Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Sensex ends above 14,100

Firm global markets, short-covering in derivatives and a surge in FII buying sparked a recovery on the domestic bourses after Tuesday’s 168-point fall. A bout of intra-day volatility was witnessed ahead of the expiry of January 2007 derivatives contracts on Thursday (25 January 2007). .

The 30-share BSE Sensex gained 69.22 points (0.49%), to settle at 14,110.46. The S&P CNX Nifty advanced 23.80 points (0.59%), to settle at 4089.90.

The market was afflicted by volatility. The Sensex had almost evened out in mid-afternoon trade, but rose again during the latter part of the session. It had dropped to 14,043.54 at 14:06 IST, just 2.30 points more for the day. The barometer index had gained as many as 115 points, to 14,156.46, in early trade.

The market-breadth turned negative in the latter part of trading in contrast to a strong breadth earlier during the day. For 1,345 shares declining on BSE, 1,287 rose and 49 remained unchanged. Losers outpaced gainers by a ratio of 1.04:1.

Nifty January 2007 futures finished at 4098.95, compared to the spot Nifty closing of 4,089.90. Nifty February 2007 futures ended at 4107.

The BSE metal index was the top gainer among sectoral indices. It rose 331.25 points (3.7%), to settle at 9,228.90. While the BSE banking sector index, the Bankex, added 69.21 points (0.9%), to end on 7,383.82, the BSE PSU index gained 82.14 points (1.3%), to 6,231.89. The BSE Auto index lost 61.53 points (1.1%), to settle at 5,539.78.

The BSE Small-Cap Index added 42.61 points (0.5%), to settle at 7,543.89, against a BSE Mid-Cap Index rally of 14.30 points (0.24%), to 6,028.48.

The BSE clocked a turnover of Rs 4448, compared to Tuesday’s Rs 4055.48 crore.

Tata Steel jumped 4% to Rs 483.20. A block deal of 20 lakh shares was struck in the counter at Rs 471. Tata Steel said on Wednesday its Singapore-based subsidiary NatSteel Asia increased its holding in three of NatSteel's units. All three stakes were bought from Malaysia's Southern Steel Berhad, Tata Steel said.

L&T gained nearly 3% to Rs 1577, after bagging Rs 355 crore order. Larsen & Toubro also said it will invest Rs 500 crore over the next five years in a technology park in Gujarat.

Bharat Heavy Electricals rose nearly 3% to Rs 2382, after the company said it had a contract for building two, 500-megawatt units at a power plant in West Bengal.

Maruti Udyog rose 1.5% to Rs 934, after the car maker launched a diesel version of the Swift.

ICICI Bank gained 1% to Rs 975.10, and HDFC Bank rose 2.8% to Rs 1060. On Tuesday, HDFC Bank's ADR gained 1.6% to $75.89, while ICICI Bank's rose 1.8% to $44.54.

HDFC gained 2.2% to Rs 1643, ahead of the Q3 results, slated for release today. Four brokerages expect 20.1 - 27.1% growth in HDFC’s Q3 net profit, between Rs 341.80 crore and Rs 361.70 crore, compared to a net profit of Rs 284.52 crore in December 2005 quarter.

ONGC rose 2.7% to Rs 915, following Tuesday’s surge in oil price.

Hindalco gained 2.8% to Rs 169.65, tracking a recovery in global base metal prices. The company unveils Q3 results tomorrow.

Tata Motors lost 3.3% to Rs 918. Tata Motors reported 11.5% growth in net profit in December 2006 quarter, to Rs 513.17 crore from Rs 460.23 crore in December 2005 quarter. The company’s revenue for the quarter rose 37% to Rs 6956.84 crore (Rs 5074.86 crore). The numbers were unveiled after trading hours on Tuesday.

Hindustan Lever was down 3% to Rs 215.30. A strong 15.1 lakh shares changed hands in the counter on BSE.

Cipla shed 2.2% to Rs 248. After trading hours on Tuesday, Cipla reported a marginal 5.2% growth in net profit in December 2006 quarter, to Rs 184.38 crore (Rs 175.31 crore). Net sales rose 12.8% to Rs 880.54 crore (Rs 780.62 crore).

Bharti Airtel rose 0.4% to Rs 692. The telecom regulator on Wednesday slashed tariffs for national roaming on mobile networks by up to 56%, further reducing already low call rates in the fastest growing mobile market. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India said the new tariffs, effective from Feb. 15, will be applicable for the dominant GSM network as well as the CDMA platform.

Reliance Communications shed 1% to Rs 436.65. The finance ministry has approved Reliance Communications’ proposed issue of $1.2 billion of American or Global Depository Receipts. Reliance Communications said in a regulatory filing earlier this month that it wanted to raise $1.2 billion to expand.

Among index heavyweights Reliance Industries (RIL) rose 0.4% to Rs 1367, whereas Infosys shed 0.6% to Rs 2221.

Bank of Baroda gained 5% to Rs 247.45, after it reported a net profit of Rs 329 crore in December 2006 quarter, compared to a net profit of Rs 202 crore in December 2005 quarter.

Oriental Bank of Commerce was down 0.2% to Rs 223.90. It also posted a net profit of Rs 182.42 crore in the December 2006 quarter, compared to a net profit of Rs 143.42 crore in the December 2005 quarter.

Indian Overseas Bank gained 3% to Rs 115.40. It had posted a net profit of Rs 246.78 crore in December 2006 quarter, compared to a net profit of Rs 197.21 crore in the December 2005 quarter.

Corporation Bank rose 1.4% to Rs 315.75. It also posted a net profit of Rs 146.42 crore in December 2006 quarter, compared to a net profit of Rs 115.07 crore in December 2005 quarter.

Radha Madhav Corporation jumped 5% to Rs 54.90. The company reported a net profit of Rs 3.54 crore in December 2006 quarter, compared to almost breakeven results for December 2005 quarter.

Textiles firm Bombay Rayon Fashions dropped 4% to Rs 203.25, after the company said Citigroup Global Markets (Mauritius) purchased 3.22 million shares, or 5.12% stake, in the company.

Pyramid Saimira Theatre jumped 16% to Rs 292.85. The stock rose on heavy volume of 91.7 lakh shares on BSE.

Gitanjali Gems rose 0.7% to Rs 231.55, after the jewellery maker and retailer reported an 86% increase in net profit in December 2006 quarter, to Rs 24.83 crore.

MRPL rose almost 2% to Rs 45.30, after it reported a surge in net profit in December 2006 quarter, to Rs 118.46 crore from Rs 19.36 crore in December 2005 quarter. Total income rose to Rs 7397.44 crore from Rs 6815.66 crore.

Varun Shipping (down 2% to Rs 64.80) slipped for the second day in a row, after a 24.8% fall in net profit in December 2006 quarter, to Rs 39.62 crore (Rs 52.72 crore). Income from operations declined 13.5%, to Rs 163.47 crore (Rs 189.09 crore).

Kinetic Engineering jumped nearly 15% to Rs 150.70, following reports that the company expects sales of Rs 180 crore in calendar 2007, as it expands its auto components business, which it started last year. The company, now only makes auto components, after it sold its motorcycle business to Kinetic Motor Company, a group firm.

European markets edged up in early trade. Key benchmark indices in London, Germany and France were up between 0.1 - 0.7%. Asian markets were firm. Key benchmark indices in Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan were up between 0.25 - 1.4%.

US stocks gained on Tuesday, as a spike in crude oil prices lifted shares of energy companies, including Exxon Mobil Corp., while strong profits from United Technologies Corp gave investors a reason to buy aerospace stocks.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 56.64 points, or 0.45%, to end at 12,533.80. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 5.04 points, or 0.35%, to finish at 1,427.99. The Nasdaq Composite Index inched up just 0.34 of a point, or 0.01%, to 2,431.41.

Nymex crude was down 35 cents to $54.69 a barrel. It rose nearly $2.50 on Tuesday, when the United States announced plans to build up emergency crude reserves, and as colder weather pushed up demand in the world's top consumer.

FIIs stepped up buying on Monday (22 January). FIIs were net buyers to the tune of Rs 320 crore on 22 January, compared to Friday (19 January)’s inflow of Rs 76.80 crore. Sustained buying by FIIs over the past few days, which followed their substantial sales earlier this month, is also an important factor. FIIs have been net buyers in seven out of the last eight trading sessions.

As per provisional data, FIIs were net buyers to the tune of Rs 127 crore on Tuesday (23 January), the day when the Sensex lost 168 points. FIIs were net buyers to the tune of Rs 30 crore in index-based futures that day. They were net sellers to the tune of Rs 510 crore in individual stock futures on the same day.

The Q3 results announced so far were good. The season is in its last lap and the focus will shift to the Union Budget 2007-08 and related expectations. The RBI meeting for monetary policy is on 31 January 2007. With inflation surging to a two-year high of over 6%, the central bank is widely expected to raise interest rates.

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