Market Closing Session - 8th Jan

The market posted modest gains in volatile trading. The market had slipped into the red at one point of time in mid-morning trade, coming off sharply from a record high which it had hit at the onset of the trading session. It had recovered from lower level later.

The market breadth was quite weak. Healthcare, metal, consumer durable and auto stocks declined. IT stocks rose. Reliance Industries edged higher. European markets, which opened after Indian market, were firm. Asian markets, which opened before Indian market, were mixed. The Dow industrials and the S&P 500 rose on Monday, 7 January 2008.

The 30-share BSE Sensex rose 60.68 points or 0.29% to 20,873.33, a record closing high. Sensex had surged to a record high of 21,077.53 in early trade. At days high Sensex had risen 264.88 points. Sensex hit a low of 20,696.60. At day's low, Sensex had lost 116.05 points.

The broader CNX S&P Nifty inched up 8.75 points or 0.14% to 6,287.85, a record closing high. It hit all-time high of 6,357.10 in early trade.

BSE clocked a turnover of Rs 11,580 crore compared to Monday (7 January 2008)'s Rs 10,728 crore.

Nifty January 2008 futures were at 6267.10, at discount of 20.75 points as compared to spot closing of 6287.85.

The NSE's futures & options (F&O) segment turnover was Rs 84,355.67 crore, which was higher than Rs 70,004.57 crore on Monday, 7 January 2008.

The BSE Mid-Cap index was down 2.82% to 9,817.07. The BSE Small-Cap index was down 3.28% to 13,516.13. Both these indices underperformed Sensex.

BSE Capital Goods index (up 0.32% to 20,214.92),BSE Oil & Gas index (up 0.55% to 14,051.27), BSE IT index (up 1.18% to 4,244.75) outperformed Sensex.

BSE FMCG index (up 0.03% to 2,505.11), BSE Bankex (down 0.86% to 12,086.57), BSE Realty index (down 0.96% to 13,483.90), BSE Power index (down 1.15% to 4,807.22), BSE Auto index (down 1.26% to 5,594.26), BSE Healthcare index (down 1.28% to 4,297.11), BSE Consumer Durables index (down 2.93% to 6,569.64) and BSE Metal index (down 3% to 19,538.34) underperformed Sensex.

The market breadth was weak on BSE with 539 shares advancing as compared to 2,376 that declined. 23 remained unchanged. 16 stocks from Sensex pack were in red.

Bahrti Airtel (up 4.01% to Rs 974.15), HDFC Bank (up 3.58% to Rs 1,716.30), and State Bank of India (up 2.59% to Rs 2,465.25) surged.

Indias largest private sector firm by market capitalization and oil refiner Reliance Industries was up 1.16% to Rs 3,050.50, off session's high of Rs 3083.

Indias largest private sector bank by assets ICICI Bank fell 2.23% to Rs 1,333.50.

Reliance Natural Resources rose 7.15% to Rs 244.15, on huge volume of 4.23 crore shares on BSE.

Consumer durables stocks declined. Videocon Industries (down 3.9% to Rs 699.30),Titan Industries (down 3.9% to Rs 1,601.55) and Blue Star (down 1.34% to Rs 515.45) edged lower.

Gitanjali Gems declined 2.03% to Rs 430. The company has bought Nakshatra, the premium brand of jewellery promoted by Diamond Trading Company (DTC), for approximately Rs 100 crore through its Dubai-based subsidiary, Gitanjali Ventures. In a separate development, Gitanjali Gems also said it bought diamond and jewellery manufacturer and distributor Brightest Circle Jewellery.

Metal stocks declined. Tata Steel (down 3.66% to Rs 891.80), Sterlite Industries (down 2.95% to Rs 1,034.75), Steel Authority of India (down 2.93% to Rs 263.10), Hindalco Industries (down 3.78% to Rs 208.95) and National Aluminium Company (down 4.74% to Rs 500.50) edged lower.

IT stocks rose. Indias second largest IT exporter by sales Infosys rose 1.47% to Rs 1,662.15. Wipro (up 0.94% to Rs 487.90) and Tata Consultancy Services (up 1.48% to Rs 990.55) edged higher.

Satyam Computer Services, India's fourth-biggest software exporter in terms of sales rose 2.67% to Rs 424.50 after it, said on Monday, 7 January 2008, it had received a major contract from the Irish Further Education and Training Awards Council.

India's biggest power equipment maker by revenue, Bharat Heavy Electricals (Bhel), declined 0.59% to Rs 2,494.30 after the company signed a joint venture agreement with NTPC for establishment and operation of a joint venture company for taking up engineering, procurement and construction business.

Healthcare stocks declined. Cipla (down 1.3% to Rs 209.15), Dr. Reddys Laboratories (down 1.35% to Rs 702.60), Fortis Healthcare (down 6.73% to Rs 110.25), Ranbaxy Laboratories (down 0.57% to Rs 418.50) edged lower.

Auto stocks declined. Tata Motors (down 1.56% to Rs 774.20), Maruti Suzuki India (down 2.43% to Rs 939.65), Hero Honda Motors (down 1.79% to Rs 690.10) edged lower. Bajaj Auto rose 0.1% to Rs 2,538.05.

India's second largest power utility by revenue Reliance Energy declined 1.86% to Rs 2,536. Reliance Energy and the infrastructure major GMR Infrastructure are the only Indian firms shortlisted for buying the $2 billion Tuas Power, owned by Singapores state investor Temasek Holdings.

Manaksia settled at Rs 168.10 on BSE a premium of 5.06% over the IPO price of Rs 160. It debuted at Rs 200 a premium of 25% over the IPO price. The public issue of Kolkata-based Manaksia had ended on 19 December 2007. The IPO was subscribed 9 times. It received bids for 13.61 crore shares against 1.55 crore shares on offer. The price band of the issue had been fixed between Rs 140-160.

Mahindra & Mahindra, India's biggest tractor and utility vehicle maker by revenue, rose 2.41% to Rs 830.10 after it acquired the business of G R Grafica Ricerca Design S.r.l (GRD), an Italian auto designing, body engineering and feasibility and styling company based out of Turin, Italy.

Shares of cement firms that have units in Tamil Nadu were today. ACC lost 1.65% to Rs 985.05, Grasim Industries shed 3.26% to Rs 3,400.60 and India Cements lost 3.68% to Rs 277.10) edged lower. The stocks fell on reports that cement companies in Tamil Nadu are likely to cut cement prices after state governments warning last week that their factories in the state would be taken over if they did not lower the prices immediately.

Himachal Futuristic Communications clocked the highest volume of 4.59 crore shares on BSE. The scrip declined 2.26% to Rs 58.30. Reliance Natural Resources clocked the second highest volume of 4.23 crore shares on BSE. Arvind Remedies clocked the third highest volume of 3.22 crore shares on BSE. The scrip declined 2.98% to Rs 6.18. Reliance Petroleum clocked the fourth highest volume of 2.38 crore shares on BSE. The scrip declined 1.75% to Rs 246.60. Alka India clocked the fifth highest volume of 2.35 crore shares on BSE. The scrip rose 5% to Rs 2.10.

Reliance Natural Resources clocked the highest turnover of 1,020.51 crore on BSE. Reliance Petroleum (Rs 600.16 crore), Reliance Communications (Rs 334.28 crore),Reliance Industries (Rs 276.51 crore) and Himachal Futuristic Communications ( Rs 273.82 crore) were other turnover toppers on BSE in that order.

European markets were in green. Germanys DAX (up 0.63% to 7,866.78) and UKs FTSE 100 (up 0.56% to 6,371.20) edged higher.

Asian markets were mixed on Tuesday, 8 January 2008. Key benchmark indices in Japan, and Taiwan were up by between 0.19% to 1.01%. Chinas Shanghai Composite (down 0.13% to 5,386.53), Hongkongs HangSeng (down 0.25% to 27,112.90), South Koreas Seoul Composite (down 0.27% to 1,826.23) and Singapores Straits Times (down 0.44% to 3,338.10) edged lower.

The Dow industrials and the S&P 500 rose on Monday, 7 January 2008, led by health-care and consumer staple shares, as investors snapped up stock in companies seen able to withstand any economic slowdown following dismal employment data last Friday. But the Nasdaq finished lower, as technology shares with global exposure fell on concerns a US slowdown could damage the global economy. The Dow Jones industrial average ended up 27.31 points, or 0.21%, at 12,827.49. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 4.55 points, or 0.32%, at 1,416.18. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 5.19 points, or 0.21%, to close at 2,499.46