06 - June - 2005

Markets failed to retain gains and bowed to pressure towards the end of trading session to end almost flat. The Sensex sailed past the 6800 mark in early trades this morning as investors, continuing from where they had left off on Friday last, went on a buying spree almost across the board. Besides expectations of strong inflow of funds from institutional investors, hopes that the government would speed up reforms process in the banking sector and the possibility of an amicable settlement between the warring Ambani brothers Mukesh and Anil were the factors that propped up the sentiment right at the commencement of trade today.

The market gained further ground around mid morning and though it turned a bit rangebound past noon, buying emerged once again by mid afternoon, lifting values up sharply. But a heavy bout of selling pressure engulfed the market during the fag end of the sessionas investors chose to book profits after a sustained upmove, resulting in the indices declining towards their previous closing marks as the day ended.

Up nearly 61 points at 6813.91 at one point today, the BSE barometer suffered a sharp setback during the final few minutes of the session to end way down from that level, at 6758.19, netting just a minor gain of 5.19 points for the day. On the National Stock Exchange, the 50 stock Nifty posted a high of 2109.10 before slipping down to close at 2092.80, up by a slender margin of 0.45 points over its previous closing. Markets turned volatile in the final hour of trade. The benchmark indices almost closed in the negative territory on account of profitbooking after the past few days of consistent gains.

HDFC Bank led the Sensex today as the stock closed with nearly 3% gains. Another leading gainer was SBI (up 3%), and this seemed a result of reports that the Finance Minister has expressed his willingness for banking reforms. Steel stocks closed today on a mixed note.Some business dailies had reported that Tisco has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Chhattisgarh government to set up a Rs 100 bn plant in the state.Stocks from the engineering sector closed on a strong note and major gainers here included Cummins India (4%), L&T and BHEL (both 1% up). Gains in L&T seemed to be on reports that the company has won a US$ 19 m (Rs 827 m) order from Oman Cement Company towards setting up a cement plant at Rusayl, Oman, with a annual capacity of 1 MT. The plant is likely to be commissioned in a year's time. At the end of FY05, the company's engineeringdivision had an outstanding order book of Rs 177 bn. Technology stocks were the first to show signs of easing down in afternoon trades even as blue chips from other sectors started losing momentum after a sharp run up the charts. BPCL, HPCL, Kochi Refineries, Mangalore Refineries, Indian Oil Corporation, Bongaigaon Refinery and Chennai Petro ended on a weak note due to sustained selling on these counters. Software majors Infosys Technologies, Wipro, Satyam Computers, Tata Consultancy Services, Patni Computers and i-Flex Solutions closed in the red despite enjoying a few bright spells in the positive territory today. HCL Technologies and Polaris managed to close on a positive note, stronger by 1.25% and 0.35% respectively over their previous closing prices.

Among PSU banks, State Bank of India closed stronger by around 2.45% today. ACC, Gujarat Ambuja Cement, HDFC, ITC, BHEL, Larsen & Toubro, Maruti Udyog, NTPC (the stock made a strong debut as a Sensex component today), ONGC, Ranbaxy Laboratories and Tata Power ended with sharp to moderate gains. Bajaj Auto, Bharti Tele-Ventures and Dr. Reddy's Laboratories finished with modest gains. Reliance Energy failed to retain gains and ended little changed from its previous closing price. Tata Motors and Cipla suffered marginal losses and ITC closed flat. Tisco, Reliance Industries, Hindalco, Hindustan Lever, Hero Honda and Grasim Industries drifted down sharply. Colgate Palmolive, GAIL, IPCL, MTNL, SAIL and Tata Chemicals closed sharply down from last Friday's closing levels while Zee Telefilms, Mahindra & Mahindra, ABB and Tata Tea scored notable gains.

Midcap stocks attracted once again and reflecting the sharp rise in values of several scrips in the segment, the CNX Midcap 200 index touched a new all-time high of 3053 this afternoon. Though the index declined sharply from that level to close at 3036.65, it still recorded a smart gain of 0.58% or 17.45 points today.

SRF, Tata Investments, Hindustan Oil Exploration, Godrej Industries, Datamatics Technologies, Amtek Auto, Avaya Global Trent, Vesuvius, Videocon International, Voltas, West Coast Paper, South East Asian Marine, McDowell, Morepen Laboratories, LML, ICI India, CESC, Clariant, Aban Loyd, IndusInd Bank, Jain Irrigation and Munjal Showa were among the impressive gainers in the midcap space today.

BASF, Berger Paints, Aftek Inofys, Aarti Industries, Apollo Tyres, FAG Bearings, Blue Dart, Deepak Fertilizers, Essel Propackaging, Exide Industries, Gujarat Gas, Geometric Software, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, McMillan Industries, Max India, Kirloskar Oil, IPCA Laboratories, Jindal Polyfilms, Thermax, Motherson Sumi, Navbharat Ferro Alloys, PNB Gilts, Rama Newsprint, Ramco Systems, Titan, Wheels India and Zensar Technologies also ended sharply higher.

Top Movers NSE -
Archies Greetin 134.20 16.80
Shree Rama Mult 18.45 15.31
Precision Wires 122.05 14.98
Crest Communica 83.00 12.16
H B Stockholdin 13.50 10.20

Laggards NSE -
J B M Tools Ltd 99.10 7.81
Shriram City Un 46.15 7.42
Schenectady Her 80.00 5.94
Goldstone Techn 28.30 5.51
Patspin India L 23.20 5.11

Top Volume NSE -
Industrial Fina 14.95 12940907
National Therma 85.65 12371068
Essar Steel Ltd 42.35 11176310
Tata Teleservic 27.10 9433477
National Organi 26.85 7694041

END OF DAILY UPDATE - 06-JUNE-2005