Sensex opens high at 14,028 points today

Mumbai, Jan 4: The Sensitive Index of the BSE today opened high at 14,028.04 points registering a modest gain of around 14 points from it's last close of 14,014.92 points, on account of fresh speculative demand from Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) and some mutual funds, brokers said.

The market, however, lost ground after opening on a firm note.

Pivotals were mixed.

Later, the Sensex was down by 30 points at 13,984.61. It had earlier risen by as much as 45.43 points in the opening trade registering a high of 14,060.35 points, a new all time high for the barometer index.

Meanwhile, the S&P CNX Nifty Index of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) also resumed high at 4,027.30 points. It recorded a high of 4,041.00 points and a low at 4,006.05 points, during the mid-morning session.

Currently, the Index is quoted low at 4,009.90 points, a modest loss of 15.85 points from it's previous day's close of 4,024.05 points.

L&T, which is up by 1.6 per cent at Rs 1500, has rised for the second day in a row after they announced yesterday that they have bagged an overseas order worth over Rs 400 crore.

ONGC gained 0.4 per cent to Rs 876. As per reports, ONGC is likely to announce major gas discoveries in the Krishna-Godavari basin soon.

ICICI Bank rose 1.2 per cent at Rs 905, after it's ADR rose 1.2 per cent yesterday to USD 42.24, while State Bank of India rose by 0.4 per cent at Rs 1270.

Tata Motors gained 1.1 per cent at Rs 950 after it's ADR jumped by 6.1 per cent yesterday to USD 21.69.

Satyam Computers declined by 0.2 per cent to Rs 514. A block deal of 14.2 lakh shares was executed at the BSE for Rs 514.50 each.

Infosys lost 0.6 per cent Rs 2297.

Tata Steel dropped by 1 per cent to Rs 466.50. They had yesterday said that it's saleable steel production in the first nine months of the 2006/07 fiscal year had rose by 11 per cent from last years 3.66 million tonnes.

Cigarette major, ITC shed 2.3 per cent to Rs 171.

Iron-ore exporter Sesa Goa rose nearly 4 per cent to Rs 1553 after a newspaper reported that the world's largest steel maker Arcelor Mittal was eyeing a stake in the company.

Meanwhile, the Asian markets displayed a mixed trend today. Key benchmark indices in Japan and Taiwan were up by 0.2 per cent to 0.7 per cent.

On the other hand, key benchmark indices in Hong Kong, South Korea and Singapore were down by 0.15 per cent to 1.3 per cent.

US stocks resumed this year's debut session yesterday in the backdrop of the revealations of the minutes from the Federal Reserve Bank's latest meeting which renewed concerns regarding the strength of the economy and corporate profits. This halted an early rally.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose by 11.37 points, 0.09 per cent, to end at 12,474.52 points.

The Standard&Poor's 500 Index slipped by 1.67 points, 0.12 per cent, to finish at 1,416.63 points.

The Nasdaq Composite Index advanced by 7.87 points, 0.33 per cent, to close at 2,423.16 points.

Oil prices yesterday declined sharply. Next month's delivery of US crude oil fell by USD 2.73, 4.5 percent, to settle at USD 58.32 a barrel, brokers added.

UNI