Weak trend across most Asian markets today, following a subdued closing by the US indices yesterday, led to some weakness in the Indian indices in early trades. However, positive FII investment figures for yesterday helped the indices to claw back into positive territory by mid-morning trades.

A rally in banking stocks and continued firm trend in cement stocks helped the frontline indices to gain further, despite weakness in the technology sector stocks.

After recording new lifetime highs in early afternoon trades, both indices declined and slipped into the red during the last half hour.

The Sensex recorded a new intra-day lifetime high of 10896 in afternoon trades while the Nifty saw a new high of 3223.

Sensex closed at 10802, a loss of 2 points, and the Nifty closed lower by 8 points at 3195. Nifty March futures closed at a discount of 26 points to the spot index.

SBI was the star of the day after a bulk deal was reported on the BSE at a significant premium to the current market price. The transaction in the FII segment was concluded at Rs1,070 per share.

The stock surged on this news and at one point was trading with gains of more than 4 per cent before closing with gains of nearly 3 per cent.

Other banking stocks like PNB and ICICI Bank also rallied along with SBI, but lost most of their gains in afternoon trades.

FMCG stocks were firm in today's trade as HLL took the sector lead from Dabur in afternoon trades. HLL ended nearly 2 per cent higher while Dabur gained close to 1.5 per cent. ITC added nearly 0.5 per cent.

The big heavyweights ONGC and Reliance Industries added a per cent each, providing considerable support to the indices. Losses on the indices would have been considerably higher if not for the gains on these 2 stocks.

HDFC, Reliance Energy and Tata Motors were the other gainers.
The rally in technology stocks yesterday has once again turned out to be a false start as the frontline stocks gave up most of their gains. Satyam ended nearly 3 per cent lower while Wipro gave up over 2 per cent. TCS, which was the best performer yesterday, ended nearly 1.5 per cent lower.

MTNL gave up more than 3.5 per cent as the stock saw sustained profit booking following the recent rally.

Among the metal stocks, Hindalco and SAIL lost 2 per cent each..
Ranbaxy, Tata Power and BHEL were the other losers among index stocks.

US markets gave up much of their early gains yesterday as crude oil prices staged a come back in afternoon trades. Markets are continuing the subdued trend from last couple of weeks with the indices on a declining trend.

The Dow closed absolutely flat while the S&P 500 and NASDAQ closed with gains of around 0.2 per cent each.

Major Asian markets had a weak session following yesterday's rally. The rise in crude prices affected investor sentiment across the region. The Japanese Nikkei gave up 0.75 per cent while South Korea lost nearly a per cent. Singapore and Hong Kong ended with modest losses. Karachi bounced back, ending nearly 3.5 per cent higher.

Crude oil rallied nearly 3 per cent yesterday on forecasts of colder weather conditions in the US. Besides, analysts are not expecting a further build up in US oil inventories, which are already at a seven-year high. May futures on the NYMEX closed at $61.84 per barrel yesterday. The commodity is trading with modest losses in early European trades today.

HPCL has signed an agreement with Chinese oil major SINOPEC to cooperate in areas like exploration, production, refining, international trade etc.

The board of Reliance Communication Ventures would meet next week to consider a FCCB issue.

Suzlon Energy would start construction of its new manufacturing facility for wind turbines in China tomorrow. The company said the new facility would be operational before the end of the calendar year 2006.

Mid-Cap Action

The mid-cap index was relatively calm through most of the session, holding on to modest gains till early afternoon. The index declined when the frontline stocks faced pressure in the afternoon. Market breadth, which was modestly positive till early afternoon, declined considerably towards close. The CNX Mid-Cap index lost 17 points to end the day at 4631.

The board of Reliance Natural Resources will meet tomorrow to consider raising long term resources to fund future growth. The company said the board would consider issuing equity or equity related instruments. The stock was locked in the upper circuit today as well.

JK Paper will raise nearly Rs100 crore from a preferential issue of equity shares at Rs65 per share. Half of the issue would be subscribed by Fenner India, a promoter company, and the other half by International Finance Corporation.

Essar Shipping is acquiring a double-hull, double-bottom very large crude carrier (VLCC). The vessel was originally built in 2005.

The board of KPIT Cummins has approved a preferential issue of equity shares to International Finance Corporation. The issue would be made at Rs356 per share, lower than the current market price. The company would raise $2.5 million from the issue.

Shareholders of paper major Bilt have approved the merger of APR Packaging with itself.

Geometric Software has launched two new software products. The first one helps in accurate measurement of thickness in 3D models while the other is for optimising material usage while fitting 2D shapes.

3i Infotech has launched a new anti-money laundering and fraud detection software targeted at banks, insurance companies and capital market intermediaries.

Scandent Solutions said it has received the approval of the Karnataka High Court for the merger of Cambridge Solutions with itself.

The board of Media Video is due to meet next week to consider the acquisition of a real estate development company and raising of FII investment limit.

The board of Bhartiya International is also meeting next week to consider investment in infrastructure development companies and preferential issue of equity shares and warrants.

Sakuma Exports, Celebrity Fashions and TTK Prestige were among the major gainers in mid-caps.

JK Cement, Marksans Pharma and GTN Industries were among the significant mid-cap losers on the NSE.

*Disclaimer: The author may have positions in some of 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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Last Update : 14 March, 2006 16:15 PM