Sensex ends above 16,000 mark

Key benchmark indices eked out small gains amid a volatile trading session. Latest data showing that India's services sector rising at its fastest pace in three months during May supported the bourses. The barometer index, BSE Sensex, managed to end above the psychological 16,000 mark after falling below that mark for a brief period in mid-afternoon trade. The BSE Sensex rose 32.24 points or 0.20%, off close to 118 points from the day's high and up close to 41 points from the day's low. The market breadth was positive. The barometer index has gained 565.72 points or 3.66% in calendar 2012 so far (till 5 June 2012). From a 52-week low of 15,135.86 on 20 December 2011, the Sensex has risen 884.78 points or 5.85%. From a 52-week high of 19,131.70 on 8 July 2011, the Sensex has lost 3111.06 points or 16.26%. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) held firm. FMCG and realty stocks edged lower. Capital goods stocks rose on bargain hunting after recent losses. Telecom stocks fell across the board ahead of the meet of an empowered group of ministers (EGoM) headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, today to decide on the base price for the much-awaited auction of telecom spectrum. The market edged higher in early trade. It regained strength to hit fresh intraday high after trimming initial gains to hit fresh intraday low in morning trade. It regained strength after trimming gains after hitting fresh intraday high in mid-morning trade. It extended gains to hit fresh intraday high in early afternoon trade. Key benchmark indices pared gains in afternoon trade as bargain hunting emerged at higher levels. It regained positive terrain after slipping into the negative terrain in mid-afternoon trade. The BSE Sensex rose 32.24 points or 0.20% to 16,020.64, its highest closing level since 31 May 2012. The index rose 149.89 points at the day's high of 16,138.29 in early afternoon trade. The index fell 8.63 points at the day's low of 15,979.77 in mid-afternoon trade. The S&P CNX Nifty rose 15.15 points or 0.31% to 4,863.30, its highest closing level since 31 May 2012. The index hit a high of 4,898.95 in intraday trade. The index hit a low of 4847.70. The BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.33% and the BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.21%. Both the indices outperformed the Sensex. The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On BSE, 1,406 shares rose and 1,291 shares fell. A total of 131 shares were unchanged. From 30-share Sensex pack, 18 shares gained and the rest fell. NTPC (up 1.98%), Hindalco Industries (up 1.60%) and HDFC Bank (up 1.45%), edged higher from the Sensex pack. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) rose 1.39% to Rs 702.25, with the stock extending Monday's 1.31% gains. RIL bought back 8.2 lakh shares at average price of Rs 700.226 per share on 28 May 2012. The company cumulatively bought back a total of 2.09 crore till 28 May 2012 under the share buyback programme. RIL recently said it has selected Phillips 66's E-Gas technology for its planned gasification plants at Jamnagar in Gujarat. The planned gasification plants at Jamnagar will be among the largest in the world and will process petroleum coke and coal into synthesis gas utilizing the E-Gas technology, RIL said in a statement. The synthesis gas will be used as a feedstock for a new chemical complex and will fuel the Jamnagar refinery's existing gas turbine power generation units, RIL said in a statement. Essar Oil rose 0.40% after the company said it has completed its Optimisation Project, which has taken the capacity of its Vadinar Refinery in Gujarat to 20 MMTPA, or 4.05 lakh barrels per day. Essar Oil said that the Optimisation Project has been completed four months ahead of schedule. The company had completed the Refinery Expansion Project to raise its nameplate capacity to 18 MMTPA from 10.50 MMTPA on 29 March 2012 with an investment of Rs 9100 crore. For Optimisation Project, Essar Oil has invested an additional Rs 1700 crore, taking the total investment at Vadinar Refinery to approximately Rs 24000 crore. The company now accounts for about 10% of India's total refining capacity, Essar Oil said in a statement. Essar Oil has set up the refinery at a low capital cost of $12.746 per barrel, which is about half the global average, the company said. Telecom stocks fell across the board ahead of the meet of an empowered group of ministers (EGoM) headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, today to decide on the base price for the much-awaited auction of telecom spectrum. Bharti Airtel (down 2.58%), Reliance Communications (down 1.19%), Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) (down 0.7%), MTNL (down 0.68%) and Idea Cellular (down 0.33%), edged lower. In its last meet, the Telecom Commission (TC) left the decision on the EGoM for fixing the spectrum price to be auctioned, and asked Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Chairman Rahul Khullar to analyse the reserve prices proposed earlier and their impact. The Telecom Commission has already sent its recommendations in the matter and had suggested auctioning 10 Mhz of spectrum. TC has not taken call on reserve price. Telecom Commission has suggested renewal of 10 years license fees and has asked for keeping 800 Mhz price at twice 1800 Mhz. India's largest commercial vehicle maker by sales Tata Motors fell 3.15% to Rs 221.55 on reports the finance ministry is now looking to raise excise duty on vehicles using the subsidised diesel fuel to discourage consumption of the fuel and bolster its tax revenues. Equitable duty makes diesel cars a preferred option as diesel is a subsidised fuel and shielded from regular increase in prices. Tata Motors' total sales (including exports) of Tata commercial and passenger vehicles rose 4% to 64,347 vehicles in May 2012 over May 2011. The company's domestic sales of Tata commercial and passenger vehicles for May 2012 rose 6% to 60,128 units in May 2012 over May 2011. FMCG stocks edged lower. ITC (down 1.89%), Hindustan Unilever (down 1.07%), United Breweries (down 0.91%), Ruchi Soya Industries (down 0.7%), United Spirits (down 0.38%), Dabur India (down 0.34%) and Marico (down 0.33%), edged lower. Realty major DLF fell 1.48% to Rs 183.25, with the stock extending recent losses. The company said last week that consolidated net profit fell 38.55% to Rs 211.70 crore on 4% fall revenue to Rs 2747 crore in Q4 March 2012 over Q4 March 2011. Higher base effect was partly responsible for the decline in bottom line. DLF said consolidated net profit of Rs 345 crore in Q4 March 2011 included one-time gain of Rs 72 crore. Earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) rose 9% to Rs 928 crore in Q4 March 2012 over Q4 March 2011. Consolidated net profit declined 27% from Rs 1639 crore on 1% growth in revenue to Rs 10224 crore in the year ended March 2012 (FY 2012) over the year ended March 2011 (FY 2011). Among other realty stocks, D B Realty (down 3.37%), Unitech (down 2.8%), Prestige Estates (down 1.92%), HDIL (down 1.77%), Oberoi Realty (down 1.35%), Sunteck Realty (down 0.79%) and Parsvnath Developers (down 0.28%), edged lower. Capital goods stocks rose on bargain hunting after recent losses. Havells India (up 3.51%), Larsen & Toubro (up 3.08%), Crompton Greaves (up 2.53%), Thermax (up 2.35%), Alstom Projects (up 2.01%), Punj Lloyd (up 1.63%), Bhel (up 1.47%), Lakshmi Machine Works (up 1.42%), SKF India (up 0.33%) and Pipavav Defence (up 0.31%), edged higher. State Bank of India clocked a highest turnover of Rs 145.01 crore on BSE. Wockhardt (Rs 75.12 crore), Tata Motors (Rs 65.57 crore), Larsen & Toubro (Rs 59.88 crore) and Pipavav Defence (Rs 47.01 crore), were the other turnover toppers on BSE in that order. Pipavav Defence reported a highest volume of 57.79 lakh shares on BSE. SpiceJet (47.49 lakh shares), Suzlon Energy (47.20 lakh shares), Birla Power Solutions (46.32 lakh shares) and Lanco Infratech (40.71 lakh shares), were the other volume toppers on BSE in that order. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is reportedly expected to issue directions for scaling up infrastructure targets when he holds a meeting on Wednesday to take stock of such sectors at a time when projects worth Rs 1.46 lakh crore are pending. The meeting called as part of an exercise to boost investor sentiment in the country, will be attended by ministers of infrastructure ministries like power, coal, aviation, shipping and road transport. It is expected to assess the steps to be taken to address hurdles in the path of pushing growth in these sectors. The Prime Minister intends to ensure that ambitious targets are set for major infrastructure sectors and these are achieved as per schedule. India's services sector grew at its fastest pace in three months during May, and firms were more optimistic about the year ahead, a survey showed on Tuesday. HSBC's services purchasing managers' index, compiled by Markit, rose almost two points to 54.7 in May from 52.8 in the previous month. It has posted an above-50 growth reading since November. The index measuring business expectations jumped to a 15-month high of 76.7 last month from 73.8 in April, more than 14 points above its March level. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 637.14 crore on Monday, 4 June 2012, as per provisional figures from the stock exchange. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) deputy governor, Subir Gokarn has hinted at a possibility of a rate cut on June 18 citing dismal GDP data and softening crude prices. However, the onus stays on the Centre for controlling the worsening fiscal balance. India's annual monsoon rains have reportedly arrived at the southern Kerala coast, brightening prospects of higher farm output by aiding farmers to plant summer-sown crops such as rice, soybean and cotton on time. The annual rains are crucial for farm output and economic growth as about 55% of the south Asian nation's arable land is rain-fed, and farm sector accounts for about 15% of a nearly $2-trillion economy, Asia's third-biggest. European stocks were mixed on Tuesday. France's CAC 40 rose 0.37%. Germany's DAX fell 0.96%. London stock market is closed for a two-day public holiday. Finance chiefs of the Group of Seven leading industrialized powers will hold emergency talks on the euro zone debt crisis on Tuesday in a sign of heightened global alarm about strains in the 17-nation European currency area. Standard & Poor's said Monday it sees a one in three chance that Greece will exit the euro zone in the coming months after the country holds elections in mid June. An exit from the euro zone, however, would likely discourage other ailing sovereign states from following suit “having witnessed the resulting economic hardships and long delay in harnessing benefits from national currency devaluation,” S&P said. A rejection by Greek voters to enact financial reforms demanded by the European Commission, International Monetary Fund, and European Central Bank would likely result in a cutoff of international aid and subsequent defaults, S&P said. Greek voters return to the polls on 17 June 2012 after the splintered results of a May 6 parliamentary election left no party able to put together a government. Asian shares advanced Tuesday to take back a portion of heavy losses made in the previous session, as investors hoped that policy makers would step in to stem growing concerns over the global economy. Key benchmark indices in China, Hong Kong, Japan, Indonesia, South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore rose by between 0.15% to 1.53%. China's services industry expanded at its fastest pace for 19 months in May, with new business and optimism about the future robust, according to a private-sector survey of purchasing managers published on Tuesday. The HSBC China Services Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) rose to 54.7 in May, extending from April's six-month peak of 54.1. The survey's compiler, Markit, cited new business growth as the key driver of the index. Services make up about 43% of economic activity. The increase in the HSBC Services PMI comes in marked contrast to China's official non-manufacturing PMI, which showed a second straight monthly decline when it was published at the weekend, easing to 55.2 from April's reading of 56.1. The difference is a result of using differing methodologies and samples. Still, both are above the 50-mark, which divides expansion from contraction. Trading in US index futures indicated that the Dow could fall 6 points at the opening bell on Tuesday, 5 June 2012.