Nifty settles above 4000

The BSE Sensex ended with small gain as buying demand continued at higher levels. Shares from auto, metal and sugar sector witnessed buying interest.

The BSE Sensex rose 29.55 points (0.21%) to 13874.33, which is an all time closing high. The Sensex opened with an upward gap at 13846.71 as buying continued following 148 point’s surge on Friday (1 December) and moved to an all time high of 13912.54. It low for the day is at 13828.90.

The S&P CNX Nifty rose 3.40 points (0.09%) to 4001, an all time closing high. It had advanced to an all time high of 4015.25 in intra-day trade.

The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 4808 crore boosted by two block deals of 20.09 lakh shares each were struck in ICICI Bank counter in the institutional segment at an average rate of Rs 884 per share.

Market breadth was strong on BSE with 1462 shares advancing, as compared to 1090 that declined. 81 shares remained unchanged.

Among the Sensex pack, 16 advanced while the rest declined.

Tata Motors was the top gainer, up 3.64% to Rs 873.55 on 7.02 lakh shares. It had surged to an intra-day high of Rs 887.20. Tata Motors’ vehicle sales rose 43% in November to 49,061 units compared with the same month a year ago. Sales of commercial vehicles rose 46 percent to 25,793, while sales of cars rose 48% to 19,475, helped by a surge in sales of its Indica model. Exports rose 9.6% to 3,793 units. Its ADR surged 5% on Friday on NYSE.

Reliance Energy (REL) (up 3.30% to Rs 558), NTPC (up 2.67% to Rs 152) and Bhel (up 2.53% to Rs 2584) were the other gainers.

Cement maker ACC rose 3.25% to Rs 1169 as investor’s bet that the recent cut in diesel and petrol prices will bring down transportation costs for cement firms. The company reported 2.7% growth in cement dispatches for November 2006 to 1.52 million tonne. Dispatches in the 11-months period January-November 2006 rose nearly 7% to 16.98 million tonne.

L&T gained 3.24% to Rs 1423.55 on reports that the company will foray into arms and ammunitions business.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries rose 0.24% to Rs 1264 on 5.62 lakh shares. The company has restarted a fire-damaged hydrotreater unit at its Jamnagar refinery in Gujarat on 1 December. The unit had been shut since a fire on 25 October. Reliance had said in November that no major equipment had been damaged in the fire.

HDFC Bank was the top loser, down 1.84% to Rs 1100 on 2.66 lakh shares of which 2.40 lakh shares came through a block deal which was executed at Rs 1100 per share on BSE at 13:00 IST

Wipro (down 1.77% to Rs 590.25), Hero Honda (down 1.51% to Rs 760) and Satyam Computers (down 1.47% to Rs 460) were the other losers.

Parsvnath Developers was the second highest traded counter on BSE with total turnover of Rs 301.80 crore followed by Era Construction (Rs 129.35 crore) and Unitech (Rs 103.84 crore).

The Nikkei average fell 0.11% on Monday as exporters such as Honda Motor Co. Ltd. fell on a strong yen while investors flocked to domestic demand-related issues such as property and consumer finance stocks. The Nikkei shed 18.19 points to close at 16,303.59

Hang Seng index rose 11.91 points (0.06%) to 18,702.73

Oil prices gained slightly Monday as fresh comments from key OPEC members over the weekend suggested the oil cartel would push for further cuts in output at its next meeting later this month. Light, sweet crude for January delivery rose 2 cents to $63.45 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The latest data showed FIIs resumed buying after two-day outflow. FIIs bought shares worth a net Rs 258.10 crore on Thursday 30 November while Mutual funds sold shares worth a net Rs 88 crore on that day.

US stocks fell on Friday after a manufacturing index showed its weakest reading in more than three years and a Federal Reserve official said more rate hikes may be required to control inflation. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 27.80 points, or 0.23%, to 12,194.13, while the Standard & Poor's 500 Index dropped 3.92 points, or 0.28%, to 1,396.71. The Nasdaq Composite Index sank 18.56 points, or 0.76%, to 2,413.21.