Market Closing Session - 28th Dec

The market ended the choppy session with miniscule losses. The volatility was high on account of weekend profit booking, but value buying supported frontline stocks at lower level. Metal, consumer goods and realty stocks were star performers of the day. Auto and IT stocks edged lower. DLF surged. Wipro slipped. 17 out of 30 stocks from the Sensex pack were in green.

European markets, which opened after Indian markets, were trading in red. Asian markets, which opened before Indian market, were weak after the assassination of Pakistans opposition party leader Benazir Bhutto in nuclear-armed Pakistan increased geopolitical uncertainties. Bhutto was killed on Thursday, 27 December 2007, at a rally in Rawalpindi, raising fears of instability in Pakistan.

India's wholesale price index rose 3.45% in the 12 months to 15 December 2007, lower than the previous week's rise of 3.65%, government data showed on Friday, 28 December 2007. The annual inflation rate was 5.73% during the corresponding week of the previous year. The wholesale price index is more closely watched than the consumer price index, which is published monthly, because it covers a higher number of products and is published weekly.

The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 9.77 points or 0.05% to 20,206.95. The market witnessed a bout of volatility. Sensex hit a low of 20,022.88 in the mid-afternoon trade. At day's low, Sensex lost 193.84. Sensex hit a high of 20,259.45 in early trade. At day's high, Sensex rose 42.73.

The broader CNX S&P Nifty fell 1.80 points or 0.03% to 6079.70.

The BSE Small-Cap index rose 2.16% to 12,901.29 and the BSE Mid-Cap index rose 1.55% to Rs 9,574.57. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

Market breadth was strong. On BSE, 2270 shares advanced and 651 shares declined. 32 shares remained unchanged.

BSE clocked a turnover of Rs 8497 crore compared to Thursday (27 December 2007)'s Rs 8286.79 crore.

The NSE's futures & options (F&O) segment turnover was Rs 50436.85 crore, which was lower than Rs 94658.80 crore on Thursday, 27 December 2007.

Nifty January 2007 futures were at 6119.75, a premium of 40.05 points compared to the spot closing of 6079.70.

Indias largest private sector firm by market capitalization & oil refiner Reliance Industries rose 0.14% to Rs 2898.35.

Indias largest private sector bank by assets ICICI bank fell 1.20% to Rs 1227.10.

India's biggest drug maker by sales Ranbaxy Laboratories jumped 1% to Rs 415.60 after it received tentative approval from the US Food and Drug Administration for galantamine hydrobromide oral solution.

Debutante Transformers and Rectifiers (India) settled at Rs 728 on BSE, a 56.55% premium over IPO price of Rs 465 per share. The stock debuted at Rs 701.10, a 50.77% premium over the IPO price. The stock hit a high of Rs 813.75 and low of Rs 685.20.

India's second largest power utility by revenue Reliance Energy gained 0.97% to Rs 2155.30, off days high of Rs 2218. The stock moved up on reports Reliance Power in which it holds 50% stake, has edged closer to its mega initial public issue. As per reports, a two-member panel of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) office directed that 20% of the equity held the promoter group be locked in for a period of five years, instead of the mandatory three years as per the guidelines on IPOs.

The BSE Metal index rose 2.47% to 19,948.45. It outperformed the Sensex. Tata Steel rose 2.76% to Rs 931.0, Sterlite Industries 1.35% to Rs 1051.95, National Aluminum Company jumped 3.47% to Rs 497.5 and Steel Authority of India rose 2.31% to Rs 279.50.

The BSE Consumer Durables index rose 4.15% to 6,602. It outperformed the Sensex. Videocon Industries soared 10% to Rs 752.10, Titan Industries spurted 3.66% to Rs 1533, and Blue Star jumped 0.37% to Rs 485.

The BSE Realty index rose 3.90% to 12,551.26. It outperformed the Sensex. Indias largest real estate firm by market capitalization DLF moved up 5.31% to Rs 1063.70 on reports the firm plans to raise $5 billion over the next three years by listing five of its business units, including DLF Homes, DLF Retail, DLF Hotels, DLF Utilities and DLF Infrastructure. There are no plans to further dilute equity in group flagship DLF.

Indias second largest real estate firm by market capitalization Unitech spurted 4.18% to Rs 483.80 on reports the company is making an aggressive entry into the booming realty market in the south. It is on the verge of announcing two joint development deals, involving over 1,400 acres of prime land in Hyderabad and Chennai.

Parsvnath Developers surged 7.86% to Rs 457.45, Peninsula Land jumped 4.98% to Rs 143.40, Omaxe gained 4.22% to Rs 573.30 and Indiabulls Real Estate rose 1.71% to Rs 720.

The BSE Auto index fell 0.20% to 5,595. It underperformed the Sensex. Bajaj Auto slipped 2.30% to Rs 2610.95, Maruti Suzuki fell 1.05% to Rs 984.20, Tata Motors declined 0.81% to Rs 730.75, and Amtek Auto fell 0.76% to Rs 425.25. Mahindra & Mahindra rose 0.79% to Rs 834.40.

The BSE IT index fell 0.37% to 4,552.06. It underperformed the Sensex. Indias third largest software exporter by sales Wipro declined 3.52% to Rs 529.95. The stock fell after some reports suggested that Europe-based computer services firm Capgemini has denied takeover talks with Indian rival Wipro. Earlier some reports had suggested that Wipro was preparing a 7 billion bid for taking over Capgemini.

Indias second largest software exporter by sales Infosys Technologies fell 0.47% to Rs 1795.75. The company said during market hours today, 28 December 2007, it would unveil Q3 December 2007 results on 11 January 2008.

TCS declined 1.83% to Rs 1080.05 and Satyam Computers fell 0.40% to Rs 449.60.

Special steel and strips maker Bhushan Steel jumped 3.26% to Rs 1565.50 on reports Japan's Sumitomo Metal Industries has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Bhushan Steel, whereby the Japanese company will assist the Indian counterpart in its proposed integrated steel plant in Orissa.

Among the mid-caps, Monsanto India surged 20% to Rs 1942, SpiceJet soared 18.74% to Rs 86.50, Gulf Oil Corporation spurted 15.04% to Rs 335, Orchid Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals moved up 14.54% to Rs 294.70 and Bajaj Auto Finance rose 14.04% to Rs 426.5.

Among the small-caps, Suraj Stainless surged 20% to Rs 235.25, Glodyne Technoserve soared 20% to Rs 394.10, Ramco Systems spurted 20% to Rs 214.10, ORG Informatics climbed 20% to Rs 94.90, and L G Balakrishnan & Bros moved up 20% to Rs 43.55.

Reliance Natural Resources clocked the highest turnover of Rs 261.61 crore on BSE. Reliance Energy (Rs 218.30 crore), Transformers and Rectifiers (India) (Rs 193.97 crore), SpiceJet (Rs 179.46 crore) and Essar Oil (171.23 crore shares), were the other turnover toppers on BSE in that order.

SpiceJet registered the highest volume of 2.18 crore shares on BSE. IKF Technologies (1.83 crore shares), Himachal Futuristic Communications (1.70 crore shares), Reliance Natural Resources (1.48 crore shares) and GV Films (1.43 crore shares), were the other volume toppers on BSE in that order.

The December 2007 derivative contracts expired yesterday, 26 December 2007. As per reports, Nifty rollover from December 2007 series to January 2008 series stood at 81% while total marketwide rollover stood at 85%, as on Thursday, 27 December 2007. This compared to Nifty rollover 76% from November 2007 series to December 2007 and marketwide rollover of 83% from November 2007 series to December 2007 series.

In Europe, key indices in France, Germany and UK were down by between 0.14% to 0.39%.

Asian stocks were trading lower today, 28 December 2007. Key indices in Japan, China, Singapore, South Korea and Hong Kong were down between 0.60% to 1.70%. However, Taiwans Taiwan Weighted index was up 1%.

US markets declined on Thursday, 27 December 2007, on news of Benazir Bhutto's assassination. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 192.08 points, or 1.42%, to 13,359.61. Broader stock indicators also fell. The Standard & Poor's 500 index declined 21.39 points, or 1.43%, to 1,476.27, and the Nasdaq Composite index fell 47.62, or 1.75%, to 2,676.79.

Crude oil was unchanged today, 28 December 2007 around $97 a barrel as an Energy Department report showed that US inventories fell more than expected. Crude oil for February delivery was at $96.91 a barrel, up 29 cents, on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for February settlement was at $95.11 a barrel, up 33 cents in London.

Source - Capital Markets