Markets lacklustre

The market opened on a firm note following a solid intra-day recovery yesterday, 12 December 2007. Both the niche indices struck lifetime highs. The BSE Sensex hit an all time high just under 20,500 mark while the S&P CNX Nifty struck record high under 6,200 level. However they easeda bit from higher levels, on profit booking.The frontline indices are trading flat due to lack of triggers.

At 12.06 hrs IST, the Sensex is down 22.50 points or 0.11% at 20353.37, and the Nifty down 29.85 points or 0.48% at 6129.45.

Reliance Industries rose 0.1% to Rs 2,889.80.Healthcare stocks rose. Cadila HealthCare (up 6.15% to Rs 321), Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories (up 3.53% to Rs 710), Cipla (up 1.75% to Rs 203.05), Ranbaxy Laboratories (up 1.55% to Rs 414) edged higher.

IT stocks declined. Infosys (down 0.82% to Rs 1,670.95), Satyam Computer Services (down 1.26% to Rs 425.70) and Wipro (down 1.1% to Rs 500) edged lower. However Tata Consultancy Services rose 0.88% to Rs 1,058.25.

Banking majors declined. ICICI Bank (down 1.73% to Rs 1,268) and HDFC Bank (down 1.29% to Rs 1,761.05), State Bank of India (down 0.22% to Rs 2,433.50) edged lower.

Bharti Airtel (down 5.14% to Rs 999.45), Maruti Suzuki India (down 1.9% to Rs 1,055) edged lower.

FMCG stocks surged. ITC (up 5.24% to Rs 199) and Hindustan Unilever (up 0.76% to Rs 212), Tata Tea (up 3.55% to Rs 928) edged higher.

Metal stocks also inched up. JSW Steel (up 8.84% to Rs 1,347.05), Tata Steel (up 2.44% to Rs 885.50), Hindalco Industries (up 2.89% to Rs 211.55), Steel Authority of India (up 0.68% to Rs 289.50) edged higher. Sterlite Industries (down 1.34% to Rs 1,088) edged lower.

Kolte Patil Developers was trading at a premium of 29.31% over the IPO price of 145 on its debut today. The stock will be placed in the B1 group on BSE. The company had fixed the IPO price at the top end of the Rs 125-145 IPO price band.

Mahindra & Mahindra rose 2.86% to Rs 810.30. As per reports Mahindra & Mahindra’s (M&M’s) all-Indian utility vehicle, Scorpio, will enter the quality-conscious US market, which is also the largest in the world with 15 million vehicles in annual sales. The company already has firm orders for 45,000 units of Scorpio for the first year, which is more than the 40,000 it sold in India in the last financial year. More importantly, 285 US dealers have signed up to sell the vehicle and are investing $178 million in setting up sales and service outlets.

GMR Infrastructure rose 2.8% to Rs 249.95.A clutch of domestic banks and foreign financial investors (FIIs) picked up around 9% stake in GMR Infrastructure, the flagship company of the GMR group, for around $1 billion through a qualified institutional placement (QIP). The deal is the largest among the recent QIP deals.

Reliance Energy rose 0.95% to Rs 1,950.10 whereas Tata Power Company declined 1.1% to Rs 1,342. As per reports, Three Indian conglomerates —GMR Infrastructure ,Tata Power Company and Reliance Energy (REL)—are among those who have submitted bids for acquiring one of the three power firms in Singapore valued at about $1.7 billion (Rs6,698 crore), bidding for which closed on Wednesday. Number of international firms submitted indicative bids for the project on the last day.

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals declined 1.9% to Rs 564. It announced before the market hours today, 13 December 2007, that Abbott filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, seeking to prevent Glenmark from proceeding with the commercialization of its Trandolapril; verapamil hydrochloride products which is currently marketed by Abbott as Tarka.