Sensex ends at record high for 4th straight session; Bank, Oil & Gas stocks lead

Key share indices ended at record highs for the fourth straight session today, on the back of gains in bank, and oil and gas shares, said dealers. Short covering ahead of September futures contract expiry Thursday also helped, they said.

 

Metal and construction shares were big gainers today, and also there was short covering that boost the upside. Dealers said gains in index heavyweight Reliance Industries also helped indices touch new highs today.

 

Reliance Industries rose 3% to Rs 2,356 after it confirmed its oil find in the D4 block of the Krishna-Godavari basin. The company today also announced it may hive of its exploration and production business after assessing the full potential of the KG basin.

 

Bombay Stock Exchange's 30-share Sensex ended at a record closing high of 16845.83, up 281.60 points or 1.7% from Friday. Intraday it touched a lifetime high of 16869.64.

 

National Stock Exchange's 50-share Nifty ended at a record closing high of 4932.20, up 94.65 points or 2%. Intraday it touched a lifetime high of 4941.15. Turnover on both the exchanges stood at a record high of roughly 265 bln rupees, compared with 232 bln rupees Friday. CNX Midcap Index and S&P CNX 500 Index ended up over 1% each. Market timings will be extended to 4:15PM, starting Tuesday, until Oct 9, on account of sun outage. Trading will be suspended from 11:25AM to 12:05PM.

 

GAINERS

 

BSE Oil & Gas Index rose nearly 3% and was the top gainer among BSE sector indices. Reliance Energy was the top gainer on Nifty, up 8% at 1,092 rupees, after the company said it would develop projects of 20,000 MW and bid for four transmission projects as well. Reliance Petroleum also rose 8% to 167 rupees. "There has been talk about some placement of shares with Chevron or some other global player, and that has also been driving the stock up since Friday," said a dealer.

 

GAIL India rose 6.5% to 376 rupees on reports it is considering a bonus share issue.

 

Bank and auto shares gained amid hopes the Reserve Bank of India would go ahead and cut interest rates. Punjab National Bank ended up 5% at 539 rupees, while ICICI Bank rose 3% to Rs 997. State Bank of India ended up 1% at 1,829 rupees. Housing Development Finance Corp. rose 1% to 2,385 rupees on news the company will cut home loan rates by 50 basis points Tuesday. After market hours, the lender said it cut home loan floating rate to 10.50% until Oct 31.

 

Maruti Suzuki, up 7% at 1,001 rupees, led the auto pack. Hero Honda Motors gained 4% at 770 rupees while Bajaj Auto advanced 3% to 2,577 rupees. Metal shares were also among gainers today as metal prices on the London Metal Exchange remained firm. Sterlite Industries and Hindalco Industries rose 1% each to 710 rupees and 162 rupees respectively.

 

LOSERS

 

Technology shares were among major laggards as their margins are likely to be hit on account of a rising rupee. Infosys Technologies, down 3.5%, was the worst hit on Nifty.

 

Pharmaceutical shares also saw some weakness, as an appreciating rupee is likely to weigh on revenues, which are dollar denominated, dealers said. Sun Pharmaceuticals declined 2% to 950 rupees after U.S.-based Eli Lilly sued the company to prevent it from selling a generic version of the latter's hyperactivity-disorder drug Strattera.

 

KEY MARKET MOVES

 

* In the 50-share Nifty, 38 rose and 12 fell.
* In the 30-share Sensex, 22 rose and 8 fell.
* On BSE, there were 1,313 advances and 1,468 declines.
* BSE Oil and Gas Index: Up 3.3%; CNX Bank Nifty: Up 2.5%.

 

India Stocks: Indices at new highs, up 1%; bank, oil, gas shares gain. Key share indices were up 1% in early trade, tracking gains in overseas markets, dealers said. Local bourses hit fresh lifetime highs on the back of gains in bank, and oil and gas shares. The Bank Nifty rose 2% on mounting expectations of a rate cut by the
Reserve Bank of India, dealers said.

 

ICICI Bank rose 2% to 989 rupees, while State Bank of India was up 1% at 1,831 rupees.

 

Oil and gas shares rose led by gains in heavyweight Reliance Industries. The stock rose 2.5% to 2,337 rupees, after it confirmed its oil find in the Krishna-Godavari Basin's D4 Block. Reliance Petroleum, up 9% at 169 rupees, was the top gainer on Nifty. GAIL India was up 5% at 371 rupees. The company is reportedly mulling a bonus issue.

 

CNX Midcap Index gained 0.3%, while S&P CNX 500 Index was up 0.8%. On BSE, advances led declines 2:1. Most auto shares were up, with Hero Honda Motors rising 2% to 756 rupees and Bajaj Auto up 1% at 2,515 rupees. Dealers expect auto shares to see further gains today. We expect some short covering to take place in auto shares as they have not performed in the past few sessions," said Bharat Thakur, assistant manager - dealing, Karvy Stock Broking.

 

Among laggards, technology shares were weak, with the CNX IT Index down 1%, as the rupee strengthened further against the dollar. Indian software firms derive more than half of their revenue from the U.S.

 

Tata Consultancy Services and Wipro dropped 1% each to 1,010 rupees and 436 rupees respectively. Infosys Technologies, down 2% at 1,788 rupees, was the worst hit on Nifty.