Volatile Sensex Edges Higher

123jump.com Staff
19 Feb, 2008
New York City

Rural Electrification IPO received 2.3 times the number of stocks it plans to offer between 90 rupees and 105 rupees. Sensex edged fractionally higher by 27 to 18,075.66. Total turnover on two exchages was recorded at 17,800 crore rupees or $4.2 billion. Bajaj Auto led the gainers in the Sensex stocks with a rise of 6% after Bombay High Court approved the proposed capital allotment between Bajaj Holding and Finserv companies controlled by Bajaj group.

[R]10:00AM New York, 7:30PM Mumbai – Rural Electrification IPO is oversubscribed 2.3 times.[/R]

Market Sentiment

Indian markets marginally gained on Tuesday, the benchmark index Sensex advanced 0.2% or 27.61 at 18,075.66 levels. In the broader markets, Nifty gained 0.1% or 3.90 at 5,280.80.

Of the Sensex index shares, 16 shares gained while the rest fell. Among the BSE stocks, 1,519 shares advanced, 1,228 declined, and 61 remained unchanged.

The market succumbed to selling pressure in late trade erasing early gains.

In the second half of the day, the market witnessed a bout of volatility ahead of the IPO of Rural Electrification Corporation.

Rural Electrification IPO

Rural Electrification IPO was oversubscribed 2.3 times to 33 crore shares. The company plans to offer 15.6 crore shares at a price between 90 rupees and 105 rupees.

Banking stocks posted marginal gains

IT and healthcare stocks were in demand while selling pressure was evident in realty and oil and gas stocks.

Bajaj Auto led the gainers in the Sensex index with a rise of 6%. Ranbaxy, ACC, TCS and Grasim Industries were the other gainers among the index stocks with a rise of more than 2.7%.

Of the CNX 50 stocks, Nalco, SAIL, HCL tech surged by over 2.2% each.

Reality stocks fell

The BSE real estate index declined 1.8%. Puravankara, Mahindra Lifespace, Anant Raj, Omaxe and DLF were the major losers in this index.

Turnover

Daily turnover of the BSE stood at 5,114 crore rupees and on the National Stock Market was recorded at 12,726 crore rupees.

OnMobile Global was the most active on the BSE with total turnover of 1,042.25 crore rupees. Reliance Natural Resources, Reliance Capital, Reliance Power and Reliance Energy were also among active stocks on the BSE.

Economic News

Foreign ministers of India and Brazil have revived calls for the US and the European Union to cut agricultural subsidies and open agricultural markets to competition, in a bid to revive the stalled Doha round of trade talks.

France on Monday announced that 20 European nations had rejected the latest World Trade Organization proposals for a global trade deal, saying that plans to slash import tariffs and subsidies threatened European farmers. Less than 5% of European population and 3% in the U.S. rely on farming. More than 60% of people in India and 40% in Brazil rely on farming.

The US and EU have defended some farm subsidies and agricultural import tariffs, while Brazil, India, China and other developing nations have fought to preserve tariffs on manufacturing imports - bringing the WTO''s long-struggling Doha round of trade talks to a standstill.

The talks, begun in Doha, Qatar, in 2001, are intended to lower trade barriers and boost global commerce, lifting millions of people from poverty.

Gainers and Decliners

Bajaj Auto surged 6% to 2,331 rupees on 1.22 lakh shares and led the advancers in the Sensex index.Bajaj Auto today said the Bombay High Court has sanctioned a scheme of arrangement between the company, Bajaj Holdings & Investment and Bajaj Finserv and their respective shareholders and creditors.

ACC gained 4.8% to 792.50 rupees. Other cement manufacturers were also in the green. Ambuja Cement was up 0.83 to 116 rupees, UltraTech Cement Company grew 0.2% to 892 rupees, India Cement gained 1.4% to 209.1 rupees and Grasim climbed 2.6% to 2,860 rupees.

Larsen & Toubro rose 1% to 3,546.5 rupees, ITC lost 2.3% to 204.8 rupees, and DLF shed 2.8% to 836 rupees.

Bharat Heavy Electricals jumped 0.3% to 2,222 rupees after it received an order worth 650 crore rupees from General Electricity Company, Libya for setting up a 300 mw gas turbine based power plant.

Ranbaxy Laboratories gained 4% to 412 rupees and Cipla advanced 1.7% to 187.95 rupees. HDFC Bank surged 0.5% to 1,565.35 rupees, State Bank of India gained 0.5% to 2,265 rupees and ICICI Bank was up 0.4% to 1,213 rupees.

Infosys Technologies jumped 1.3% to 1,573 rupees and TCS gained 3.2% to 879.50 rupees. However, Wipro was down 0.5% to 412.5 rupees and Satyam Computers shed 1% to 421.9 rupees.

Oil & Natural Gas Corporation slipped 0.8% to 1,013.10 rupees on reports that the company has been registered with Iraqi authorities for tenders to develop the world''s third-largest oil reserves.

DLF lost 2.8% to 836 rupees on reports the company has entered into a joint venutre with Italian designer Giorgio Armani in the retailing sector.

Reliance Update

Reliance Industries fell 0.8% to 2,532 rupees on reports that the company is in advanced talks with the New York-based Vornado Realty Trust, leading American real estate investment companies, to float a $1-billion plus fund.

Reliance Energy slipped 4.7% to 1,617 rupees It led the decliners in Sensex index. Reliance Communications slid 2% to 600.25 rupees, and Reliance Natural Resources shed 2.4% to 139.6 rupees. Reliance Power was down 0.5% to 411.75 rupees.

International Markets

In Tokyo Nikkei 225 Index closed higher 122.51 or 0.90% to 13,757.91, in Hong Kong Hang Seng index increased 363.92 or 1.53% closed to 24,123.17. Australia ASX 200 index increased 60.70 or 1.09% to close 5,619.10.

In South Korea Kospi Index increased 24.28 or 1.43% to close at 1,720.52, in Thailand SET index closed higher 10.63 or 1.29% to 835.62 and Indonesia JSE Index edged increased 27.17 or 1.01% to 2,711.87. Sensex index in India increased 27.61 or 0.15% to 18,075.66.

Infosys and Nihon Unisys

Infosys Technologies gained on signing a memorandum of understanding with Nihon Unisys, Japan for strategic business deployment and joint development for sales and service offerings.

On BSE, 1.26 lakh shares were traded in Infosys. The stock had an average daily volume of 2.70 lakh shares in the past one quarter.

The stock hit a high of 1,576 rupees so far during the day. The stock had a 52-week high of 2,439 rupees on 19 November 2007 and a 52-week low of 1,212 rupees on 22 January 2008.

The alliance is the maturing of the June 2007 partnership between Nihon Unisys and Infosys to execute large-scale system upgrades of Oracle e-business suite for Nihon Unisys'' customers.

The alliance will also explore mutually beneficial areas where the global delivery model can be leveraged to jointly go to market.