The market settled with decent gains, as buying continued throughout the day’s trading session. Both the benchmark indices Sensex and S&P CNX Nifty struck record highs. Shares from capital goods, banking and IT sectors were in demand, while FMCG shares declined.
The BSE 30-share Sensex was rose 70.55 points to 15,034.67, as per provisional closing. It opened higher at 15,018.71 and surged to strike a record high of 15,085.22 at 14:47 IST, on buying interest tracking firm Asian and US bourses. The Sensex had slipped to a low of 15,005.47, at 10:34 IST.
It oscillated a mere 85 points throughout the day’s trading session, indicating the absence of volatility on the bourses.
The S&P CNX Nifty was up 34.55 points to 4419.40, as per provisional closing. It struck an all time high of 4,427.55 in intra-day trade.
The market breadth was strong on BSE, with 1,622 shares advancing as compared to 1047 that declined, while 75 remained unchanged.
The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 4,551 crore as compared to Rs 3,497 crore by 14:30 IST.
Among the Sensex pack, 20 gained, while the remaining declined.
Reliance Energy was the top gainer among the Sensex constituents. It advanced 2.52% to Rs 613, on 3.44 lakh shares. As per reports, a consortium led by Reliance Energy (REL) has emerged as the successful bidder for the Rs 6,400 crore business district project proposed in Hyderabad by the state-owned Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC). The project is expected to be completed in five years. Reliance Energy will hold 66% equity in the project while its joint venture partner, Sobha Developers, will hold 23% stake. The remaining 11% equity will be held by APIIC towards the land component of the project.
Capital goods shares were in demand. State-run engineering major Bhel gained 1.40% to Rs 1,577.70, after striking an all time high of Rs 1594. Engineering and construction major Larsen and Toubro (L&T) advanced 2.26% to Rs 2417.90, after striking an all-time high of Rs 2,425. Both Bhel and L&T firms are sitting on robust order books that provide a strong visibility of revenue growth.
L&T is planning to take three more companies, operating in infratech, infotech and finance, to the primary market as part of its efforts to reorganise the corporate structure. As per reports, the infratech arm will be the first to tap the market in the next 12 to 18 months, while the other two companies will take about three years to hit the market.
Banking shares surged on rumours that the Reserve Bank of India may cut cash reserve ratio (CRR). State Bank of India (up 1.48% to Rs 1573.10), Union Bank of India (up 12.13% to Rs 145.60), HDFC Bank (up 1.55% to Rs 1171.25), Bank of India (up 3.58% to Rs 230.25) and Punjab National Bank (up 3.79% to Rs 544.10), edged higher.
IT stocks were in demand on renewed buying interest ahead of Q1 June 2007 results. A rally in their ADRs on Friday, 6 July 2007, aided gains in IT shares. Infosys Technologies (up 1% to Rs 1,990.90), Wipro (up 0.88% to Rs 524), and TCS (up 1.46% to Rs 1,176) advanced. Infosys declares its Q1 June 2007 results on Wednesday, 11 July 2007. Infosys ADR surged 4.8% to $52.59 and Wipro ADR gained 5% to $16.08 on Friday, 6 July 2007.
Meanwhile, the rupee climbed towards a nine-year peak on Monday, 9 July 2007, as traders built positions in the local unit in anticipation of strong foreign investment flows and on positive cues global equities. In early trade, the partially convertible rupee was at 40.39/40 per dollar, strengthening from Friday's (6 July 2007) 40.46/47, and moving towards a nine-year high of 40.28, hit in late May 2007.
Index heavyweight Reliance Industries was lacklustre today. It closed 0.03% lower at Rs 1,710.80, on 3.46 lakh shares. It moved in a range of Rs 1701.10 –1719.
FMCG major Hindustan Unilever lost 3% to Rs 194, on 9.58 lakh shares, and was the top loser from Sensex pack. The stock slipped on profit booking. IT also slipped 0.32% to Rs 155.
ICICI Bank continued to see selling pressure for the second straight day. It lost 1.23% to Rs 969.50, on 14.99 lakh shares. The 5.81-crore shares of ICICI Bank offered in its follow-on public offer (FPO) completed last month were listed on the bourses on Friday, 6 July 2007. The company had priced its FPO at Rs 940 per share. Retail investors were offered the shares at a discount of Rs 50, i.e., at Rs 890 per share. The issue was subscribed 11.5 times, with qualified institutional buyers bidding 21.6 times. It was open from 19 June 2007 to 22 June 2007.
The stock declined after it cut home loans rates under Rs 20 lakh for new customers by 50 basis points (100 bps is equal to 1%).
Cipla (down 0.65% to Rs 210.75), Maruti Udyog (down 0.61% to Rs 791), and Grasim (down 0.61% to Rs 2760), were the other losers.
Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) dropped 0.30% to Rs 785 and Hero Honda Motors shed 1.55% to Rs 687. The former replaced the latter in BSE Sensex from today.
Roman Tarmat was hovering at Rs 319.85, a premium of 82.77% over the IPO price of Rs 175. The scrip debuted at Rs 295, and had touched a high of Rs 376.25 and a low of Rs 295 during the day. On BSE, 81.89 lakh shares of the scrip had changed hands. Roman Tarmat is a Mumbai-based infrastructure company constructing highways, runways and other civil work.
