IT stocks lead rally as Sensex eyes 17,000

The market extended gains in afternoon trade as firm European markets, which opened after Indian market, bolstered sentiment. Asian markets, which opened before Indian market, firmed up after shaky start. IT pivotals gained as rupee weakened to 13-month low against the dollar. The Sensex is now eyeing 17,000 while the S&P CNX Nifty is eyeing 5,000 level.

At 13:29 IST, the 30-share BSE Sensex was up 195.60 points or 1.17% at 16,948.86. Sensex gained 195.67 points at day`s high of 16948.53 hit in afternoon trade. The barometer index had opened 61.56 points lower at 16,691.30 and slipped further to touch a low of 16,626.35 in early trade. At the day`s low, Sensex lost 126.51 points.

The broader based S&P CNX Nifty advanced 41 points or 0.83% at 4,998.85

The market breadth turned negative after firm start. On BSE, 1265 shares declined as compared to 1228 that advanced. 82 remained unchanged.

Among the 30-member Sensex pack, 21 advanced while the rest slipped.

IT stocks advanced as rupee weakened to 13-month low above 42 against the dollar. India`s largest software services exporter TCS jumped 6.16% to Rs 961.45 and was the top gainer from Sensex pack.

Infosys Technologies (up 3.51% to Rs 1808.50), Satyam Computer Services (up 2.39% to Rs 507.80) and Wipro (up 1.83% to Rs 503.25), advanced. A depreciating rupee augurs well for IT companies as they derive over 50% of their revenues from exports to US.

India`s largest private sector company in terms of market capitalisation and oil refiner Reliance Industries (RIL) rebounded from early low of Rs 2484 and was now up 1.16% to Rs 2,530.50

Shares of cement producers declined following reports that they are reducing prices despite increase in input costs, mainly due to higher supply on account of new installed capacities and the government`s ban on export. Ambuja Cement (down 1.57% to Rs 109.80) an ACC (down 2.04% to Rs 669.05) edged lower.

Oil & Natural Gas Corporation, the country`s largest state run oil exploration company in terms of sales, slumped 5.32% to Rs 944.10, on fears the company may forced to offer higher discounts to state-run refiners as crude hit a record high. It was the top loser from Sensex pack

Mahindra & Mahindra (down 2.50% to Rs 650), and NTPC (down 1.85% to Rs 188.75), edged lower from the Sensex pack.

India`s top private sector aluminium company in terms of sales, Hindalco Industries eased from day`s high of Rs 188.50 in early trade. It was now up 2.86% to Rs 185.10.

Bharti Airtel, the country`s top cellular services provider in terms of market capitalisation advanced 1.78% to Rs 835.90. Bharti Airtel on Tuesday, 13 May 2008, said its talks for South Africa`s MTN were still exploratory and it has not made any bid.

The Asian Wall Street Journal said on Monday, 12 May 2008, that Bharti was considering raising its offer to around 175 South African rand ($22.84) a share for control of MTN. It said an official bid could come this week. MTN`s market value has risen to $38.8 billion, after an 8.8% increase in its share prices since 2 May 2008, the trading day before the company said it was in talks with Bharti.

Housing Development Finance Corporation (up 2.21% to Rs 2717), Tata Steel (up 1.84% to Rs 867), and Maruti Suzuki India (up 3.46% to Rs 796.80), edged higher from Sensex pack.

European markets, which opened after Indian market, were firm in opening trade. Key benchmark indices in United Kingdom (up 0.02% to 6,213.10), Germany (up 0.33% to 7,083.66), and France (up 0.87% to 5,042.24), logged gains.

Asian markets were off early lows, still trading mixed today, 14 May 2008. Sanghai Composite (up 2.73% at 3,657.23), Seoul Composite (up 0.11% at 1,844.77), Nikkei 225 Average (up 1.18% at 14,118.55), Taiwan Weighted (up 0.32% at 9,018.42), advanced. However, Hang Seng (down 0.40% at 25,446.86) and Straits Times (down 0.10% at 3,200.75) edged lower.

US markets settled mixed yesterday, 13 May 2008 as investors juggled a mixed bag of news. A tepid outlook from Yahoo, HP`s bid for EDS and a surprising resilience in retail sales led to mixed reactions. The Dow Jones fell 44.13 points, or 0.34%, to 12,832.18. The Nasdaq Composite index rose 6.63 points, or 0.27%, to 2,495.12.

On 13 May 2008, Indian equities reversed early gains in choppy trade to settle lower closely mirroring European markets. The 30-share BSE Sensex slipped 108.04 points or 0.64% at 16,752.86 and the broader based S&P CNX Nifty shed 54.85 points or 1.09% at 4,957.80, on that day.

As per provisional data, foreign funds purchased shares worth a net Rs 73.93 crore yesterday, 13 May 2008. Domestic funds bought shares worth a net Rs 266.50 crore on that day.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers of Rs 617.15 crore in the futures & options segment yesterday, 13 May 2008. They were net buyers of index futures to the tune of Rs 658.33 crore and sold index options worth Rs 41.12 crore. They were net buyers of stock futures to the tune of Rs 3.90 crore and sold stock options worth Rs 3.96 crore