Sensex opens high at 14,306.97 points

Mumbai, Jan 29: The BSE Sensex today opened higher at 14,306.97points with a modest gain of around 24 points from last close of14,282.72 points on fresh speculative demand from FIIs and mutualfunds, brokers said.

The market edged lower in early trade. Later, the Bombay StockExchange(BSE) Sensitive Index(Sensex) was down 15 points, at 14,267.

It had edged lower after a positive opening, reached 14,316.54during the intra-day trade, within sniffing distance of an all-timehigh of 14,325.92 of January 18, 2007.

Meanwhile, the S&P CNX Nifty index of NSE resumed firm at4,148.40. The Nifty index recorded a high at 4,167.15 points and a lowat 4,126.20 points. The current index is quoted low at 4,133.20 with amodest loss of 14 points from its last close of 4,147.70 points.

BHEL rose nearly two per cent to Rs 2,496, after the company'sboard announced a surprise 1:1 bonus along with strong Q3 results aftertrading hours on Thursday (January 25, 2007).

Hindalco gained 1.5 per cent to Rs 177.90, after it reported asurge in net profit in December 2006 quarter, to Rs 643.90 crore fromRs 336.20 crore in December 2005 quarter. The results hit the marketafter trading hours on Thursday.

Reliance Communications rose 1.5 per cent to Rs 443.90, after thecompany's shareholders approved a transfer of its wireless towers (CDMAand GSM) and related infrastructure to its subsidiary, Reliance TelecomInfrastructure (RTIL).

Tata Steel rose 1.3 per cent to Rs 515.90. As per reports, anauction will be held for Anglo-Dutch Steelmaker Corus on Tuesday, whichwill last for 10 hours. Tata Steel and Brazil's CZN are expected toaggressively participate in the auction.

Pharma pivotas were in demand. Ranbaxy gained two per cent to Rs405.75, Cipla rose 1.5 per cent to Rs 248.50 and Dr Reddy's Lab gained1.1 per cent to Rs 772.

IT pivotas were subdued. Wipro lost 1.7 per cent to Rs 639, TCSshed 0.8 per cent to Rs 1,302 and Infosys shed 0.7 per cent to Rs2,225.

Asian markets were mixed today. Key benchmark indices in HongKong, South Korea and Taiwan were down between 0.2 - 0.9 per cent.

Key benchmark indices in Japan and Singapore were up between 0.2 - 0.8 per cent.

The Dow and the S&P 500 ended slightly lower on Friday onconcerns that strong economic reports will hurt chances for aninterest-rate cut. Dow fell 15.54 points, or 0.12 per cent, to end at12,487.02. The Standard&Poor's 500 Index slipped 1.72 points, or0.12 per cent, to finish at 1,422.18. But the NASDAQ Composite Indexinched up 1.25 points, or 0.05 per cent, to close at 2,435.49, brokerssaid.

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