MARKET
COMMENTARY
Market
ends slightly higher; RIL gains
TODAY'S
MARKET
The provisional
closing for the Sensex is 17243, 12 points up its previous close.
The provisional closing for the Nifty is 5117, 12 points up its previous
close.
MARKET
BREADTH
The market
breadth was strong on BSE with 1,711 shares advancing as compared to
1,007 that declined. 75 remained unchanged.
Among the
30-member Sensex pack, 16 declined while the rest gained.
TODAY'S
HIGHLIGHTS
Oil &
gas stocks rose as crude rose to a record high near $130 a barrel on
Tuesday, 20 May 2008. BPCL (up 1.98% to Rs 356), Indian Oil Corporation
(up 0.57% to Rs 408), and Cairn India (up 0.69% to Rs 330.10) and ONGC
(up 0.02% to Rs 936.50) edged higher.
India’s
largest private sectors firm by market capitalisation and oil refiner
Reliance Industries (RIL) rose 2.61% to Rs 2,670. Reportedly, the government
has confiscated the company’s five blocks in the Kerala-Konkan
(KK) basin after it failed to meet the minimum work programme.
Metal stocks
were mixed. National Aluminium Company (up 5.79% to Rs 544), Tata Steel
(up 3.07% to Rs 922.10), Sterlite Industries (up 0.54% to Rs 945) edged
higher. Hindalco Industries (down 1.21% to Rs 196.65), Steel Authority
of India (down 1.28% to Rs 181.50) edged lower.
Banking
stocks declined. India’s largest private sector bank in terms of
net profit ICICI Bank declined 1.77% to Rs 911.25.
HDFC Bank,
India's second largest private sector bank in terms of net profit, declined
3.51% to Rs 1,413.30. The Reserve Bank of India has approved the Scheme
of Amalgamation of Centurion Bank of Punjab with HDFC Bank. The Scheme
of Amalgamation will come into effect from 23 May 2008.
India’s
largest commercial bank State Bank of India (SBI) rose 0.37% to Rs 1,661.55.
The bank today said it would resume tractor and farm equipment loans
with immediate effect, having earlier suspended new loans because of
rising defaults.
Consumer
durables stocks declined. Blue Star (down 2.22% to Rs 449), Titan Industries
(down 0.97% to Rs 1,200.60), Videocon Industries (down 0.07% to Rs 410.05)
edged lower.
Mahindra
& Mahindra (up 3.09% to Rs 670), Bharat Heavy Electricals (up 2.03%
to Rs 1,771.70), Grasim Industries (up 1.57% to Rs 2,323.10), Tata Motors
(up 1.55% to Rs 688.85), Tata Consultancy Services (up 1.18% to Rs 963.95),
ITC (up 1.13% to Rs 228.45), ACC (up 1.05% to Rs 689.60) edged higher
from the Sensex pack.
HDFC (down
3.13% to Rs 2,688.20), Hindustan Unilever (down 2.34% to Rs 236.10),
NTPC (down 2.15% to Rs 182), Cipla (down 2.02% to Rs 204), Ambuja Cements
(down 1.61% to Rs 107.10 edged lower from Sensex pack.
India’s
largest telecom services provider by market share Bharti Airtel declined
0.74% to Rs 822.65. As per reports Bharti Airtel has forged an exclusive
alliance with Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) that will enable the telco
to access 18,000 retail outlets and 5,500 Indane cooking gas distributors
of the oil giant. The deal also envisages that Airtel can use IOC outlets
to sell its products, collect bills, set up PCO facilities and even
open Bharti retail outlets on an exclusive basis.
Unity Infraprojects
declined 0.35% to Rs 533.50 even as the company received two orders
aggregating to Rs 383 crore from Haryana State Roads and Bridges Development
Corporation, Chandigarh.
Ranklin
Solutions rose 2.88% to Rs 153.70 after the company said it has decided
to acquire 51% of the shareholding in Logic Bytes for a total consideration
of Rs 0.91 crore. Logic Bytes is into business process outsourcing (BPO).
ASIAN MARKET
Asian shares
were mixed. Shares in China and Hong Kong rose after an initial slide.
Key benchmark indices in Hong Kong and China rose between 1.16% to 2.93%.
Key benchmark indices in Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan were
down by between 0.26% to 1.65%. US MARKET
US markets ended mixed on Monday 19 May 2008 after a late-day sell-off.
Weakness in techs, retail and housing prompted traders to lock in some
profits. The Dow gained 41.36 points, or 0.32%, to 13,028.16. The S&P
500 rose 1.28 points, or 0.09%, to 1,426.63. The Nasdaq composite index
was down 12.76 points, or 0.50%, to 2,516.09.
EUROPE
MARKET
European markets were in green. Key benchmark indices in France, Germany
and UK were up by between 0.05% to 0.77%.
By Globex
Advisory
Updated:
22nd May 2008
