Market gains smartly

The market ended with smart gains for the fourth consecutive session in a row on expectations the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government will win the trust vote in parliament. The market, which had turned volatile in the second half of trading session on account of weak global cues, firmed up in the late trade again on all round buying support. All the sectoral indices on BSE, barring the auto index, ended in green.

As per provisional data released by the stock exchanges after trading hours, foreign funds today, 22 July 2008, sold shares worth a net Rs 597.35 crore. Domestic funds bought shares worth a net Rs 261.61 crore.

Meanwhile, a high drama was witnessed in Lok Sabha today afternoon after market hours when Ashok Argal, a BJP MP from Morena walked into the well with a bag full of currency notes, which he claimed was given by a Samajwadi Party leader in return for his support in the trust vote. Amid the chaos, Deputy Speaker Charanjit Atwal adjourned the House briefly

The government is seeking the trust vote after the Left parties early this month withdrew support to the government. Reports suggest that the government has a wafer-thin edge of winning the trust vote.

Following disruption in Lok Sabha in afternoon, voting on the trust motion was likely to be delayed. Earlier Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee had announced that electronic voting will take place on the trust motion in parliament at 18:00 IST today. A debate on the trust vote is going on in the parliament since yesterday in a special session being held for the purpose.

If the government wins the confidence vote it will continue to be in power. If the government loses the trust vote, the president could ask the prime minister to continue in power as a caretaker government. The Election Commission of India will then fix a date and mid-term polls will be held.

The 30-share BSE Sensex advanced 254.16 points or 1.84% at 14,104.20. The index gained 356 points at day's high of 14,206.13 hit in early afternoon trade. The Sensex shed 51.86 points at day's low of 13,798.18, hit at the onset of trading session.

The broader based S&P CNX Nifty advanced 80.6 points or 1.94% at 4240.10. Nifty July 2008 futures were at 4271.90, at a premium of 31.80 points as compared to spot closing.

The BSE Mid-Cap index was up 1.69% to 5,346.03 and the BSE Small-Cap index was up 1.53% to 6,536.42.

The market breadth was strong on BSE with 1849 shares advancing as compared to 734 that declined. 74 remained unchanged.

BSE clocked a turnover of Rs 5504 crore, higher than Rs 4,408.03 crore on Monday, 21 July 2008. NSE's futures & options (F&O) segment turnover was Rs 54,100.84 crore, which was higher than Rs 43942.21 crore on Monday, 21 July 2008.

The market has witnessed a solid surge ahead of the government's trust vote. Sensex has risen for four consecutive trading sessions ahead of trust vote in the parliament later today. Sensex has risen 1528.4 points or 12.15% in last four trading sessions from its close of 12575.80 on 16 July 2008. The barometer index is down 6182.79 points or 30.47% in the calendar year 2008 so far from its close of 20,286.99 on 31 December 2007. It is 7102.57 points or 33.49% away from its all-time high of 21,206.77 struck on 10 January 2008.

ITC (up 6% at Rs 189.90), Wipro (up 5.93% at Rs 394.75), Cipla (up 4.99% at Rs 237.75), Reliance Communication (up 4.83% at Rs 468.15), and ACC (up 4.08% at Rs 564.50), were the prominent gainers from the Sensex pack today, 22 July 2008.

India’s largest drug maker by sales Ranbaxy Laboratories rose 1.03% at Rs 462.90 after the company said a UK court had quashed the country's Serious Fraud Office's (SFO) prosecution of the firm's subsidiary. Ranbaxy said in a statement the English Crown Court had also declined an application by the SFO for permission to appeal to the English Court of Appeal. However, the SFO retained a right to appeal to the court directly, the Indian firm said.

Jaiprakash Associates (down 4.26% at Rs 159.45), Bharti Airtel (down 2.47% at Rs 778.75), DLF (down 2% at Rs 454.15), and Tata Motors (down 1.94% at Rs 411.90), were the major losers from the Sensex pack.

India's largest passenger carmaker by sales Maruti Suzuki (India) slumped 9.29% to Rs 587.95. Its net profit fell 6.8% to Rs 465.85 on a 20.9% increase in sales to Rs 4753.58 crore in Q1 June 2008 over Q1 June 2007. Maruti declared the results after market hours on Monday, 21 July 2008.

Power sector stocks were in demand. Reliance Power (up 7.90% at Rs 142.75), GVK Power & Infrastructure (up 7.70% at Rs 33.55), Reliance Infrastructure (up 6.83% at Rs 919.30), and Tata Power (up 6.23% at Rs 1,108.65), soared. The BSE Power index outperformed the Sensex, rising 4.29% to 2,512.68.

India's largest power equipment maker by sales Bharat Heavy Electricals (Bhel) rose 6.04% at Rs 1,597.50. Its net profit rose 33.1% to Rs 384.41 crore on a 33.9% increase in sales to Rs 4329.24 crore in Q1 June 2008 over Q1 June 2007. The company's outstanding order book stood at Rs 95,000 crore as on 30 June 2008. Bhel declared results after market hours on Monday, 21 July 2008.

Electrical equipment maker Areva T&D jumped 6.17% to Rs 1,617.15 after the company said its board will meet on 29 July 2008 to consider a 5-for-1 stock split.

Metal shares rose. Sesa Goa (up 7.01% at Rs 2,878.35), Welspun Gujarat Stahl Rohren (up 7% at Rs 314.15), Jindal Steel & Power (up 6.34% at Rs 1,862.90), and Ispat Industries (up 3.43% at Rs 22.60), soared. The BSE Metal index outperformed the Sensex, rising 3.96% to 12,232.45.

World’s sixth largest steel maker Tata Steel rose 4.32% at Rs 624.35 after its Thailand unit reported a surge in quarterly net profit and on expectations for a domestic price rise.

India's largest state-run steel maker by output Steel Authority of India (Sail) rose for the second day in a row after it reported good Q1 results during trading hours yesterday, 21 July 2008. The stock rose 6.96% to Rs 134.40. Sail's net profit rose 20.3% to Rs 1835.19 crore on a 37.2% increase in sales to Rs 11029.44 crore in Q1 June 2008 over Q1 June 2007.

Banking shares moved up. Kotak Mahindra bank (up 6.97% at Rs 510.15), Axis Bank (up 6.09% at Rs 740.05), and Bank of Baroda (up 5.50% at Rs 243.65), spurted. The BSE Bankex outperformed the Sensex, rising 3.12% to 6,628.98.

India's largest private sector bank by assets ICICI Bank rose 2.67% to Rs 661.30. The stock hit an intra-day high of Rs 677.80 earlier in the day.

India's largest private sector firm by market capitalization and oil refiner Reliance Industries was almost unchanged at Rs 2154.30. Bombay High Court has reportedly adjourned a hearing on the dispute over the gas supply agreement between Reliance Industries of Mukesh Ambani (RIL) and Reliance Natural Resources (RNRL) of Anil Ambani, to Wednesday, 23 July 2008.

For RNRL, the availability and pricing of gas from RIL's Krishna-Godavari basin is critical for the success of its proposed 7,500 megawatt power plant in Dadri. RIL, on the other hand, wants court approval so that it can enter into contracts with third parties for the sale of gas as production from the KG basin draws near.

India’s second largest software exporter by sales Infosys Technologies rose 1.10% at Rs 1578.95.

Power generation equipment maker Thermax rose 4.79% at Rs 401.05 after the company, during market hours today, reported 13.72% rise in net profit to Rs 63.70 crore on a 7.56% increase in sales to Rs 7,16.97 crore in Q1 June 2008 over Q1 June 2007.

State-run mortgage lender LIC Housing Finance rose 1.90% to Rs 262.25 on reports it is set to foray into the venture capital arena and intends to start a Rs 500 crore real estate fund by the end of this financial year.

Drug maker Lupin gained 4.22% to Rs 726.75 on reporting 38.45% rise in net profit to Rs 108.52 on 18.39% rise in total income to Rs 712.42 crore in Q1 June 2008 over Q1 June 2007.

Toys maker Hanung Toys & Textiles gained 0.72% to Rs 190 after posting 101% rise in net profit to Rs 18.69 crore on a 71.4% rise in sales to Rs 146.04 crore in Q1 June 2008 over Q1 June 2007.

Offshore services provider Aban Offshore declined 3.41% to Rs 2,568.40 on concerns of equity dilution after the company said it plans of raise funds through various routes.

Reliance Capital reported the highest turnover of Rs 424.32 crore on BSE. Reliance Infrastructure (Rs 254.36 crore), Reliance Industries (Rs 218.07 crore), Larsen & Toubro (Rs 160.86 crore) and Reliance Natural Resources (Rs 160.10 crore), were the other turnover toppers on BSE in that order.

Reliance Natural Resources clocked a highest volume of 2.21 crore shares on BSE. IDFC (1.23 crore shares), IFCI (1.20 crore shares), Reliance Petroleum (95.29 lakh shares), and Ispat Industries (72.31 lakh shares), were the other volume toppers on BSE in that order.

European markets, which opened after Indian market, were in red. Key indices in UK, France and Germany were down 0.68% to 1.44%. European markets tumbled after a worse-than-forecast profit fall from Ericsson and a revenue warning from Vodafone spooked investors.

Asian markets, which were subdued earlier in the day, pared losses as the trading session proceeded. Key indices in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan were down by 0.02% to 0.93%. However, key index in Japan was up 2.98%. The Asian indices had fallen earlier as several major US companies, including American Express Co, iPod maker Apple Inc and cruise ship operator Royal Caribbean Cruises, disappointed investors with lower-than-expected quarterly results on Monday, 21 July 2008.

US stocks finished lower on Monday, 21 July 2008. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 29.23 points or 0.25% at 11,467.34. The tech-laden Nasdaq Composite Index lost 3.25 points or 0.14% at 2,279.53.