, the worst hit in Wednesday, 1 August 2007's market meltdown, gained for the second straight day today on bargain hunting. The BSE Realty index was up 160.51 points or 2.15% to 7618.30. It was the top performing sectoral index on BSE. Unitech (up 0.84% to Rs 536.10), DLF (up 2.22% to Rs 599.70), Orbit Corporation (up 10.20% to Rs 369.50) and Indiabulls Real Estate (up 4.59% to Rs 536) edged higher.

Jindal Stainless rose 2.20% to Rs 157.15 on reports it is planning a foray into the Russian market by setting up a greenfield facility there. In the first phase, Jindal Stainless may invest up to $60 million in an integrated stainless steel facility in Leningrad. The plant will have a capacity to make 4 lakh tonnes of stainless steel per year.

JSW Steel lost 2.06% to Rs 679.50 despite registering a growth of 18% to 2.37 lakh tonnes in crude steel production in July 2007 over July 2006. Hot rolled (HR) coils production grew 9% to 2.14 lakh tonnes in July 2007 over July 2006. HR plates production grew 15% to 0.18 lakh tonnes in July 2007 over July 2006.

Apar Industries rose 1.12% to Rs 211.65 after it bagged large export orders for aluminium conductors used for power transmission lines from giant trunk-key operators based in North Africa and Kazakhstan. The order will be executed by its conductor division and is valued at Rs 111.50 crore.

Gitanjali Gems moved higher by 1.15% to Rs 273 after a block deal of 5.5 lakh shares was struck on the counter at Rs 272 on BSE at 12:04 IST.

Accentia Technologies jumped 5% to Rs 184 on the company bagging a first order of euro 2.10 million for its hospital process management suite. The customisation and implementation of the suite at 5 locations will take about 12 months.

Jaiprakash Associates gained 2.91% to Rs 826.45 on reports of its foray into the steel sector with the acquisition of Malvika Steel in Jagdishpur, Uttar Pradesh, for Rs 207 crore.

Era Constructions India surged 5% to Rs 521.60 after it bagged an order from NTPC for main plant and offsite civil works package for Simhadri super thermal power projects, Stage-II (2 X 500 MW), in Andhra Pradesh, on works contract basis. The value of the contract is about Rs 136.33 crore and will be executed over 43 months.

Punj Lloyd jumped 2.64% to Rs 274.40 on signing a memorandum of understanding to invest Rs 403 crore for acquiring a 25.1% stake in Pipavav Shipyard. This will provide it an access to fabrication facilities for platforms, rigs and jackets to exploit the opportunities in this sector.

Sundram Fasteners rose 1.48% to Rs 54.85 on acquiring 100% share capital of PUT Grundstucks GmbH in Peine, Germany. The investment would be around euro 30,000.

GMR Infrastructure, a Rs 1000-crore Bangalore-based infrastructure company with a focus on airports, power and roads, galloped 8.95% to Rs 836 after its unit developing a new international airport in Hyderabad selected Apollo Hospitals to set up a medical centre at the upcoming passenger terminal. Apollo Hospitals rose nearly 4% to Rs 508.40.

Deccan Aviation dropped 1.48% to Rs 139.95 after the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) raised queries regarding United Breweries (Holdings)'s open offer for Deccan Aviation. UB (Holdings) said on 25 July 2007 that the schedule for the open offer would be revised. UB (Holdings) made the public announcement for the open offer a few days after it bought 26% in Deccan for Rs 550 crore in May 2007.

Truck maker Eicher Motors rose 5.31% to Rs 385 after the company said on today, 3 August 2007, its commercial vehicle sales in rose 9% to 2,363 units in July 2007 over July 2006.

Divi's Labs settled at Rs 1304 compared to yesterday's, 2 August 2007, closing price of Rs 6368.25 after a 5-for1- stock split was effected in the counter today.

Most of the Asian indices advanced, 3 August, reacting to a US rally. Taiwan's Taiwan Weighted (up 1.20% at 9,058.23), Hong Kong's Hang Seng (up 0.42% at 22,538.44), Shanghai Composite (up 3.47% to 4,560.74) and South Korea's Seoul Composite (up 1.28% at 1,876.80) advanced.

However, and Japan's Nikkei slipped marginally by 0.03% at 16,979.86 European shares slipped after firm opening today, 3 August 2007.

Wall Street shares advanced after solid readings on corporate earnings and the job market calmed some of investors' anxiety about a tight credit market. The Dow rose 100.96 points, or 0.76, to 13,463.33. The Standard & Poor's 500 index picked up 6.39 points, or 0.44%, closing at 1,472.20, while the Nasdaq Composite index rose 22.11 points, or 0.87%, to 2,575.98.

Oil hovered near $77 a barrel on Friday, 3 August 2007 keeping in sight of this week's fresh record high after OPEC officials poured cold water on US hopes for an output rise, reiterating that the world was not short of crude supplies. US oil was unchanged at $76.86 a barrel. Prices touched an all-time high of $78.77 on Wednesday, but sharply retreated on signs of improved US refinery operations.