There seems to be no end to this momentum-led bull run as new sectors come into the limelight on virtually a daily basis and keep the frontline indices in an upward trajectory. Sectors keep alternating the lead and today it was the turn of metals and oil refining and marketing stocks with some help from banking and autos.

Indices opened with some volatility in the morning. After opening with gains, the Nifty went back to Friday's closing levels and the Sensex slipped into the negative for a brief period. The recovery came soon and after trading sideways for another hour, the indices shot up by noon as buying emerged. Sensex crossed the 8400-mark in this surge and managed to stay above that level for the rest of the day.

Among the index stocks, oil marketing companies BPCL and HPCL were the best performers. While BPCL added close to 6 per cent HPCL gained over 4 per cent.

Among the gainers in the metal space, SAIL and Hindalco stood out. Both stocks added over three-and-a-half per cent each. Tata Steel added close to 2 per cent.

Maruti was the best performer among auto stocks, surging almost 6 per cent in afternoon trades. The stock closed with gains of close to 5 per cent. Bajaj Auto added 2 per cent.

ITC added more than 3 per cent to close at a new lifetime high. HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and PNB were the gainers from the banking space.

Sensex closed at 8445, a gain of 64 points, and the Nifty at 2567, a gain of 15 points. Nifty September futures closed at a discount of 10 points to the spot index.

BPCL, Maruti and HPCL were the biggest gainers on the Nifty while ABB, M&M and HDFC were the major losers.

Larsen & Toubro will hold a 26-per cent stake in a new $3.6-billion alumina project to be set up by Dubai Aluminium, also known as Dubal, in Orissa. Dubal would hold the remaining 74-per cent in the project to set up bauxite mine, alumina refinery and a smelter. Dubal is the largest aluminium company in the Middle East and is owned by the government of Dubai Emirate.

The first phase of the project would see the setting up of bauxite mining and alumina refining facilities with a capacity of 1.5-million tonnes per annum. This phase is expected to be completed by 2009 and would involve an investment of $1.1 billion. The smelter would be set up during second phase of the project. The stock added one-and-a-half per cent.

According to newspaper reports, Tata Steel is planning to set up a steel mill in Vietnam. NatSteel, acquired by Tata Steel last year, has a rolling mill in Vietnam with a capacity of 120,000-tonnes per annum. The company had also confirmed that its is close to acquiring steel mills in South-east Asia with a combined capacity of more than 2-million tonnes per annum. The deal is expected to be finalised within the next six months.

Telecom major VSNL has asked the government and TRAI for implementation of carrier access code regime, which would allow subscribers to choose the telecom carrier for domestic and international long distance calls. The implementation would allow the company to offer its long distance telephony services directly to consumers, rather than the current system of bulk sales to other operators like BSNL. The stock closed marginally lower.

Meanwhile, BSNL has reportedly demanded that Tata Teleservices pay ADC on long distance calls originating from its fixed wireless phones for the period starting from Dec 2004. The telecom tribunal, TDSAT, had turned down Tata Teleservices' plea to treat fixed wireless on par with fixed wire line services on which there is no ADC levy. VSNL holds a large stake in unlisted Tata Teleservices. The listed subsidiary of Tata Teleservices, called Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra), operates the Maharashtra and Goa telecom circles.

HPCL is looking at petroleum retailing opportunities in African countries like Senegal and Kenya. The company is also planning more investments in its exploration subsidiary, Prize Petroleum. HPCL is also believed to be in discussions with global oil companies for strategic stakes in its proposed refineries in Bhatinda and Vizag.

The government is reportedly moving forward with the proposal to allow oil companies to sell the cross-holdings in each other. Indian Oil and ONGC hold over 9-per cent stakes in each other. Both companies hold close to 5 per cent each of GAIL, while GAIL in turn holds more than 2 per cent of ONGC. Selling of cross-holdings would help Indian Oil which is finding it difficult to raise funds for investment because of under-recoveries in fuel sales. The government holds very large stakes in these companies and selling the cross holdings would not change the PSU nature of these companies.

US FDA approvals continue to come in for pharma majors Ranbaxy and Dr. Reddy's. Ranbaxy won an approval for Tolterodine tablets used in the treatment of urinary disorders while Dr. Reddy's has won the approval for gastrointestinal drug Nizatidine. Dr. Reddy's added a per cent while Ranbaxy closed marginally lower.

Mid-Cap Action

Mid-caps recovered from the relative underperformance on Friday and rallied strongly throughout the day. While the frontline indices managed gains of over half-a-per cent each, gains on the mid-cap index were above a per cent. The CNX Mid-Cap index closed the day above 3900 for the first time at a new lifetime high of 3905, a gain of 41 points.

Eveready Industries would acquire the dry cell manufacturing company BPL Soft Energy for Rs67 crore including assumed debt of Rs22 crore. BPL Soft reportedly had revenues of Rs130 crore during the last financial year. The BPL group is selling the smaller companies in the group to generate cash for revival of its core consumer electronics business.

After the acquisition Eveready would substantially enhance its position in the dry cell and alkaline cell markets with a share of well above 50 per cent. Its manufacturing capacity would also increase by 20 per cent to over 1.5- billion cells per annum. The stock had been on an upswing for some time now and had touched a new lifetime high yesterday. Eveready lost more than a per cent in today's trade.

HMT's machine tools division would spend Rs80 crore to acquire robotics and automation solutions technology from various European companies. The company is believed to have concluded one agreement with a Swiss company while negotiations are on with others. The stock added close to 10 per cent.

Meanwhile, HMT has signed an MoU with BEML for building and reconditioning of metro railway coaches. As per the MoU, BEML would pass on the orders to HMT and would also collaborate on technology development and transfer. BEML is the only builder of metro rail coaches in the country and is a supplier of coaches to Delhi Metro.

Essar Oil has postponed the commissioning of its 12-million tonnes per annum Gujarat refinery by six months to end of 2006. The refinery has been under construction for a long while now and was expected to be commissioned during the first quarter of next financial year. The company has also scaled down its retailing operations as its is incurring huge losses because of under-recoveries.

There are reports that the LNG terminal of Petronet LNG at Dahej in Gujarat has been damaged after a ship crashed into the facility. The extent of damages is not known. Dahej is the only import terminal of Petronet LNG.

The animation division of UTV Software has won a $10-million contract from a US-based media and content company. The order is for development of a new 3D series for the US company. UTV also said that it may acquire the distribution rights of animation series owned by the US company. The stock surged more than 8 per cent in today's trades.

Construction company Patel Engineering announced two new orders for the construction of a railway tunnel and irrigation projects. The new orders are reportedly worth Rs448 crore.

JSW Holdings has been recognised as an NBFC by the RBI. The company is an investment vehicle of the Jindal South West group formed by de-merging the investment holdings of erstwhile JISCO. The company holds a stake in JSW Steel, besides other investments.

Jindal Saw, Welspun Gujarat, PSL Limited and Man Industries are among the bidders for the construction of GAIL's Dahej-Uran gas pipeline. The project is worth close to Rs1,000 crore.

Sesa Goa, Amtek Auto and Garden Silk were among the significant mid-cap gainers on the NSE.

Atlas Cycles, India Infoline and Videocon International were among the significant mid-cap losers on the NSE.

*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.