The market opened firm on the back of positive global cues as US markets remained firm yesterday and oil declined further. The indices were held firm by oil marketing companies, Infosys and SBI.

Weakness in SBI before announcement of its results pulled the indices down. Tata Motors, Tata Steel and SAIL trended lower and added to the weakness. Markets were trading at their lows of the day before noon.

Better than expected results from SBI helped the markets to recover. Renewed buying in oil marketing companies, Infosys and ICICI Bank helped the indices to close marginally in the positive.

Sensex closed at 6499, up 20 points and the Nifty at 1993, up 2 points. Nifty May futures discount to the spot index narrowed to 6 points from yesterday's 14 points.

Among Nifty stocks, L&T, Infosys and HPCL were the major percentage gainers while Zee Tele, SAIL and Cipla were the major losers.

US markets continued its rally yesterday and closed with gains for the fourth consecutive day. NASDAQ gained over half a per cent while gains at Dow were lower.

Yesterday, Indian ADR's gave up part of their gains from the previous day. Tata Motors, Wipro and ICICI Bank were the major losers. Infosys, HDFC Bank and VSNL also closed with losses. Satyam and MTNL gained well over a per cent each.

Inflation for the week ended 07 May declined to 5.61 per cent from 5.67 per cent reported for the previous week.

Reliance Industries has decided to withdraw the discount given to state owned oil marketing companies on diesel purchased from its refinery. In response, Indian Oil said it may not lift any diesel from Reliance during the current year. Reliance closed lower.

Singapore Telecom has increased its stake in Bharti Tele to over 30 per cent by acquiring part of the stake held by the promoters in the holding company. SingTel considers its investment in Bharti as a strategic investment and has said it would consider increasing its holding in Bharti if the conditions are right. Bharti closed lower by over a per cent.

Bharti has dropped its plans for a sponsored ADR issue. The company said it did not receive satisfactory responses from its shareholders.

Oil marketing stocks had a good day in the markets after the petroleum ministry recommended a furl price hike yesterday. The government indicated that the recommendations would be accepted though the extent of increase may be lower than expected. Indian Oil gained over 2 per cent while BPCL and HPCL gained around a per cent each.

BPCL reported its results yesterday. Profits for the fourth quarter declined over 15 per cent even as revenues increased over 15 per cent.

SBI announced its results for both the quarter and year ended March 2005. Fourth quarter profits have increased by over 20 per cent on a revenue growth of 6 per cent. The bank has been able to post steady growth in its net interest income even as treasury income has come down.

SBI stock was volatile during the day. After opening on a positive note, it declined before the results were announced. As the results turned out to be better than expectations, the stock bounced back to close with gains of close to 2 per cent.

SBI has indicated that it is interested in acquiring more than one bank in Asia and Africa. It had recently acquired a bank based in Mauritius. SBI is also interested in acquiring UTI Asset Management, which manages UTI mutual fund, if offered at the right price.

Another PSU banking major Bank of Baroda, however, disappointed with its results. Fourth quarter profits declined over 35 per cent from those reported during the sale quarter of last year. Even revenues showed a marginal decline as treasury income dropped. The stock declined after the announcement of results.

Mid-Cap Action

Many textile counters had the second straight day of gains on reports of China imposing an export duty on textiles. This came on the back of news about the US forcing quotas on more categories of textiles. However, Indian exporters may still struggle to match Chinese prices on most textile products.

Godrej Industries continued its rally from yesterday by posting gains of over 10 per cent. The company had indicated yesterday that it is willing to look at foreign investment to develop its real estate holdings. Group company Godrej Consumer also gained over 3 per cent.

Mid-cap pharma company, FDC, gained over 5 per cent in early trades after the company received US FDA approval for two of its manufacturing plants.

Aptech Limited declined after 2 days of phenomenal gains. The stock saw a large block deal early in the morning with over 10 per cent of the company's capital changing hands. It is believed that SSI limited, which sold its IT education business to Aptech in return for a stake in the latter, sold its holdings to institutional investors.

Dena Bank reported a massive decline in its profit for the year ended March 2005. Profits have declined from over Rs230 core to Rs61 crore for the full year. For the fourth quarter the bank reported a loss as revenues declined close to 20 per cent. The stock lost over 5 per cent immediately after the announcement.

Centurion Bank reported a turnaround in its fortunes. The bank reported a profit of over Rs9 crore as against a loss of close to Rs98 crore during the previous year. Revenues have also grown at a healthy rate of over 35 per cent. The stock opened firm with gains of over 4 per cent.

Archies, Heritage Foods and Harissons Malayalam were among the best performing stocks among mid-caps.

Tips Industries, Max India and Karnataka Bank were among the significant mid-cap losers.

*Disclaimer: The author does not have any position in the stocks specifically mentioned above at the time of writing this article. This analysis / report is only for the purpose of information and is not an investment advice. Readers are advised to consult a certified financial advisor before taking any investment decisions. While efforts have been made to ensure the accuracy of the information provided in the content the author or publisher shall not be held responsible for any loss caused to any person whatsoever.

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