Market Closing Session - 26th Nov

The market ended on a strong note as US shares were buoyed on Friday, 23 November 2007, by a strong start to the US holiday shopping period. Short covering in futures & options segment ahead of expiry of November 2007 derivatives contracts on Thursday, 29 November 2007 also boosted the market. Heavy buying was seen in metal stocks while realty and software stocks also rose. Market breadth was strong. European markets, which opened after Indian market, were in green. Asian markets, which opened before Indian market, were firm.

The 30-share BSE Sensex surged 394.67 points or 2.09% to 19,247.54. Sensex hit a low of 19,137.66 in afternoon trade. At day's low, Sensex was up 284.79 points for the day. Sensex hit a high of 19,360.23 in mid-morning trade. At days high of 19,360.23, Sensex had risen 507.36 points.

The broader based S&P CNX Nifty rose 123.01 points or 2.19% to 5731.70.

The BSE Mid-Cap index was up 1.89% to 8,384.25, while the BSE Small-Cap index was up 1.69% to 10,343.25. Both these indices underperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth was strong. On BSE, 1820 shares advanced and 986 shares declined. 59 shares were unchanged. 28 out of 30 shares in the Sensex pack were in green.

BSE clocked a turnover of Rs 5823 crore compared to Friday (23 November 2007)'s Rs 6,348.22 crore.

Nifty November 2007 futures were at 5761.25, a premium of 29.55 points as compared to spot closing of 5731.70.

NSEs futures & options (F&O) segment turnover was Rs 75903.04 crore, which was higher than Rs 66744.48 crore on Friday, 23 November 2007.

Indias largest private sector firm by market capitalisation and oil refiner Reliance Industries gained 2.54% to Rs 2882.85. The company has sold 4.01% of the equity share in its subsidiary company Reliance Petroleum (RPL) by transactions through the stock exchanges. The aggregate sale consideration is Rs. 4,023 crore and post-sale RILs stake in RPL has come down to 70.99% from 75%.

Reliance Petroleum ended 2.60% lower at Rs 204.05 on huge volumes of 2.46 crore shares on BSE.

Indias second largest telecom service provider Reliance Communications moved up 0.87% to Rs 687.90. The company reportedly plans to sell another 5% stake in its wireless tower business in the second such transaction in this calendar year.

Indias largest commercial bank State Bank of India fell 0.40% to Rs 2242.25.

India's biggest truck maker by revenue Tata Motors slipped 0.62% to Rs 710.20.

The BSE Metal index moved up 5.61% to 17,524.54. It outperformed the Sensex. Jindal Saw gained 8.80% to Rs 814.95, Steel Authority of India (Sail) moved up 5.32% to Rs 265.15, Tata Steel rose 3.47% to Rs 849, Hindalco Industries rose 3.32% to Rs 194.32 and Sterlite Industries gained 2.01% to Rs 896.80.

The BSE Realty index jumped 3.05% to 10,081.27. It outperformed the Sensex. DLF moved up 2.68% to Rs 891.90, Unitech rose 6.05% to Rs 360.50 and Sobha Developer gained 7.15% to Rs 883.10.

The BSE IT index rose 2.02% to 4,098.23. It underperformed the Sensex. Infosys Technologies rose 1.18% to Rs 1576.35, TCS moved up 2.60% to Rs 985, Wipro rose 2.41% to Rs 452.70 and Satyam Computers gained 2.30% to Rs 426.35. The recovery in IT stocks was due to recent weakening of the rupee against the dollar. IT companies derive a lion's share of revenue from exports. They had been hit hard over the past few months due to rupee's surge.

The BSE Capital Goods index moved up 2.25% to 19,751.65. It outperformed the Sensex. Larsen & Toubro gained 1.83% to Rs 4175.50, Bharat Heavy Electricals (Bhel) rose 2.43% to Rs 2605.10, Jaiprakash Associates rose 3.285 to Rs 1679.35 and BEML jumped 9.26% to Rs 1775.70.

The BSE Bankex was up 1.70% to 10,590.95. It underperformed the Sensex. ICICI Bank rose 1.52% to Rs 1157.65, HDFC Bank jumped 5.18% to Rs 1643.70, Union Bank (India) rose 3.54% to Rs 174.20, Punjab national Bank gained 2.94% to Rs 599.60 and Axis Bank rose 0.74% to Rs 936.80.

The BSE Power index moved up 2.20% to 4,376.73. It outperformed the Sensex. Neyveli Lignite jumped 5.44% to Rs 225.95, CESC gained 2.94% to Rs 607.40, Tata Power jumped 2.53% to Rs 1178.80, and NTPC moved up 0.85% to Rs 238.60.

Power utility Reliance Energy gained 3.74% to Rs 1789.55. The company has entered into a joint venture with the countrys main transmission utility Power Grid Corporation of India to execute about 300 kilometre (km) transmission lines from Parbati to Koldam and Koldam to Ludhiana. The company will have a 26% equity holding in the venture while Reliance Energy will have 74% stake.

State-run transmission utility Power Grid Corporation of India was up 0.53% to Rs 152 on volumes of 45.46 lakh shares on BSE.

Walchandnagar Industries, which makes boilers for sugar and cement industry, hit upper circuit of 5% at Rs 8,478.25. The board of the company has approved the issue of one bonus share for each held and splitting each share into five. The board also set a special dividend of Rs 10 a share.

Infrastructure development firm Lanco Infratech rose 2.89% to Rs 444.70 after the company said it has received five letters of acceptance for supply and erection of 33/11 kilo volt substations and 33/11 kilo volt lines in five districts in Andhra Pradesh.

Television maker MIRC Electronics was up 3.48% to Rs 31.20. Sonu Mirchandani, who has a 33% stake in the company, has now offered to buy out his elder brother Gulus share in the company.

Sadbhav Engineering, which constructs roads and highways, moved up 3.10% to Rs 1091.35 after the company received road development projects worth Rs 99.01 crore from the government of Chhattisgarh.

Brokerage firm India Infoline spurted 3.42% to Rs 1153.05 on reports that foreign investors Goldman Sachs and Blackstone are in final stages of negotiations to buy a 26% stake in India Infoline Distribution Company, a distribution subsidiary of the brokerage.

Ceramic tiles maker Nitco Tiles soared 6.05% to Rs 302.25 on reports that leading foreign investors Lehman Brothers, Citigroup, Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Bank and Reliance Capital have picked up a total 15% stake in the company for around Rs 170 crore.

Balaji Telefilms, which provides content to most Hindi satellite channels, surged 12.46% to Rs 376.30 on reports that the company plans to offload 10% to 15% stake in its wholly owned subsidiary Balaji Motion Pictures.

Reliance Petroleum clocked the highest turnover of Rs 516.79 crore on BSE. Jindal Steel & Power (Rs 312.80 crore), Reliance Energy (Rs 202.21 crore), Empee Distilleries (Rs 176.85 crore) and Jaiprakash Hydro-Power (Rs 168.93 crore), were the other turnover toppers on BSE in that order.

Reliance Petroleum registered highest volumes of 2.46 crore shares on BSE. Tata Teleservices (1.56 crore shares), Ispat Industries (1.56 crore shares), Jaiprakash Hydro-Power (1.47 crore shares) and Reliance Natural Resources (1.03 crore shares), were the other volume toppers on BSE in that order.

Fridays US rally boosted stocks across Asia and Europea. In Europe, key indices in France, Germany and United Kingdom were up by between 0.47% to 0.60%.

In Asia, key benchmark indices in Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan were up by between 2.23% to 4.65%. Chinas Shanghai Composite was down 1.46% to 4,958.849.

The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 181.84 points, or 1.42%, to close at 12,980.88 on Friday, 23 November 2007. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 23.93 points, or 1.69% to finish at 1,440.70. The Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 34.45 points, or 1.34%, to end at 2,596.60.

FII sales caused by redemption pressure in their home countries and fears of a US recession arising from housing slump and credit crisis had spooked stocks across Asian over the past few days. Concerns about the health of the US economy remain.

As per provisional data, FIIs bought shares worth a net Rs 50.40 crore today, 26 November 2007. Domestic institutions bought shares worth a net Rs 274.06 crore today.

FIIs sold shares worth a net Rs 173.40 crore on Friday, 23 November 2007. Domestic funds bought shares worth a net Rs 525.86 crore on that day.

Source - Capital Markets