FIIs in buying mode

 Inflow of Rs 349 crore on 13 February 2008

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth net Rs 349 crore on Wednesday, 13 February 2008, compared to their selling of Rs 115.10 crore on Tuesday, 12 February 2008.

FII inflow of Rs 349 crore on 13 February 2008 was a result of gross purchases of Rs 3969.90 crore and gross sales Rs 3620.90 crore. The 30-share BSE Sensex rose 341.13 points or 2.05% at 16,949.14 on that day.

FII outflow in February 2008 totaled Rs 279.80 crore (till 13 February 2008). FII outflow in calendar year 2008 totaled Rs 13,315.40 crore (till 13 February 2008).

There are a total of 1,285 FIIs registered with the Securities & Exchange Board of India (Sebi)

Global cues see Indian markets open low

The market is likely to remain under pressure after a sharp overnight fall on the US market and weakness among major Asian indices in the ongoing trades. However, FIIs remaining net buyers in equities for last two sessions may bring some cheers to the market. On the downside, support for Nifty is at 4940 and on breaking below this level the next support is at 4695, while on the upside it could test 5350. The Sensex has a likely support at 17000 and may face resistance at 18200.

US indices tumbled on Thursday on investors reaction to Federal chief's congressional testimony that economic conditions are likely to get worse before they get better. While the Dow Jones fell 175 points at 12377, the Nasdaq shed 41 points to close at 2333.

Indian ADRs had a mixed outing on US bourses. Infosys, VSNL, MTNL ,Rediff, Satyam, Tata Motors and HDFC Bank dropped around 1-4% each. While, Dr Reddy's, ICICI Bank, and Wipro were up around 1% each.

Crude oil prices gained further, with the Nymex light crude oil added $2.19 at $95.46 per barrel. In the metals segment, the Comex gold for April series moved up by 80 cents to settle at $910.20 an ounce.

MSCI Index - New additions

MSCI has included Reliance Petroleum, Essar Oil, Centurion Bank of Punjab and Steel Authority of India in a number of MSCI Inc. indices. The inclusion of these firms in the MSCI gauges may increase demand for these stocks by fund managers whose funds track the indices.

Pre Session Commentary - Feb 15 2008

The Indian Market is likely to have a negative opening due to weak cues from the global markets. On Thursday, the market closed with handsome gains by creating a rally across the sectoral indices. The market opened on a firm note taking the strong favoring cues from the global markets i.e. an unexpected rise in US retail sales in Janurary 2008 that gave a boost to the domestic market. In the domestic front, the central government approved the proposal for a hike in retail fuel prices i.e. Rs 2 per litre for petrol while Re 1 for diesel. The BSE Sensex closed higher by 817.49 points at 17,766.63 and NSE Nifty grew by 272.55 points to close at 5,202. We expect that the market may lose grounds during the trading session.

On Thursday, the US market closed in red. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) closed lower by 175.26 points at 12,376.98. S&P 500 index fell by 18.35 points to close at 1,348.86 and NASDAQ dropped by 41.39 points to close at 2,332.54

Indian ADRS ended in negative. In technology sector, Satyam fell by (4.57%) along with Infosys by (1.28%%) while Wipro grew by (1.20%). In banking sector, HDFC bank dropped by 0.56% while ICICI bank jumped by (0.87%). Sterlite Inds increased by (1.35%).

The major stock markets in Asia are trading strong. Hang Seng is trading higher by 706.66 points at 23,876.21 along with Japan''s Nikkei trading up by 364.74 points at 13,433.04 and Taiwan Weighted is trading at 7,772.07 up by 221.52 points.

The FIIs on Thursday stood as net buyer both in equity and debt. The gross equity purchased was Rs3,969.90 Crore and the gross debt purchased was Rs322.30 Crore while the gross equity sold stood at Rs3,620.90 Crore and gross debt sold stood at Rs0.00 Crore. Therefore, the net investment of equity reported was Rs349 Crore and net debt was Rs322.30 Crore.

Today, Nifty has support at 5,117 and resistance at 5,309 and BSE Sensex has support at 17,019 and resistance at 18,056.

Home is where the problem belongs

he strength of a nation derives from the integrity of the home.

Bears feel at home again and the reasons are nothing new. Looks like again we are writing only global issues. But unless that is sorted, there is nothing much to write home about. We expect a lower opening today and much more volatility than yesterday. The US housing woes are far from over. Alan Greenspan says US housing market is a long way from bottoming out. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke painted a bleak picture of the world's biggest economy. However, both Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson are confident that the US will be able to ward off a recession. But, former Fed chief Greenspan says the US economy is on the brink of recession. In fact he has warned that economic conditions would continue to deteriorate until housing prices stabilized.

So, seems like we are back to square one, with all the negative talk going around about the health of the US economy. We need not say more on what's going on in the US and elsewhere. But, the periodic bad news on the US and other developed economies will continue to cast its shadow on our market. As a result, we will see intermittent bouts of buying and selling amid reduced market-wide participation. It is tough for anybody to predict the market's direction in such a backdrop. It will be safe to say that in the near-term, the outlook remains uncertain while over the longer term, India will continue to be among the strongest emerging markets.

FIIs were net buyers of only Rs609.9mn (provisional) in the cash segment on Thursday. Local institutions were net buyers of Rs2.05bn. In the F&O segment, FIIs were net buyers of Rs29.7bn yesterday. FIIs were net buyers of Rs16.92bn in Index Futures and Rs4.75bn in single Stock Futures. On Wednesday, FIIs pumped in Rs3.49bn into the cash segment. Mutual Funds were net buyers of Rs77mn on the same day.

Most Asian markets are trading down this morning after Fed chief Bernanke's grim remarks about the state of the US economy, the region's largest export market. Banks and technology companies led the fall.

The Nikkei in Tokyo was down 202 points or 1.5% at 13,423 while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong slid 476 points or 2% to 23,545. The Kospi in Seoul dropped 17 points or 1% to 1680 while the Straits Times in Singapore was virtually flat at 3041.

The Shanghai Composite in China tumbled 92 points or 2% to 4459 and the Taiex in Taiwan was fell by just 20 points or 0.25% to 7845.

About six stocks fell for each that gained on MSCI's Asian benchmark, which dropped 1% to 142.72 at 10:01 a.m. in Tokyo. Declines trimmed the benchmark's first weekly gain this year to 1.4%.

US shares slipped on Thursday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke acknowledged that a steep slowdown is underway in the world's largest economy amid the ongoing turmoil in the housing and credit markets.

JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Citigroup led declines in 29 of 30 members of the S&P 500 Diversified Financials Index. Intel dropped for the first time in six days. All 10 industry groups in the S&P 500 declined, halting the market's longest rally of the year.

The S&P 500 dropped 18 points, or 1.3%, to 1,348.86. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 175 points, or 1.4%, to 12,376.98. The Nasdaq slumped 41 points, or 1.7%, to 2,332.54.

About five stocks declined for every one that rose on the New York Stock Exchange.

After the close, data networking provider Brocade Communications posted quarterly earnings that fell from a year ago but nonetheless topped forecasts.

Friday brings a host of economic reports, including the NY Empire State manufacturing report before the start of trade and the University of Michigan consumer sentiment report shortly after the start.

Bernanke told the Senate Banking Committee that the outlook for the US economy has worsened recently and that the risks to growth remain to the downside. The Fed chief also said that the prospects could improve later in the year and that the housing sector mess and a weak jobs market will hurt consumer spending.

Bernanke said that big banks could end up taking more writedowns due to the problems with bond insurers. Stocks tumbled in response, with financial, homebuilder and retail stocks leading the decline.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson argued that the US economy should be able to avoid a recession, due to the combination of monetary policy and the fiscal stimulus plan announced by the Bush government.

The December trade gap narrowed more than expected, causing the 2007 trade gap to drop for the first time in six years. The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment fell more than expected last week. And home prices continued to plunge in the last quarter of 2007, posting the biggest quarterly drop ever recorded by the National Association of Realtors.

Treasury prices fell, raising the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to 3.8% from 3.72% late on Wednesday. The dollar fell versus the yen and euro. US light crude oil for March delivery rose $2.19 to settle at $94.46 a barrel in New York. COMEX gold for April delivery rose 60 cents to settle at $910.80 an ounce.

Stocks in Europe closed mixed. The pan-European Dow Jones Stoxx 600 index ended with a gain of 0.1% at 323.66. The French CAC-40 ended up 0.1% at 4,858.65, while the German DAX 30 closed 0.2% lower to 6,962.28 and the UK's FTSE 100 finished flat at 5,879.30.

In the emerging markets, the Bovespa in Brazil was down 1.2% at 61,818 while the IPC index in Mexico fell 0.6% to 29,138. The RTS index in Russia was up 1% at 2025 and the ISE National-30 index in Turkey gained 1.6% at 57,010.

Will the momentum continue?

It was second straight day of gains as benchmark Sensex rallied over 800 points extending its gains fuelled by positive cues from the international markets and buying momentum in the index heavyweights like RIL, ICICI Bank and L&T. Bulls were all over the bourses, even the Mid-Cap and the Small-Cap stocks participated in the Valentine's Day party. Finally, the 30-share Sensex closed at 17,766 surging 817 points. The NSE Nifty closed at 5,202 adding 272 points.

Overall about 2,057 stocks advanced, 697 stocks declined while 41 stocks remained unchanged. Among the BSE 30 index 39 stocks advanced while 1 stock declined.

Anant Raj Industries came off its days high on back of profit booking; the stock slipped 0.3% to Rs339. The company announced that they would start $300mn overseas share sale. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs348 and a low of Rs335 and recorded volumes of over 36,000 shares on BSE.

Essar Oil further rallied by over 16% to Rs214 after the stock was included in MSCI India Index. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs215 and a low of Rs196 and recorded volumes of over 1,00,00,000 shares on NSE.

Punj Lloyd surged by over 10% to Rs365 after the company announced that it secured contract worth Rs11.2bn from Marlna Bay Sands Pte Ltd, Singapore. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs368 and a low of Rs340 and recorded volumes of over 42,00,000 shares on NSE.

EID Parry advanced by 3% to Rs174 after the company said that they have acquired 51% stake in Phytoremedies Biolabs. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs177 and a low of Rs170 and recorded volumes of over 6,000 shares on NSE.

BHEL rallied by over 13% to Rs2228 after the company announced that it secured oilfield equipment contract from ONGC. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs2256 and a low of Rs2050 and recorded volumes of over 12,00,000 shares on NSE.

Gail gained 3% to Rs440 after the company said that they have signed a pact with ITERA Oil and Gas Company of Russia for cooperation in hydrocarbon sector. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs413 and a low of Rs405 and recorded volumes of over 13,00,000 shares on NSE.

Deepak Fertilizers advanced by over 10% to Rs129 after the company launched the 'Clean Development Mechanism Project' at its manufacturing plant in Taloja. The project will address the widespread concern on global warming, by reducing the Green House Gas (GHG) emission through the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) which forms part of the Kyoto Protocol. The project will be implemented within a span of six months. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs134 and a low of Rs120 and recorded volumes of over 4,00,000 shares on NSE.

Orchid Chemicals surged by over 6.5% to Rs245 following the company that they received USFDA approval for Granisetron Generic Formulation. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs248 and a low of Rs234 and recorded volumes of over 2,00,000 shares on NSE.

Madras Cement shot up by over 6% to Rs3680 after the company announced its offer to buy back shares at Rs4,200 per piece. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs3800 and a low of Rs3515.

Gem and Jewellery stocks were in momentum after Jewelry exports from India rose 21% in the ten months ended January on back of increase in sales of diamonds. Exports rose to $16.87bn from $13.96bn a year earlier. Gitanjali Gems gained 3.2% to Rs282, Renaissance Jewellery was up 9% to Rs96 and Suraj Diamond surged 5% to Rs62.

Hindustan Zinc advanced by over 7% to Rs567 after the company said that it raised lead prices by 7.6% to reflect an increase in global rates. The company increased the price of the metal to Rs134,600 per metric ton from 14th February, a gain of Rs9,500. The price of zinc remained unchanged at Rs108,700 a ton. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs574 and a low of Rs545 and recorded volumes of over 71,000 shares on NSE.

Stocks In News:

Bhilwara Energy Ltd. (BEL) is presently developing power projects with a total capacity of about 2717 MW. BEL is also considering bidding for additional power projects and may go for a private placement. RSWM holds 24.16% stake in BEL while HEG owns 35.79%.

NTPC has has signed a Joint Venture agreement with Bihar State Electricity Board (BSEB) for building a 1980 MW (3X660MW) coal based thermal power project in Bihar. NTPC and BSEB will have equal shareholding (50:50) in the proposed JV.

Sagar Cements says it plans to establish a cement plant of around 5mn tons a year capacity in Karnataka. Apart from this, the company is also looking for setting a cement plant in Oman in joint venture with a local partner.

News Snippets:

LN Mittal and Farallon Capital invest Rs15.8bn for 28.6% stake in Indiabulls Power Services. (ET)

NTPC to invest US$40bn over the next five year, to transform itself into an integrated regional energy player. (BL)

NYSE to pick up 5% stake in MCX. (ET)

Mastek likely to buy a US-based IT firm System Task Group International for US$30mn. (ET)

Satyam Computer to add 3,000 employee's by March end. (BS)
L&T Infotech has put its IPO plans on hold. (ET)

L&T wins an order from Qatar worth Rs3.11bn. (ET)

Haldia Petrochemicals is set to buy L&T 51% stake in HPL Cogeneration. (ET)

TCS plans to reach revenue of US$800mn-US$1bn from domestic market. (BS)

IOC to launch its marine fuel business globally. (FE)

Nirma set to mop up Rs15bn via QIP. (BS)

BHEL gets Rs2bn order from ONGC. (BS)

Wipro Infotech bags US$50mn 5 year outsourcing contract from Pantaloon retail. (BS)

Spanco Telesystems acquires Great IT for an undisclosed amount. (BS)

Orchid Chemical gets US FDA nod for Granisetron Hydrochloride tablets. (FE)

Sun Pharma receives tentative approval from US FDA for generic Depakote. (FE)

DE Shaw Valence picks up 5.7% stake in Orient Express Hotels. (FE)

Wipro may buy a German based company in next 6 months. (DNA)

Tata's and Boeing enter into a JV, to outsource and manufacture defence-related aero space component work in India. (ET)

HPCL to shut gas oil unit at its Vizag refinery for 10 days. (DNA)

Kirloskar Brothers is looking to buy a European based pump manufacturing and marketing companies. (DNA)

Shree Cement plans to set up a cement plant of 2MT per annum at a cost of Rs20bn. (BL)

EID Parry buys 51% stake in Phytoremedies. (BL)

Jubilant Energy discovers Oil and Gas in Cauvery basin. (BL)

Maruti Alto has crossed 1mn production mark. (FE)

PFC to enter financial advisory services. (BL)

Economy Front Page

The Government hikes petrol and diesel prices by Rs2 per litre and Re1 per litre respectively. (ET)

Steel companies agree to roll back price hike with immediate effect. (ET)

The DoT plans to change spectrum usage charges levied on telecom companies, to a fix percentage of revenue for each category circles. (ET)

PM panel suggest reduction in import duty from 10% to 5% in machinery and introduction of mechanism for textile sector. (FE)

PM says Indian can sustain 9% GDP growth. (BS)

RBI denies a rate cut in short-term citing high inflation. (ET)

Agriculture ministry has proposed 1%cess on direct taxes and 2% on indirect taxes. (ET)

Export from IT and ITES based SEZ to double in FY09. (BL)

Today's Pick - Nicholas Piramal

We recommend a buy in Nicholas Piramal India from a short-term perspective. From the charts of Nicholas Piramal India we note that it has been on a healthy uptrend, making higher peaks and higher troughs from its June 2006 low of Rs 150. However, it has witnessed a medium-term counter trend, falling from its all-time high of Rs 383 marked in late December 2007 to its January low of Rs 250. Following this, the stock has consolidated sideways between Rs 290 and Rs 320.

On February 14, it made a conclusive upward breakout from its sideways consolidation with an above average volume. Besides, the daily momentum indicator also appears to be rising towards the bullish region. We observe a crossover in the daily moving average convergence divergence, which could likely enter the positive region. While the long-term uptrend is still in place, we are bullish on the stock over the short-term also. We expect the stock to move up to our target price of Rs 375 in the short-term. Investors with a short-term perspective can buy the stock with stop loss at Rs 300 levels.

Via Businessline

Nifty February 2008 futures at discount

 Turnover in F&O segment rises

Nifty February 2008 futures were at 5187, at a discount of 15 points as compared to spot closing of 5202.

The NSE's futures & options (F&O) segment turnover was Rs 37,973.36 crore, which was higher than Rs 37,555.25 crore on Wednesday, 13 February 2008.

Reliance Natural Resources February 2008 futures were near spot price, at 132, compared to the spot closing of 132.05.

Reliance Energy February 2008 futures were at premium, at 1718.75, compared to the spot closing of 1708.25.

Reliance Capital February 2008 futures were at premium, at 1999.20, compared to the spot closing of 1989.55.

In the cash market, the S&P CNX Nifty gained 272.55 points or 5.53% at 5202.

Precious metals end mixed

 Gold prices close marginally higher on further hints of rate cut

Bullion metals ended mixed today, Thursday, 14 February, 2008. Gold prices closed marginally higher for the day as dollar dropped against its rivals. Dollar fell today after Federal Reserve Chairman's comments regarding the economy. Silver prices ended lower lower for the day.

Gold generally moves in the opposite direction of the U.S. currency. Gold, as a dollar-denominated commodity, suffers from dollar strength.

Comex Gold for April delivery rose $0.60 (0.06%) to close at $911.4 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On 30 January, 2008 prices had hit a high of $941 in the after hours trading. This year, prices have gained 9.5% till date. In January, prices gained 11%, the highest monthly gain since April 2006. Last week, gold prices closed higher by $8.8 (0.96%) against previous close of $913.5.

Comex Silver futures for March today fell by 9.8 cents (0.6%) to $17.255 an ounce. Silver has gained 14.3% in 2008. The metal had climbed 16% in FY 2007. The metal also has gained for seven straight years. In January this year itself, prices climbed 14%.

U.S. stocks fell today after Federal Reserve Chairman, Ben Bernanke said that overall economic conditions will worsen further in the coming days but good days also are not very far away.

Gold had been dropping since past couple of days after the Group of Seven officials meeting in Tokyo over the last weekend said they supported the International Monetary Fund's effort sell its gold reserves in order to invest in higher-yielding assets. The IMF is the third largest holder of gold in reserves after the U.S. Federal Reserve and the German central bank.

In the currency markets today, the dollar extended losses against most major counterparts after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the central bank stands ready to cut interest rates further if fresh signs of a weaker-than-expected economy emerge. The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the dollar against a basket of other major currencies, dropped 0.4% to 76.135.

Gold has traditionally been used as a safe-haven asset against rising inflation. Investor sentiments are boosted by the fact that gold and silver are alternate sources of good investment in the face of declining dollar and rising energy prices. Rising crude increases inflationary pressures and vice versa. On the other hand strong dollar reduces the appeal of the metal as alternate source of investment.

Gold witnessed the greatest annual gain in twenty eight years by gaining $200/ounce (31%) in FY 2007. In 2006, silver had jumped 46% while gold gained 23%.

At the MCX, gold prices for April delivery closed higher by Rs 3 (0.02%) at Rs 11,588 per 10 grams. Prices rose to a high of Rs 11,657 per 10 grams and fell to a low of Rs 11,528 per 10 grams during the day's trading.

At the MCX, silver prices for March delivery closed Rs 64 (0.3%) lower at Rs 22,038/Kg. Prices opened at Rs 22,105/kg and fell to a low of Rs 21,918/Kg during the day's trading.

Crude back at $95

 Prices rise more than $2 as crude inventories for last week rise less than expected

Crude prices ended substantially higher today, Thursday, 14 February, 2008. Prices rose today after Energy Department yesterday reported that that crude inventories for last week rose less than expected.

Crude-oil futures for light sweet crude for March delivery today closed at $95.46/barrel (higher by $2.19/barrel or 2.1%) on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The price earlier rose to an intraday high of $95.6. Prices are 65% higher than a year ago.

As per the weekly inventory report by EIA yesterday, U.S. crude inventories rose for a fifth week, up 1.1 million barrels to 301.1 million barrels in the week ending 8 February. Market was expecting a rise of 2 million barrels. U.S. crude imports averaged 9.7 million barrels per day last week, down 777,000 barrels per day from the previous week. U.S. refineries operated at 85.1% of their operable capacity last week, up from the previous week's 84.3%.

Brent crude oil for March settlement today rose $1.77 (1.9%) to $95.09 on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The London benchmark rose 54% in FY 2007, the most since 1999 when prices more than doubled.

Crude had ended FY 2007 substantially higher by $35 or 57%. It was crude's biggest yearly gain in five years.

OPEC ministers to study a proposal to price oil in a currency other than the U.S. dollar

In a monthly report released earlier this week, EIA said the world oil market is poised to ease over the next two years with production increases offsetting moderate growth in oil demand.

Natural gas price rose substantially today. Natural gas in New York advanced to the highest in 15 months as supplies of the fuel declined and on speculation the U.S. may avoid a recession, lifting demand. Natural gas for March delivery rose 38.4 cents (4.6%) to settle at $8.772 per million British thermal units. Natural gas rallies more than 17% this year

Against this backdrop, March reformulated gasoline rose 8.62 cent to $2.4761 a gallon and March heating oil gained 5.1 cents to $2.6666 a gallon.

It was also reported today that OPEC finance ministers will meet to study a proposal from Venezuela to price oil in a currency other than the U.S. dollar. Dollar's decline against the euro over the past year has cut into the group's purchasing power.

Last Friday, two ministers of Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) hinted that the cartel might go for a production cut in its next meeting at March, 2008. This spurted up crude prices and the same ended almost 4% higher on that day. At its 1 February meeting at Vienna, OPEC members decided to keep current output levels unchanged.

At the MCX, crude oil for February delivery closed at Rs 3,750/barrel, higher by Rs 41 (1.1%) against previous day's close. Natural gas for February delivery closed at Rs 342.8/mmtbu, higher by Rs 6.9/mmtbu (2.05%).

A bad day for US Market

 Worrying comments regarding economy from Fed Chief slam stocks

US stocks ended sharply lower today, Thursday, 14 February, 2008 after Federal Reserve Chairman, Ben Bernanke expressed his worries about the US economy in the near term. Though market opened modestly higher in the morning, sellers took position quite soon after Bernanke's testimony. Each of the ten economic sectors finished the session in negative territory. The day's worst performers were in the Tech sector, followed by Financials.

Before market opened today morning, Jobless claims report for the week ended 9 February came in. The figure fell to 348K from the previous reading of 357K. The number was basically in-line with expectations. Separately, the December trade deficit fell to $58.8 billion from $63.1 billion.

Fed Chairman Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Paulson testified before the Senate Banking Committee this afternoon. Bernanke alluded to the possibility the U.S. is nearing a recession and continued to emphasize downside risks to the economy. He clearly indicated that the Fed will likely continue to ease interest rates, if required. The duo also continued to forecast slow growth. The Fed Chairman stated that financial companies will likely face further write-downs.

The Dow Jones industrial Average ended the day with a loss of 175 points at 12,375. The Nasdaq Composite Index, finished lower by 41 points at 2,332. S&P 500 finished lower by 18.3 points at 1,349.

Twenty-nine out of thirty Dow stocks ended in the red today. Chipmaker Intel led the group of Dow laggards which was closely followed by other financial stocks. American Express, JP Morgan, AIG and Citigroup – all slipped by more than 2%. Exxon Mobil was the Dow's sole winner.

Crude prices ended substantially higher today after Energy Department yesterday reported that that crude inventories for last week rose less than expected. Crude-oil futures for light sweet crude for March delivery today closed at $95.46/barrel (higher by $2.19/barrel or 2.1%) on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The price earlier rose to an intraday high of $95.6. Prices are 65% higher than a year ago.

Volume on the New York Stock Exchange came to 1.4 billion shares, and for every stock on the rise, four posted declines. On the Nasdaq, nearly 2.3 billion traded and declines topped advancers by ratios of more than 3 to 1.

Tomorrow will be a day of economic reports. The New York Empire Manufacturing Survey and Import and Export Prices report coupled with the Industrial Production report are due before tomorrow's open. After the opening bell, the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Survey is scheduled for release.

Market Close: Mighty Bull enjoy's valentines day...

It was significant flying day for all the indices across the globe. The markets celebrated the Valentine day in the positive momentum. The overnight rally in US fueled the support across the globe, Asian markets ended strong. Nikkei ended up by 4.27% and Hang Seng closed up by 3.68%. As result of this Indian indices recovered enormously after witnessing a bear session for last few sessions. The strong value buying in index heavy weights kept indices head-up for entire day. Sensex opened in gap up of 560 points and made intraday gain of 890 points. Strong buying was seen in most of the sectors like Power, Realty, Capital Goods and Oil & Gas cheered the day.

Oil marketing companies were in focus on the back of price hike announcement from the Oil ministry of Rs 2 per Lt for Petrol and Rs 1 per Lt for Diesel, but this was not certainly good for Cement, Transportation, Logistics and Tyre companies and also it will affect the inflation which is a concern under control. Markets remained steady in the flight ensuing uptrend sessions, neither climbing much higher nor losing strength. However towards the closing hour indices also witnessed a final flourish. Mid and small caps closed inline with the frontline indices. European markets trading in strong.

Sensex closed up by 817 points at 17766.631. It was helped up by gains in BHEL (2232,+13 percent), Rel Energy (1708.15,+10 percent), RCVL (609.75,+9 percent), Hindalco (163.75,+9 percent) and ONGC (1025.7,+9 percent). Restricting the gains are Infosys (1547.3,0 percent).

Jain Irrigation and Mekorot, the national water company of Israel signed an MOU to work together on water projects in India. The two companies say they plan to explore projects in desalination, water resource management, water supply, municipal water management and/or wastewater treatment and reclamation projects. Growing urban populations in India have made existing capacities of water treatment, waste water treatment and recycling inadequate. Mekorot is a leader in water resources management, desalination, wastewater treatment and effluent reuse, rain enhancement, water quality, water security and water project engineering. It supplies 80% of Israel's drinking water and 70% of its entire water supply, operating 3,000 installations across the country. Jain Irrigation has been involved in water distribution and water conservation in India for three decades. The company's customers include water utility boards, municipal corporations, contractors as well as farmers across India. This helps Jain Irrigation to get technology and timely execution at competitive prices. We feel in India under investment in this sector, this could be one of the vertical growth to the company. The stock closed up by 3% at Rs 649.

Blue Star announced the acquisition of Bangalore-based Naseer Electricals for a consideration up to Rs 42 cr including upfront payment and debt and escrow amount payable on fulfillment of certain conditions. The move will enable Blue Star, which is the leader in central air conditioning in the country, to deliver integrated mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) contracting projects for the commercial building and infrastructure segments. Naseer Electricals is an electrical contracting firm with a turnover of Rs 107 cr (FY07) and a strong presence in South India. The current order book is approximately Rs 100 cr, majority of which is expected to be executed over a period of one year. With this acquisition, Blue Star gets capability to deliver integrated mechanical, electrical & plumbing (MEP) contracting projects for the commercial building and infrastructure segments. This is certainly good for the company; it can acquire south Indian market too. The stock closed up by 8%.

Technically Speaking: Market breadth was very encouraging and traded strong with an intraday high of 17,837 and low of 17,265. The overall breadth was in favor of Advances, while Advances stood at 2065 and Declines at 685. Volumes for the day were not encourging at Rs 5714 Cr. The Sensex likely to fill the gap of 18280-18480 before turning down again. Sensex Support lies at 17200 while the Resistance lies at 18400-18480 levels.

NSE Bulk Deal Watch - Feb 14 2008

 Date,Symbol,Security Name,Client Name,Buy/Sell,Quantity Traded,Trade Price / Wght. Avg. Price,Remarks
14-FEB-2008,CORDSCABLE,Cords Cable Industries Li,CPR CAPITAL SERVICES LTD.,BUY,59774,141.21,-
14-FEB-2008,CORDSCABLE,Cords Cable Industries Li,MANISH VRAJLAL SARVAIYA,BUY,68681,143.40,-
14-FEB-2008,CORDSCABLE,Cords Cable Industries Li,PRASHANT JAYANTILAL PATEL,BUY,78457,143.21,-
14-FEB-2008,JPASSOCIAT,Jaiprakash Associates Lim,CLSA MAURITIUS LIMITED,BUY,560000,260.00,-
14-FEB-2008,KHAITANELE,Khaitan Electricals Ltd,ARION COMMERCIAL PVT LTD,BUY,122209,73.05,-
14-FEB-2008,MANINDS,MAN INDUSTRIES (I) LTD,RAMESHCHANDRA J MANSHUKHANI,BUY,413092,98.37,-
14-FEB-2008,MANINDS,MAN INDUSTRIES (I) LTD,RELIANCE CAPITAL TRUSTEE CO LTD A/C RELIANCE LONGTERM EQUITY,BUY,521694,100.99,-
14-FEB-2008,ASTRAMICRO,Astra Microwave Products,KRISHNA KISHORE REDDY BHUMIRED,SELL,288109,76.64,-
14-FEB-2008,CORDSCABLE,Cords Cable Industries Li,CPR CAPITAL SERVICES LTD.,SELL,59774,141.30,-
14-FEB-2008,CORDSCABLE,Cords Cable Industries Li,MANISH VRAJLAL SARVAIYA,SELL,68681,143.39,-
14-FEB-2008,CORDSCABLE,Cords Cable Industries Li,PRASHANT JAYANTILAL PATEL,SELL,78457,142.69,-
14-FEB-2008,HIMACHLFUT,Himachal Fut Comm Ltd,SIMPLICITY AB,SELL,2301760,23.59,-
14-FEB-2008,JPASSOCIAT,Jaiprakash Associates Lim,CLSA MAURITIUS LIMITED,SELL,6327015,268.26,-
14-FEB-2008,KHAITANELE,Khaitan Electricals Ltd,RACHNA VINIMAY PVT LTD,SELL,100000,73.38,-
14-FEB-2008,MANINDS,MAN INDUSTRIES (I) LTD,ABN AMRO BANK N.V. LONDON BRANCH,SELL,600000,100.60,-
14-FEB-2008,MANINDS,MAN INDUSTRIES (I) LTD,GOLDMAN SACHS INV (MAUR) 1 LTD,SELL,306000,98.00,-
14-FEB-2008,PITTILAM,Pitti Laminations Limited,MICRO MANAGEMENT LTD.,SELL,50000,55.00,-

BSE Bulk Deals to Watch - Feb 15 2008

 Deal Date Scrip Code Scrip Name Client Name Deal Type * Quantity Price **
14/2/2008 531190 A V COTTEX I SANGITA JAIN B 35000 16.00
14/2/2008 531190 A V COTTEX I SAMTA JAIN B 35000 16.00
14/2/2008 531223 ANJANI SYNTH NATRAJ FINANCIAL AND SERVICES B 164601 38.41
14/2/2008 531223 ANJANI SYNTH RANGOLI E STOCK B 28696 37.51
14/2/2008 531223 ANJANI SYNTH NATRAJ FINANCIAL AND SERVICES S 117158 39.41
14/2/2008 531223 ANJANI SYNTH ANKIT NARENDRA BAHUVA S 28500 39.03
14/2/2008 500029 AUTOLITE INE ACCORD CAPITAL MARKETS LTD S 80000 80.93
14/2/2008 505506 AXON INFOTEC ANMOL FINANCE COMPANY B 11000 49.00
14/2/2008 505506 AXON INFOTEC V R P FINANCIAL SERVICES PVT LTD B 7230 48.90
14/2/2008 505506 AXON INFOTEC SHRI HARE KRISHNA FOUNDATION S 16500 48.71
14/2/2008 526033 CRYSTAL SOFT RICHLINE FINVEST PRIVATE LTD B 29550 11.68
14/2/2008 526033 CRYSTAL SOFT RICHLINE FINVEST PRIVATE LTD S 29550 10.93
14/2/2008 532271 CYBERMAT INF PRABHUDAS LILLADHER PVT. LTD. B 330683 9.30
14/2/2008 532271 CYBERMAT INF SARFARAZKHAN SARVARKHAN PATHAN B 1193403 9.33
14/2/2008 532271 CYBERMAT INF SARFARAZKHAN SARVARKHAN PATHAN S 1057177 9.33
14/2/2008 522261 DOLPHIN OFF MINAL B PATEL S 95000 182.01
14/2/2008 508918 GREYCELLS EN PRIME SECURITIES LTD B 16000 202.25
14/2/2008 530405 JINDAL CAP. JMP SECURITIES PVT.LTD. B 23140 41.81
14/2/2008 530405 JINDAL CAP. JMP SECURITIES PVT. LTD. S 20961 41.84
14/2/2008 513269 MAN INDUST I ABN AMRO BANK N.V. LONDON S 637275 100.58
14/2/2008 532127 MOBILE TELEC VEEA FISCAL SERVICES PVT LTD B 235000 13.75
14/2/2008 503776 MODIPON LTD MODICARE LTD. B 120000 65.00
14/2/2008 531203 SAHIL FINANC KIRAN DARAK B 18100 23.64
14/2/2008 508976 SPANC TELESY SHUBHAMANGAL TRADERS PVT LTD S 95176 204.79
14/2/2008 521022 SURYAJYOTI S BAKSHU TRADING PVT LTD S 71915 74.24
14/2/2008 505854 TRF LIMITED SUNDARAM ENERGY OPPORTUNITIES B 107235 1218.43
14/2/2008 505854 TRF LIMITED SWISS FINANCE CORP. LTD. S 61309 1221.02
14/2/2008 531658 TRIJAL INDUS PUNNI SANGHAVI B 62500 3.89
14/2/2008 531658 TRIJAL INDUS NILIMA UDAY DESAI S 61008 3.88
14/2/2008 504973 TUBE INVEST TALMA CHEMICALS INSUTRIES PVT LTD B 2000000 62.50
14/2/2008 504973 TUBE INVEST RELIANCE CAPITAL A C RELIANCE LONG TERM EQUITY FUND B 4300000 62.50
14/2/2008 504973 TUBE INVEST GAGANDEEP CREDIT CAPITAL PVT. LTD B 1055416 62.53
14/2/2008 504973 TUBE INVEST F IDE FIMHK FIDELITY FUNDS MAURITIUS LIMITED S 8316454 62.51
14/2/2008 500427 UNIFLEX CABE VEEA FISCAL SERVICES PVT LTD B 117190 43.00

Post Market Commentary - Feb 14 2008

The market closed with handsome gains by creating a rally across the sectoral indices. The market opened on a firm note taking the strong favoring cues from the global markets i.e. an unexpected rise in US retail sales in Janurary 2008 that gave a boost to the domestic market. In the domestic front, the central government approved the proposal for a hike in retail fuel prices i.e. Rs 2 per litre for petrol while Re 1 for diesel. The Small Cap and Mid Cap also joined the rally with the benchmark indices to post strong gains. From the sectoral front, CG, Oil & Gas and Metal remained the centre of attraction as most buying was seen from these counters. The BSE Sensex closed higher by 817.49 points at 17,766.63 and NSE Nifty grew by 272.55 points to close at 5,202. The BSE Mid Cap and Small Cap closed up by 377.19 points and 358.06 points at 7,452.72 and 9,407.76 respectively.

BSE CG grew by 1,140.36 points to close at 16,282.17. Gainers are Praj Inds (14.42%), BHEL (12.63%), Punj Lloyd (10.52%), Suzlon Ener (7.83%), L&T (7.03%), Seimens (5.90%).

BSE Metal index surged 847.58 points to close at 15,621.89 as Jindal Stainless (10.72%), Jindal Steel (10.21%), Hindalco Inds (9.20%), Bhushan Steel (9.11%) closed higher.

BSE Oil & Gas index advanced by 755.38 points to close at 10,932.36. Scrips that gained are Essar Oil (16.21%), HPCL (14.81%), IOCL (13.83%), RPL (13.56%) and BPCL (10.86%).

BSE Realty index grew by 714.66 points to close at 10,143.55 as Ansal Infra (15.73%), Phoenix mill (11.22%), Unitech (10.28%), Indbul Real (8.86%), Omaxe (8.01%) closed in green.

BSE Bankex index closed higher by 471.02 points at 10,614.09. Gainers are IOB (7.67%), Union bank (6.81%), Yes bank (6.29%), Allahabad bank (5.96%), ICICI bank (5.74%).

BSE Power index increased by 280.58 points at 3,729.16 as GMR Infra (12.41%), Reliance Ener (9.63%), Crompton Greaves (9.79%), Torrent Power (7.33%).

Sensex rallies on buoyant overseas markets

The market held firm above the 17,450 level for almost the entire trading session, as strong US and Asian markets created a perfect platform for investors. After registering a gain of 341 points yesterday, the market resumed with a huge positive gap of 316 points at 17,265. The Sensex quickly moved up on sustained buying in realty, power, oil and capital goods stocks and the index touched the day's high of 17,838 towards the close. The Sensex finally ended the session at 17,767, up 817 points. The broad-based Nifty ended the session at 5,202, up 573 points.

Among the sectoral indices, the power index led the upsurge on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) with gains of 8.14% at 3,729 followed by the BSE Realty index (up 7.58% at 10,144), the BSE PSU index (up 7.55% at 8,352), the BSE CG index (up 7.53% at 16,282) and the BSE Oil & Gas index (up 7.42% at 10,932). The market breadth was extremely positive. Of the 2,794 stocks traded on the BSE, 2,068 stocks advanced, 684 stocks declined and 42 stocks ended unchanged.

Out of the 30 Sensex stocks, 29 managed to end in the green. BHEL was the leading gainer and soared 12.63% at Rs2,232. Reliance Energy jumped 9.63% at Rs1,708, Reliance Communications shot up by 9.26% at Rs610, Hindalco advanced 9.20% at Rs164, ONGC moved up by 8.66% at Rs1,026, L&T added 7.03% at Rs3,507 and NTPC gained 6.84% at Rs201. However, Infosys slipped marginally at Rs1,547.

Over 2.67 crore Reliance Natural Resources shares changed hands on the BSE followed by Jaiprakash Associates (1.86 crore shares), Reliance Petroleum ( 1.46 crore shares), Ispat Industries ( 1.13 crore shares) and Nagarjuna Fertilisers (1.05 crore shares).

Jaiprakash Associates registered a turnover of Rs501 crore on the BSE followed by RNRL (Rs339 crore), Reliance Power (Rs303 crore), Reliance Capital (Rs237 crore) and Reliance Petroleum (Rs230 crore).

Sensex vaults 817 points as global markets rally

Strong global cues set up a solid platform for Indian market to surge today. The rally in global markets was triggered by an unexpected rise in US retail sales in January 2008 that helped ease recession worries in the world's largest economy.

Capital goods and power stocks were in demand. Oil and gas stocks perked up on reports the Indian government has raised retail fuel prices to ease losses at state-run oil marketing firms. 29 out of 30 stocks from the Sensex pack gained. The market breadth was strong.

European markets, which opened after Indian market, were trading firm. Asian markets, which opened before Indian market, ended on a firm note.

The 30-share BSE Sensex rose 817.49 points or 4.82% at 17,766.63, recording its fourth biggest rise in percentage terms. Sensex's rally of 817.49 points today is its fifth biggest single day rise in point terms.

Sensex gained 888.94 points at the day's high of 17,838.08, at the fag end of the trade. Sensex was up 316.05 points at the day's low of 17,265.19, hit in opening trade.

The biggest single day gain in Sensex in both point terms and percentage terms was registered on 25 January 2008, when the barometer index had risen 1139.92 points or 6.62% to 18361.66.

The broader CNX S&P Nifty rose 272.55 points or 5.53% at 5202.

The BSE Mid-Cap index outperformed the Sensex, rising 5.33% to 7,452.72. The BSE Small-Cap underperformed the Sensex, rising 3.96% to 9,407.76.

The market breadth was quite strong: On BSE, 2057 advanced as compared to 697 that declined. 41 stocks remained unchanged.

BSE clocked a turnover of Rs 5714 crore compared to Rs 5,818.88 crore on Wednesday, 13 February 2008.

The Nifty February 2008 futures were at 5187, at a discount of 15 points as compared to the spot closing of 4929.45.

The NSE's futures & options (F&O) segment turnover was Rs 37973.36 crore, which was higher than Rs 37555.25 crore on Wednesday, 13 February 2008.

India's biggest power equipment maker in terms of revenue Bharat Heavy Electricals surged 12.63% to Rs 2232 after it won a Rs 200-crore contract for supplying oil field equipment to Oil & Natural Gas Corporation.

India's largest private sector firm by market capitalization and oil refiner Reliance Industries rose 5.35% at Rs 2514.70.

The BSE Capital Goods index rose 7.53% to 16,282.17. Larsen & Toubro spurted 7.03% to Rs 3,507.15, Praj Industries surged 14.42% to Rs 168.25, Crompton Greaves moved up 9.79% to Rs 307.80 and Suzlon Energy rose 7.83% to Rs 338.15.

Engineering and construction firm Punj Lloyd flared up 10.52% to Rs 366.50. Sembawang Engineers and Constructors, a unit of Punj Lloyd, has bagged a Singapore dollar 400 million contract to build part of the Marina Bay Sands integrated resort in Singapore.

The BSE Power index rose 8.14% to 3,729.16. It outperformed the Sensex. GMR Infrastructure surged 12.41% to Rs 165.75, Reliance Energy soared 9.63% to Rs 1,708.15, Power Grid Corporation of India moved up 8.71% to Rs 103, Torrent Power moved up 7.33% to Rs 146.50, NTPC flared up 6.84% to Rs 200.75 and Tata Power climbed 5.12% to Rs 1,275.80.

Oil refinery and marketing stocks surged on reports the government has raised prices of petrol and diesel by Rs 2 per litre and Rs 1 per litre respectively effective Thursday, 14 February 2008 midnight.

The BSE Oil & Gas index was up 7.42% at 10,932.36. It outperformed the Sensex. HPCL soared 14.81% to Rs 297.60, Indian Oil Corporation jumped 13.83% to Rs 536.75, BPCL rose 10.86% to Rs 465, Mangalore Refineries & Petrochemicals (MRPL) climbed 8.23% to Rs 86.75, Chennai Petroleum moved up 6.72% to Rs 295.55 and Bongaigaon Refinery and Petrochemicals rose 8.22% to Rs 63.20.

The BSE Bankex rose 4.64% to 10,614.09. It underperformed the Sensex. ICICI Bank spurted 5.74% to Rs 1,162.35, Indian Overseas Bank soared 7.67% to Rs 176.20, Union Bank of India flared up 6.81% to Rs 196.80, HDFC Bank moved up 4.91% to Rs 1,539.10 and State Bank of India rose 4.17% to Rs 2,205.15.

The BSE IT index rose 0.94% to 3,843.50. It underperformed the Sensex. Wipro moved up 1.41% to Rs 415.75, Satyam Computer gained 1.31% to Rs 438.40 and TCS rose 0.60% to Rs 874.15. However, Infosys Technologies fell 0.12% to Rs 1547.30.

Essar Oil (up 16.21% to Rs 214), Reliance Petroleum (up 13.56% to Rs 164.55), Steel Authority of India (up 7.57% to Rs 213.75), Centurion Bank of Punjab (up 2.59% to Rs 49.45), advanced on reports of their inclusion in a number of Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) indices. The inclusion of these firms in the MSCI gauges may increase demand for these stocks by fund managers whose funds track the indices.

Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group firm Reliance Power rose 5.31% to Rs 370.05 on volume of 82.93 lakh shares on BSE. On Monday, 11 February 2008, the stock had debuted at Rs 547.80, a premium of Rs 21.73% over the IPO price of Rs 450.

Jewellery manufacturer Renaissance Jewellery jumped 9.28% to Rs 96.60 after the company said it bought a New York-based jewellery wholesaler, JBR Inc, though its unit Renaissance Jewelry New York, Inc. for an undisclosed sum.

State run oil & gas supplier GAIL India rose 3.23% to Rs 410.90 after the company signed an initial deal with Russian gas producer ITERA to jointly develop city gas supply and petrochemicals projects in Russia and the CIS countries.

Jaiprakash Associates clocked highest turnover of Rs 502.03 crore on BSE. Reliance Natural Resources (Rs 339.64 crore), Reliance Power (Rs 303.41 crore), Reliance Capital (Rs 237.76 crore) and Reliance Petroleum (Rs 230.28 crore), were the other turnover toppers on BSE in that order.

Reliance Natural Resources reported highest volume of 2.67 crore shares on BSE. Jaiprakash Associates (1.86 crore shares), Reliance Petroleum (1.46 crore shares), Ispat Industries (1.13 crore shares) and Nagarjuna Fertilisers and Chemicals (1.05 crore shares), were the other volume toppers on BSE in that order.

In Europe, key indices in UK, France and Germany rose by 0.16% to 0.85%.

Asian markets ended on a firm note today, 14 February 2008. Key indices in Hong Kong, China, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore and South Korea were up by 1.37% to 4.27%.

US Markets rallied on Wednesday, 13 February 2008 after a surprise rise in retail sales in January 2008. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 178.83 points, or 1.45%, to 12,552.24. The S&P 500 index rose 18.35 points, or 1.36%, to 1,367.21, and the Nasdaq Composite index advanced 53.89 points, or 2.32%, to 2,373.93.

Meanwhile, as per reports Dominique S. Kahn, managing director of the International Monetary Fund said yesterday, 13 February 2008 that emerging economies such as India, which are expanding rapidly, are not insulated from the impact of a slowdown in the US and will feel the pinch sooner or later.

Kahn, who is on a three-day visit to India, also underlined the need for a global solution to the problem of financial crisis, which could have a ripple effect on several economies.

Pre Session Commentary - Feb 14 2008

The Indian Market is likely to have a positive opening due to strong cues from the global markets. On Tuesday, the Indian market closed on an upbeat note backed by heavy buying across the sectoral indices scrips. The market opened with a bang taking the favoring cues from the global markets. The market pared some of its early gains towards the mid session but again gained the momentum towards the final trading hours of the session. The Small Caps remained out of favor as they reported most selling across the counters. The large Caps breached the five-day losing trend to close with hand some gains. The BSE Sensex closed higher by 341.13 points at 16,949.14 and NSE Nifty grew by 91.2 points to close at 4,929.45. We expect that the market may trade higher during the trading session.

On Wednesday, the US market closed in green. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) closed higher by 178.83 points at 12,552.24. S&P 500 index grew by 18.35 points to close at 1,367.21 and NASDAQ closed up by 53.89 points at 2,373.93.

Indian ADRS ended in positive. In technology sector, Satyam grew by (1.48%) along with Infosys by (0.53%). In banking sector, HDFC bank and ICICI bank increased by (4.39%) and (2.38%) respectively. MTNL rose by (1.91%).

The major stock markets in Asia are trading strong. Hang Seng is trading higher by 706.66 points at 23,876.21 along with Japan''s Nikkei trading up by 364.74 points at 13,433.04 and Taiwan Weighted is trading at 7,772.07 up by 221.52 points.

The FIIs on Wednesday stood as net seller in equity while buyer in debt. The gross equity purchased was Rs3,440.20 Crore and the gross debt purchased was Rs103.60 Crore while the gross equity sold stood at Rs3,555.30 Crore and gross debt sold stood at Rs0.00 Crore. Therefore, the net investment of equity reported was (Rs115.10 Crore) and net debt was Rs103.60 Crore.

Today, Nifty has support at 4,836 and resistance at 5,054 and BSE Sensex has support at 16,657 and resistance at 17,482.

Market may add gains but volatility remains key factor

The Market may log gains due to return of hopes amongst the investors. The firm trend in US markets, gain in European markets and rise in Asian indices trend in the present trades could move up the local indices in early trades. However, caution should be exercised as strong volatility remains the major concern. Among the indices, the Nifty could test higher levels around the 5000-6000 range, while on the downside it has a key support around 4700. The Sensex has a likely support at 16320 and may face resistance at 17200.

Major US indices rose on Wednesday for the third session in a row, as strong January retail sales report helped investors set aside recent worries about the recession . While the Dow Jones flared up by 179 points at 12552, the Nasdaq moved up by 54 points to close at 2374.

Except Wipro all the Indian ADRs traded firm on the US bourses. HDFC Bank led the pack with gains of over 4% while, Dr Reddy's, Tata Motors, MTNL, Infosys and Satyam closed with the gains of 1-2% each.

The Nymex light crude oil for March delivery gained by 49 cents to close at $93.27 a barrel. In the commodity space, the Comex gold for April delivery slipped by 90 cents to settle at $910.20 an ounce.

Market may advance on strong global cues

The market may advance following strong global markets. All Asian markets were trading with gains today, 14 February 2008. Hang Seng (up 3.05% at 23,876.21), Japan's Nikkei (up 2.79% at 13,433.04), Shanghai Composite (up 1.04% to 4,537.38), Taiwan's Taiwan Weighted (up 2.93% at 7,772.07), Singapore's Straits Times (up 2.91% at 3,035.31) and South Korea's Seoul Composite (up 2.55% at 1,673.40) all edged higher.

US Markets rallied on Wednesday, 13 February 2008 after a surprise gain in January retail sales and a tech rally led by Apple materials, which beat earnings forecast. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 178.83 points, or 1.45%, to 12,552.24. The S&P 500 index rose 18.35 points, or 1.36%, to 1,367.21, and the Nasdaq Composite index advanced 53.89 points, or 2.32%, to 2,373.93.

Back home, the market breached its five-day losing streak to post gains on Wednesday, 13 February 2008 on the back of strong global cues and buying support in large-caps. The 30-share BSE Sensex surged 341.13 points or 2.05% at 16,949.14 on Wednesday, 13 February 2008. The broader CNX S&P Nifty rose 91.20 points or 1.88% at 4929.45 for the day.

As per provisional data, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) purchased shares worth Rs 9.40 crore on Wednesday, 13 February 2008. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers of shares worth Rs 23.59 crore on that day.

FIIs were net buyers to the tune of Rs 1,701.55 crore in the futures & options segment on Wenesday, 13 February 2008. They were net buyers of index futures to the tune of Rs 1,083.99 crore and bought index options worth Rs 18.18 crore. They were net buyers of stock futures to the tune of Rs 603.59 crore and sold stock options worth Rs 4.21 crore.

Meanwhile, as per reports Dominique S. Kahn, managing director of the International Monetary Fund said yesterday, 13 February 2008 that emerging economies such as India, which are expanding rapidly, are not insulated from the impact of a slowdown in the US and will feel the pinch sooner or later. Kahn, who is on a three-day visit to India, also underlined the need for a global solution to the problem of financial crisis, which could have a ripple effect on several economies.

Good Retail sales data lifts US Market

Good earnings reports and encouraging retail sales data help market close higher for third straight day

Technology, telecom and energy stocks pushed US Market considerably higher today, Wednesday, 13 February, 2008. Right from the very start, positive sentiment dominated the market after couple of good earnings reports and encouraging retail sales data. All ten of the major economic sectors finished in positive territory. Today's advance marked the stock market's third consecutive advance.

Before market opened today morning, The Dept. of Commerce said January retail sales grew by 0.3%, and also grew by 0.3% excluding autos. Market was in fact expecting a decrease of 0.3% for retail sales, and rise of 0.2% when excluding autos.

The Dow Jones industrial Average ended the day with a gain of 179 points at 12,552. The Nasdaq Composite Index, finished higher by 54 points at 2,374. S&P 500 finished higher by 18 points at 1,367.

Twenty-five out of thirty Dow stocks ended in the green today. American Express led the group of Dow winners with shares soaring by almost 4%. For the Nasdaq, it was Applied Materials whose stock today climbed by almost 10%.

CoCo Cola and Applied Materials beat earnings expectation

With regard to earnings, Coca-Cola and Applied Materials topped expectations. CoCo Cola reported 79% quarterly profit growth and said that it expects to enjoy a "good" 2008, but surprisingly its shares were among the Dow's laggards, and finished off 0.9%.

Applied Materials, which is the largest supplier of chipmaking equipment said that profit fell but still came in better than analysts expected. The stock gave technology sector a very good boost today.

On the technology front, Yahoo stock advanced more than 1% today on rumours that the company is in talk with Rupert Murdoch's Newscorp to ward off Microsoft's take-over proposal.

Indian ADRs closed mixed today. HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank were the two topmost gainers closing up by 4.4% and 2.4% respectively.

Energy sector gave the late day push to stocks today after crude closed marginally higher.

Crude prices erased earlier loss and finally closed higher for the day today. Prices initially fell after government report showed that crude inventories for last week rose less than expected. But the strong retail numbers for January, 2008 knocked off recession concerns once again and crude glided up. Crude-oil futures for light sweet crude for March delivery today closed at $93.27/barrel (higher by $0.49/barrel or 0.5%) on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The price earlier rose to an intraday high of $93.9 earlier and fell to a low of $91.9.

As per the weekly inventory report by EIA today, U.S. crude inventories rose for a fifth week, up 1.1 million barrels to 301.1 million barrels in the week ending 8 February. Market was expecting a rise of 2 million barrels. U.S. crude imports averaged 9.7 million barrels per day last week, down 777,000 barrels per day from the previous week. U.S. refineries operated at 85.1% of their operable capacity last week, up from the previous week's 84.3%.

Volume on the New York Stock Exchange topped 1.4 billion, while nearly 2.2 billion shares traded on the Nasdaq. On the NYSE, two stocks gained for each issue on the decline, while gainers topped decliners 3 to 1 on Nasdaq.

Tomorrow, Fed Chairman Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Paulson are scheduled to testify on the economy and financial markets before the Senate Banking Committed in Washington. In terms of economic reports, the international trade balance and weekly jobless claims data are due before tomorrow's open.

Valentine's Day..No bears please!

Deceiving others. That is what the world calls a romance – Oscar Wilde.

The bulls are set to flirt in the market. How long the romance lasts no one knows but no harm in staying happy for the day. Bear in mind, don't commit too much at first sight in markets or otherwise.

Today we might see even the side counters joining the Valentine's Day party. But don't get trapped by any rally and start buying aggressively again. The near-term outlook remains murky despite the slight improvement in the sentiment. Any upside should be used as an opportunity to exit weak counters. Medium-to long-term purchases could be in quality stocks only.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 2.5% in two days. Other global markets have also done well or at least hasn't fallen much. Our market also rallied yesterday in line with the global upswing. However, the breadth was still negative and the small-caps and mid-caps continued to struggle. In short, the advance wasn't convincing as investors remain apprehensive about a sustained rise from these levels. We may see the same trend continuing over the next few days before there is any stability. This may happen just ahead of the Union Budget.

On the F&O side, Nifty (February) futures discount decreased to 20 points from 43 points and around 16.37 lakh shares were shed in open interest. Total open interest in the market was Rs65,946 crore. The FIIs turned net buyers of Rs1084 crore in Index Futures and by Rs603 crore in Single Stock Futures.

FIIs were net buyers of Rs94mn (provisional) in the cash segment on Wednesday. Local institutions were net buyers of Rs235.9mn. In the F&O segment, FIIs were net buyers of Rs17.02bn yesterday. On Tuesday, foreign funds pulled out Rs1.15bn from the cash segment. Mutual funds were also net sellers of Rs984mn on the same day.

Asian markets have surged this morning, spurred by the overnight rally on Wall Street. The Nikkei in Tokyo was up 364 points at 13,433 while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong advanced 809 points to 23,979. The Kospi in Seoul gained 44 points to 1676 while the Straits Times in Singapore rose 88 points to 3038. The Shanghai Composite in China was up 48 points to 4538 and the Taiex in Taiwan jumped 208 points to 7758.

The Bank of Japan is expected to keep interest rates unchanged at the conclusion of the two-day meeting on Friday. The central bank's nine-member policy board is widely expected to hold the benchmark short-term interest rate unchanged at 0.5%. That rate is the lowest in the developed world.

But speculation is growing that the Japanese central bank may ease its previous stated policy of gradually raising rates as it focuses on the risks of a global economic slowdown and tallies the recent shakeout in Japanese financial markets.

US stocks rallied on Wednesday after a surprisingly strong January retail sales report helped soften worries that a weakening consumer demand could send the already struggling economy into a recession.

The S&P 500 Index added 18.35 points, or 1.4%, to 1,367.21, its biggest gain in two weeks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 178.83 points, or 1.5%, to 12,552.24. The Nasdaq increased 53.89 points, or 2.3%, to 2,373.93.

Market breadth was positive. Four stocks rose for every one that fell on the New York Stock Exchange.

Some Wall Street watchers say the US market may have bottomed out on January 23, when the Dow hit a trading low of 11,644. Since then, stocks have rallied, and as of Wednesday afternoon, the Dow was more than 7% off the Jan. low.

Applied Materials climbed the most in five years and helped push the Nasdaq to its best gain since November. Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips led oil shares higher after the Commerce Department said rising prices at filling stations spurred an unexpected increase in retail sales last month.

Retail sales rose 0.3% versus forecasts for a drop of 0.3%. Sales, excluding autos rose 0.3%, versus forecasts for a rise of 0.2%. A separate report showed that December business inventories rose 0.6%, topping forecasts.

On the corporate front, investors were enthused by the better-than-expected earnings from chipmaker Applied Materials and Dow component Coca-Cola.

Additionally, reports suggested that News Corp. is in talks with Yahoo! about combining MySpace and other online properties. A potential deal would give News Corp. a stake in Yahoo! and perhaps help the company fend off Microsoft's $44.6bn unsolicited takeover offer.

A latest Merrill Lynch global survey shows that fund managers are more worried about a US recession than in the previous month. They are also keeping more cash than in previous months and are the most worried about stocks since the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Treasury prices fell, raising the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to 3.72% from 3.66% late on Tuesday. In currency trading, the dollar gained versus the yen and was little changed versus the euro.

US light crude oil for March delivery rose 49 cents to $93.27 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, gyrating after a weaker-than-expected weekly oil inventories report. COMEX gold for April delivery fell 90 cents to $910.20 an ounce.

Stocks in Europe closed with modest gains. Markets see-sawed late in the session, but the pan-European Dow Jones Stoxx 600 index ended the day 0.1% higher at 323.30. The German DAX 30 rose 0.1% to 6,973.67, while the French CAC-40 gained 0.3% to 4,855.40. The UK's FTSE 100 index lost ground, ending the day 0.5% lower at 5,880.10, after losses in the banking sector.

In the emerging markets, the Bovespa in Brazil rose 1.3% to 62,590 while the IPC index in Mexico . The RTS index in Russia was up 1.2% at 2004 while the ISE National-30 index in Turkey jumped 3% to 56,087.

Market to remain edgy

It was a day of relief for the bulls as markets snapped five day losing streak. The large caps came to the rescue lifting the markets to close in green. However, the Mid-Cap and the Small-Cap stocks continued to be on the receiving end. Finally, the 30-share Sensex closed at 16,949 gaining 341 points. The NSE Nifty closed at 4,929 adding 91 points.

Overall about 768 stocks advanced, 1,940 stocks declined while 34 stocks remained unchanged. Among the BSE 30 index only 23 stocks advanced and 7 stocks declined.

Cords Cable Industries Ltd, started trading at a discount on the bourses, it got listed at Rs130 against its issue price of Rs135. However, immediately gained momentum to hit an intra-day high of Rs151 finally the stock ended at Rs139 gaining over 3% hitting a low of Rs110 recording volumes of over 89,00,000 shares on NSE.

The public offering of Cords Cable was subscribed nearly 5 times. The issue received bids for 153 lakh shares against 30.85 lakh shares on offer. At the cut off price, 25.31 lakh bids were received. The price band of the offering was Rs125-135 per share.

Cords Cable manufactures cables up to 1.1 KV for various applications including industrial, utility and buildings. The company plans to utilise the issue proceeds to part finance its expansion and also to diversify its business.

Bihar Tubes was down by 3.4% to Rs122. The company announced that it secured order worth Rs150mn approx from government of Himachal Pradesh, Irrigation & Public Health Dept. Shimla. Commenting on the order, Mukesh Jain, President (Marketing) of the Company said, "Regular orders from prestigious Government agencies like BHEL, I&PH Deptts. State Governments not only shows our quality and commitment but also demonstrates Bihar Tubes Ltd as significant player of the Industry." The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs131 and a low of Rs121 and recorded volumes of over 31,000 shares on BSE.

Engineering major Thermax rallied by over 8% to Rs630 following reports that the company is strengthening its presence in the water treatment business, plans to look at opportunities from the development of new cities, SEZ and upgradation of the municipal water treatment facilities.

Reports also stated that Thermax has entered into a technical collaboration with Babcock & Wilcox Power Generation Group (B&W PGG), to foray into manufacturing and supply of utility boilers of up to 800MW used to power thermal plants. The scrip has touched an intra-day high of Rs639 and a low of Rs583 and recorded volumes of over 91,000 shares on NSE.

Hindustan Unilever slipped 1% to Rs192 after the company announced its Q4 result with net profit at Rs6.31bn vs Rs5.11bn (post extraordinary). The company posted a 1-time gain of Rs774.5mn. The company's net sales was at Rs36.9bn vs Rs31.6bn. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs199 and a low of Rs190 and recorded volumes of over 27,00,000 shares on NSE.

Tata Communication surged by over 4.5% to Rs468 after the company announced that it would spend $2bn on expansion. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs473 and a low of Rs455 and recorded volumes of over 51,000 shares on NSE. Tata Communications will leverage its Tata Global Network (TGN) and unique experience of operating in emerging markets in Asia and Africa to deliver a new world of globally managed communications solutions.

Bajaj Auto lost 2.8% to Rs2016. Reports stated that company announced feasibility study on a possible joint venture for its small car project would be completed by early March,2008. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs2150 and a low of Rs1995 and recorded volumes of over 1,00,000 shares on NSE.

NTPC gained 1.5% to Rs187 following reports that the company initiated talks with GE Energy Financial Services of the US, Kyushu Electric Power Company of Japan and Brookfield Power Corporation of Canada for setting up a joint venture company to undertake renewable power generation. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs192 and a low of Rs183 and recorded volumes of over 76,00,000 shares on NSE.

News Snippets:

Reliance Industries discovers gas in KG deepwater block. (Mint)

Reliance Infratel commits to Rs78bn exports in eight years. (Mint)

Elder Healthcare to market VLCC's male grooming products. (Mint)

HUL's net profit rises by 24% yoy in quarter ended December 2008. (Mint)

Jain Irrigation signs pact with Israel water firm Mekorot Water Company for infrastructure projects in India. (Mint)

DLF wins title sponsorship rights of IPL Twenty20 for Rs2bn for five years. (BL)

Hero Honda expects flat sales for FY08 on account of financing issues. (BL)

NTPC's US$250mn project in Sri Lanka to begin next year. (BL)

Gail signs pact with ITERA Oil and Gas Company of Russia for cooperation in hydrocarbon sector. (BL)

Jubilant Group to grow retail presence in southern cities. (BL)

Paramount Airways in talks to buy wide-body aircraft. (BL)

Bharti Airtel consumer base reaches 60mn. (BL)

Air India and Jet Airways plan to buy 60 Boeing wide-body aircrafts. (BS)

Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) seeks permission for exploration in Saurashtra-Kutch region. (BS)

Eicher Motors' January 2008 sales decline by 17% yoy. (BS)

Satyam Computers may win eight orders worth US$50mn. (BS)

Ranbaxy Laboratories to consider turning its research unit into a separate company. (BS)

Parsvnath and Indiabulls Real Estate to jointly bid for 10 prime locations offered by India Railways. (BS)

TVS Motor launches its first electric scooter for an ex-showroom price of Rs32,500. (ET)

PVR enters into an agreement with Thailand-based Cineplex Group for lifestyle entertainment. (ET)

Tata Communication, formerly known VSNL, to invest $2bn over the next three years to expand its submarine cable business. (ET)

Essar Shipping board approved merger of Mauritius-based Indian Shipping with the company. (ET)

Axis Bank reduces its benchmark prime lending rate by 25bps and mortgage reference rate has reduced by 50bps. (ET)

Japanese major NEC Electronics selects Wipro for semiconductor design services. (FE)

Fitch Ratings and PNB signs a MoU for bank loan ratings. (FE)

Crompton Greaves acquires 40% stake in their Indonesian joint venture PT Pauwels Trafo for US$10.7mn. (FE)

Mastek to raise US$40mn to fund its acquisition in US and UK before June 2008. (FE)

Reliance Money commences operations on the Dubai Gold and Commodity Exchange from Wednesday. (FE)

NTPC agrees to invest Rs4.75bn in Ratnagiri Gas & Power to increase capacity charge. (FE)

Gail plans to complete natural gas pipeline project, Vijaypur-Dadri and from Dadri to Bawana pipeline in best 24 months. (FE)

Economic Front Page

Mandatory for art funds to register with SEBI. (Mint)
Exports from SEZs grow 200% in two years. (BS)

DoT to impose one time entry fee for all spectrum allocation beyond 6.2Mhz. (ET)

Chandrasekhar Bhave to takeover as next chairman of SEBI. (ET)

Steel minister and steel manufacturers to meet on Feb 14, 2008 to discuss possibility of partial roll back in steel prices. (ET)

Pharma industry seeks extension of export related tax incentive for another five years. (ET)

The six key infrastructure industries production slips to 4% in December 2007, less than half 9% achieved a year ago. (FE)

The Cabinet Committee on Political affairs likely to consider raising petrol and diesel prices today. (FE)

Precious metals remain almost unchanged

Gold and silver prices marginally lower today as equities rally

Bullion metals were almost unchanged today, Wednesday, 13 February, 2008 and closed marginally lower for the day. Prices fell as rally in equities reduced the glitterness of the metal as alternate source of investment. Reports that imports of gold by India, world's largest consumer of gold, declined in FY 2007 also led to the precious metal's fall today. Silver prices also ended marginally lower for the day.

Prices had increased for four straight days before yesterday as crude prices rallied boosting the appeal of the precious metal as a hedge against inflation. Also, news of potential supply shortages in South Africa continued to boost the prices.

Gold generally moves in the opposite direction of the U.S. currency. Gold, as a dollar-denominated commodity, suffers from dollar strength.

Comex Gold for April delivery fell $0.30 (0.03%) to close at $910.8 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On 30 January, 2008 prices had hit a high of $941 in the after hours trading. This year, prices have gained 9.5% till date. In January, prices gained 11%, the highest monthly gain since April 2006. Last week, gold prices closed higher by $8.8 (0.96%) against previous close of $913.5.

Today's drop was second consecutive day of drop for bullion metal prices. Yesterday gold prices had dropped by more than $15/ounce.

Comex Silver futures for March today fell by 1.5 cents (0.02%) to $17.245 an ounce. Silver has gained 14.9% in 2008. The metal had climbed 16% in FY 2007. The metal also has gained for seven straight years. In January this year itself, prices climbed 14%.

U.S. stocks rose today after a government report showed an unexpected increase in retail sales in January, 2008. Retail sales in the U.S. gained 0.3% in January. Market was expecting a drop in sales.

Gold also fell today after the Group of Seven officials meeting in Tokyo over the last weekend said they supported the International Monetary Fund's effort sell its gold reserves in order to invest in higher-yielding assets. The IMF is the third largest holder of gold in reserves after the U.S. Federal Reserve and the German central bank.

In the currency markets today, the dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was at 76.570, up from 76.473 in late U.S. trading Tuesday.

Gold has traditionally been used as a safe-haven asset against rising inflation. Investor sentiments are boosted by the fact that gold and silver are alternate sources of good investment in the face of declining dollar and rising energy prices. Rising crude increases inflationary pressures and vice versa. On the other hand strong dollar reduces the appeal of the metal as alternate source of investment.

Gold witnessed the greatest annual gain in twenty eight years by gaining $200/ounce (31%) in FY 2007. In 2006, silver had jumped 46% while gold gained 23%.

At the MCX, gold prices for April delivery closed lower by Rs 11 (0.09%) at Rs 11,585 per 10 grams. Prices rose to a high of Rs 11,624 per 10 grams and fell to a low of Rs 11,475 per 10 grams during the day's trading.

At the MCX, silver prices for March delivery closed Rs 62 (0.28%) higher at Rs 22,102/Kg. Prices opened at Rs 21,930/kg and rose to a high of Rs 22,150/Kg during the day's trading.

Crude prices give up earlier loss

 Prices rise as crude inventories for last week rise less than expected

Wednesday, 13 February, 2008. Prices initially fell after government report showed that crude inventories for last week rose less than expected. But the strong retail numbers for January, 2008 knocked off recession concerns once again and crude glided up.

Crude-oil futures for light sweet crude for March delivery today closed at $93.27/barrel (higher by $0.49/barrel or 0.5%) on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The price earlier rose to an intraday high of $93.9 earlier and fell to a low of $91.9.

As per the weekly inventory report by EIA today, U.S. crude inventories rose for a fifth week, up 1.1 million barrels to 301.1 million barrels in the week ending 8 February. Market was expecting a rise of 2 million barrels. U.S. crude imports averaged 9.7 million barrels per day last week, down 777,000 barrels per day from the previous week. U.S. refineries operated at 85.1% of their operable capacity last week, up from the previous week's 84.3%.

On the petroleum products side, EIA reported gasoline supplies rose by 1.7 million barrels in the latest week, while distillate supplies, which include heating oil and diesel, fell by 100,000 barrels.

Brent crude oil for March settlement today rose $0.46 (0.5%) to $93.32 on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The London benchmark rose 54% in FY 2007, the most since 1999 when prices more than doubled.

Crude had ended FY 2007 substantially higher by $35 or 57%. It was crude's biggest yearly gain in five years.

Natural gas rallies more than 13% this year

In a monthly report released yesterday, EIA said the world oil market is poised to ease over the next two years with production increases offsetting moderate growth in oil demand.

Natural gas price rose today. Natural gas has rallied more than 13% this year and is is 15% higher than a year ago. Natural gas for March delivery rose 5.1 cents (0.6%) to $8.487 per million British thermal units.

Against this backdrop, March reformulated gasoline rose 2.19 cent to $2.3899 a gallon, and March heating oil was almost flat at $2.615 a gallon.

Last Friday, two ministers of Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) hinted that the cartel might go for a production cut in its next meeting at March, 2008. This spurted up crude prices and the same ended almost 4% higher on that day. At its 1 February meeting at Vienna, OPEC members decided to keep current output levels unchanged.

At the MCX, crude oil for February delivery closed at Rs 3,709/barrel, higher by Rs 29 (0.8%) against previous day's close. Natural gas for February delivery closed at Rs 335.9/mmtbu, lower by Rs 1.4/mmtbu (0.41%).

FII selling continues

 Outflow of Rs 115.10 crore on 12 February 2008

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth net Rs 115.10 crore on Tuesday, 12 February 2008, compared to their selling of Rs 1845.50 crore on Monday, 11 February 2008.

FII outflow of Rs 115.10 crore on 12 February 2008 was a result of gross purchases of Rs 3440.20 crore and gross sales Rs 3555.30 crore. The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 22.90 points or 0.14% at 16,608.01 on that day.

FII outflow in February 2008 totaled Rs 628.80 crore (till 12 February 2008). FII outflow in calendar year 2008 totaled Rs 13,664.40 crore (till 12 February 2008).

There are a total of 1,284 FIIs registered with the Securities & Exchange Board of India (Sebi)

Nifty February 2008 futures at premium

 Turnover in F&O segment increases

Nifty February 2008 futures were at 4930, at a premium of 0.55 points as compared to spot closing of 4929.45.

The NSE futures & options (F&O) segment turnover was Rs 37,555.25 crore, which was higher than Rs 36,223.5 crore on Tuesday, 12 February 2008.

Essar Oil February 2008 futures were at premium, at 195.25, compared to the spot closing of 184.

Tata Steel February 2008 futures were at premium, at 761.90, compared to the spot closing of 758.10.

ICICI Bank February 2008 futures were at premium, at 1108, compared to the spot closing of 1101.80.

In the cash market, the S&P CNX Nifty gained 91.20 points or 1.88% at 4929.45.

1st Gas Discovery in Deepwater Block in Krishna Basin

Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) is pleased to announce the first gas discovery in exploratory block KG-DWN-2003/1 (KG-V-D3) of NELP-V. The block KG-DWN-2003/1 is located about 50 kilometers from Machalipatnam, in Andhra Pradesh in the deep waters of the Krishna Basin in the Bay of Bengal. It covers an area of 3288 Sq. Km. The gas discovery has been struck in the very first exploratory well in this block. RIL holds 90% participating interest (PI) and Hardy Exploration and Production India Inc holds balance 10% in the block.

The well KG-V-D3-A1 was drilled at a water depth of 716 m, to a total depth of 1937 m, with the objective of exploring Pliestocene deep water fan complex play fairway. A thick reservoir was encountered with gross hydrocarbon column of around 84 meters in Pliestocene the potential of which was evaluated through wire-line based technology called Modular Dynamic Testing (MDT). Subsequently the well flowed at a rate of 38.1 MMscfd on conventional testing. This play fairway is expected to cover a large area of the block. This discovery, named 'Dhirubhai – 39' has been notified to Government of India and Directorate General of Hydrocarbons. The potential commercial interest of the discovery is being ascertained through more data gathering and analysis.

This discovery validates RIL's understanding of the petroleum system in this block. Based on interpretation of the first phase seismic campaign covering about 65 per cent of the block area, several more prospects with potential upside have been identified along the same play fairway as well as other play fairways at different stratigraphic levels.

Sourced From: Reliance Industries Limited

Tata launches mobile TV software platform

Tata Elxsi Limited, the embedded Product Design arm of the Tata Group based in Bangalore, India announced that it has integrated its leading software stack solution for DVB-H devices based on Siano's cutting edge receivers. This solution will be offered to handset and mobile device manufacturers, delivering flexibility, ease of integration, quick time-to-market and richness of features.

The new platform, integrated with Siano's MDTV receiver, will be demonstrated in the upcoming 3GSM (Mobile World Congress) in Barcelona, during Feb 11-14, in Siano's booth Siano's hospitality suite (4.5 HS_44 Hall 4) and in Tata Elxsi's booth no-1F92, Hall 2 Level 1. The partnership represents Siano's entrance into the Indian market, increasing its already strong presence in Asia.

One of the key features of Tata Elxsi's software platform, code named "Maverick", is the ability to seamlessly switch between DVB-H networks that either use the OMA-BCAST or the DVB-CBMS protocol. This feature literally makes this solution ubiquitous across all DVB-H networks deployed today and in the future, as it supports the two existing modes. In addition to supporting the required middleware and service guide components for both protocols, the (code-name) platform also supports the conditional-access (service purchase and protection) schemes implied by them as well, turning this into a perfect software development platform for any DVB-H device to be launched in any part of the world. The software platform from Tata Elxsi, is geared for future requirements such as DVB-SH, and comes with an application suite offering a comprehensive user experience.

"We had recognized quite from the start that DVB-H is facing challenges not only on the infrastructure and deployment aspects, but also from the technical protocols used", said Ram Mohan, Tata Elxsi's Head of IP Sales and Business Development. "Siano's high performance, multi-standard, multi-band and ultra-flexible solution is a perfect match to the platform we had envisioned and created – a single platform that can be used by device makers easily, seamlessly and with the utmost flexibility to create DVB-H devices, no matter of their end target market and which protocol, OMA-BCAST or CMBS is implemented therein ".

Raz Kivelevich-Carmi, Senior Director of Product Marketing, Siano, said "The partnership with Tata Elxsi represents perfect industry synergy, since their vision completely matches our own – a single platform that cuts design efforts and time-to-market for our customers and ensures the adequate ramp-up and adoption of DVB-H services all around the globe."

Sourced From: Vaishnavi Corporate Communications Pvt Ltd

PEL aligns with Raytheon to pursue defense comm programs

Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) has signed a memorandum of understanding with Precision Electronics Limited (BSE: PRECISIO) to forge strategic alignments that jointly develop and provide superior communications technology for India's military forces.

The MOU represents another step toward establishing a strong collaborative working relationship, encouraging joint pursuit of emerging business opportunities, and providing for in-country production, offset and long-term support. This agreement will pave the way for more exchanges of communications technology and business know-how between India and Raytheon.

"This strategic alignment makes good business sense for Raytheon, PEL and our common partners as well as for India and its military forces," said Gregory Vuksich, vice president, Raytheon Network Centric Systems International Business Development. "Our Indian associates at PEL are highly respected, proven technology suppliers who bring complementary capabilities, creativity and innovation of great value to India's military forces.

"Forming these relationships is a critical aspect of Raytheon's approach to building a team committed to providing the best high technology electronics solutions for India's military."

PEL is a market leader in India providing communication solutions to both the military and civil sectors. Backed by a strong design and engineering team and a Ministry of Defence-approved manufacturing infrastructure, PEL is strongly poised to garner substantial defense business in the near future and is well positioned to take active part in the offset program.

Raytheon Company, with 2007 sales of $21.3 billion, is a technology leader specializing in defense, homeland security and other government markets throughout the world. With a history of innovation spanning more than 85 years, Raytheon provides state-of-the-art electronics, mission systems integration and other capabilities in the areas of sensing; effects; and command, control, communications and intelligence systems, as well as a broad range of mission support services. With headquarters in Waltham, Mass., Raytheon employs 72,000 people worldwide.

Sourced From: Corporate Voice|Weber Shandwick