Sensex Up 0.8%; SBI, Tata Motors Offer Bonds

Ivaylo
20 Jun, 2001
New York City

The market finished higher for a second straight session in firm trading. Volatility was seen only in the latter part of trading. Banks led the advance as Goldman Sachs boosted their recommendation for India''''s financial sector and successful secondary offering of shares by ICICI lifted the market. Gujarat Ambuja and the State Bank of India led the advancers, while Ranbaxy and TCS were the worst performing stocks.

[R]7:30AM NY-6:30PM Mumbai Sensex spurts 116 points in a broad rally, led by banks and auto stocks.[/R]

The Sensex on BSE finished 116.45 points, or 0.81%, higher at 14,411.95.

The market-breadth was very strong as 1,446 stocks advanced, while 1,103 declined and 87 were unchanged. Of the 30 stocks in the Sensex, 23 advanced, while only seven declined. The turnover on BSE was Rs 5,049 crore, much higher than Rs 4,607 crore on Tuesday. On NSE, the turnover was Rs 9,977 crore, compared to Rs 8,350 crore on Tuesday.

Economic news

The rupee retreated Wednesday as an oil refiner bought dollars, but expectations of foreign investment flows into a $2.1 billion domestic share sale by ICICI Bank diminished losses. In morning trading, the rupee was at 40.83 per dollar, down from 40.79 on Tuesday.

India will approach the World Bank to take out a loan to develop an e-governance project to process all government purchases.

The petroleum ministry intends to offer additional 80 oil and gas blocks in the seventh round of auction under the New Exploration Licensing Policy, in mid-August. In February, under NELP-VI, the ministry gave 52 blocks of which 21 deep-water blocks to Oil and Natural Gas Corporation.

Kingfisher Airlines is to buy 50 planes from Airbus, in that number the new A350 XWB in a deal estimated at $7.3 billion at list prices. The Indian company intends to buy 15 A350-800 XWBs, 10 A330-200s, five long-range A340-500s and 20 A320 series aircraft, the companies announced today at the Paris Air Show.

Trading highlights

Divi's Lab was the most-active stock with a turnover of Rs 165 crore followed by Reliance Capital and Educomp Solutions.

Advancers

Cement major Gujarat Ambuja Cements advanced 4.6% to Rs 118, led the gainers. Other cement stocks gained as cement shortage is expected to last for the next two years. ACC was up 0.8% to Rs 850 and Grasim advanced 3.1% to Rs 2,513.

State Bank of India rallied nearly 4% to Rs 1,425 on the news that the bank plans to sell $225 million abroad in perpetual bonds. HDFC gained 2% to Rs 1,812. ICICI Bank added 0.4%, to Rs 948 after the reports that the Singapore government intends to buy about 40% of ICICI record share sale.

Autos were in focus. Tata Motors rallied 3.5% to Rs 686. Tata Motors intends to raise $450 million overseas by selling shares to meet the capital and product development expenditure in view of its growth projects. Maruti advanced nearly 3% to Rs 773, and Bajaj Auto added 2% to Rs 2,162.

BHEL and Larsen & Toubro ended up around 1.7% each to Rs 1,430 and Rs 2,028, respectively. Index heavy Reliance Industries gained 0.3% to Rs 1,732. IT stocks ended mixed with Wipro 0.5% to Rs 524 higher and Satyam Computers, up 0.7% to Rs 472.

Decliners

Ranbaxy plunged 2% to Rs 352, and led the few decliners. TCS dropped 1.3% to Rs 1,146. Hindustan Lever lost 0.3% to Rs 189 and Infosys dipped 0.1% to Rs 1,954.

[R]6:30AM European market gain Wednesday on strength in banking stocks, insurers.[/R]

European markets advanced on Wednesday morning. The German DAX index rose 0.9% to 8,100,66 after striking a seven-year high of 8,104.39 early in the session, while the French CAC-40 index advanced 0.5% to 6,099.46. The U.K. FTSE 100 index climbed 0.5% to 6,682.50. National benchmarks advanced in all of the 17 western European markets that were open.

Advancers

Car maker Renault gained %, while Allianz of Germany advanced 2.6%. HSBC gained 1.1 %. Lower bond yields increase the value of debt owned by insurers and banks. Clariant, the world's second-largest maker of specialty chemicals, climbed 2.2%
Misys, a U.K. provider of software for banks and hospitals, rose 3% after the company reported fiscal 2007 earnings and margins topping estimates..

Decliners

Swedish clothing chain H&M slipped 4% after it reported that second-quarter sales and profits just missed expectations. Still, the shares have been trading strongly in the past few years and touched a 10- year high in April.

DSG International, the operator of electronics retailers under the PC World and Currys names, announced annual adjusted profit before tax dropped 5% to 295.1 million pounds, in line with estimates the company gave in May, while sales rose 14% to 7.93 billion pounds.

Commodities

Oil prices declined Wednesday on caution that a U.S. fuel supplies report due later in the session will show increases in oil product inventories but a fall in crude oil stocks. Crude oil for July delivery, which expires later Wednesday, lost 15 cents to $68.95 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Gold fell for the first time in a week as a decline in the price of oil diminished the appeal of the precious metal. Gold declined $1.80, or 0.3%, to $659.65 an ounce, the first drop since June 12. Silver fell 3 cents, or 0.2%, to $13.31 an ounce.

Currencies

The euro traded higher against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday despite a new report that showed producer prices in Germany advanced last month. In morning European trading, the euro bought $1.3423, up from $1.3406 in New York late Tuesday. The Japanese yen fell to 123.23 yen from its level Tuesday of 123.35 yen. The British pound edged lower to $1.9878 from $1.9879 on Monday.

[R]5:30AM Gold and silver advance Tuesday while grain tumbled.[/R]

Gold for August delivery rose $4.40 to finish at $664.30 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. August silver rose 11.5 cents to end at $13.325 an ounce, and July platinum slipped $1.00 to end at $1,298.00 an ounce. On the Nymex, July copper futures fell 1.7 cent to finish at $3.4010 a pound.

Crude oil prices gained slightly to a new nine-month high on strike threats in Nigeria and Brazil. The energy markets were also awaiting weekly oil inventory data on Wednesday, which the market expects to show little improvement in U.S. gasoline supplies. Crude oil futures for July delivery rose a penny to settle at $69.10 a barrel. July gasoline futures fell 2.97 cents to settle at $2.2346 a gallon. July natural gas futures fell 17.1 cents to settle at $7.519 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Grain prices plunged on the Chicago Board of Trade on improving weather conditions which convinced traders to take profits after last week strong buying. July wheat futures fell 20 cents to finish at $5.81 a bushel on the CBOT. July corn dipped 20 cents to end at $3.96 a bushel, and July soybeans shed 26.25 cents to end at $8.29 a bushel.