Sensex gains 47.35 points; closes at 14,402.90

Mumbai, Feb 19: Ahead of the Union Budget next week wherein market experts expect Government to adopt more correctional measures to contain Inflation, the Sensex today recorded a marginal gain of 47.35 points to close at 14,402.90 on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

After staying firm throughout the day, the market looked tired in the late-afternoon session. Profit-booking in index pivotals capped the gains. Finally, the benchmark Sensex settled just above 14,400.

The 30-shares BSE Sensex settled at 14,402.90. It had opened higher, at 14,436.18, tracking the 345-point surge of Friday (16 February 2007). The BSE benchmark had surged to a fresh high of 14,479.18, and ended at a low of 14,372.07.

The BSE BANKEX and METAL Indices registered a gain of 106.39 and 30.44 points to settle at 7,289.10 and 8,906.67 points, respectively. Similarly, OIL&GAS and SML CAP indices rose by 28.07 and 26.67 points to close at 6,733.41 and 7,316.93 points respectively.

Meanwhile, the S&P CNX Nifty Index of NSE settled up by 18.35 points, to close at 4,164.55, before it resumed at a marginal high at 4149.25. Later, it recorded the day's high at 4177.70 and a low of 4149.25 points during intra-day trading.

The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 4,204 crore. The market-breadth, a measure of the overall market strength, was just about positive, although not as much as it was earlier in the session. Broad-based participation from small-cap as well as mid-cap stocks was the add-on feature of today's trade.

Among the 30-Sensex pack, 16 declined while the rest advanced.

Most global markets were trading strong. The Nikkei average rose by 0.24 per cent on Monday, to trade at its highest in nearly seven years as retail stocks jumped on expectations of industry consolidation after Daimaru said it was considering a tie-up with Matsuzakaya Holdings Co.

The Nikkei average rose by 42.59 points to 17,918.24 on Monday, its highest since May 2000. It rose as high as 17,931.70 earlier in the day. The Hang Seng index was up by 29.49 points, at 20,567.91.

Volatility, however, may accentuate this week ahead of the expiry of this month's derivative contracts on 22 February. As per the latest data, NSE's total F&O open interest increased by Rs 1,939 crore to Rs 61,745 crore, of which futures open interest has gone up by Rs 1,136 crore, while the options open interest rose by Rs 803 crore. Marketwide rollover was at 18 per cent, while the Nifty rollover was 28 per cent.

The near-term trend on the bourses will be driven by budget expectations. The focus of the market will be more on sectors, which are expected to benefit from the budget proposals.

Most Asian markets are closed for the Lunar New Year holidays.

Taiwan and China are closed for the entire week, while Hong Kong and Singapore are shut on Monday and Tuesday. South Korea, Malaysia, and the US markets are also closed on Monday.

In New York, on Friday, oil futures prices jumped more than USD 1 to end above USD 59 a barrel as traders covered some short positions before the President's Day holiday (Monday), when NYMEX and US financial markets remain closed. More unrest in OPEC member, Nigeria, also lifted oil prices, brokers said.

Private sector ICICI Bank was the top gainer, up by 3.12 per cent to Rs 978, on a volume of 3.18 lakh shares. The scrip had surged from a low of Rs 943.30, its high being Rs 986.50. Car maker Maruti Udyog advanced by 2.56 per cent to Rs 914.70, following a cut in petrol and diesel prices last week.

IT major TCS gained 1.53 per cent to Rs 1310, as buying continued after the software exporter bagged an overseas order last week.

Tata Steel (up 1.11 per cent to Rs 447), ITC (up 0.66 per cent to Rs 175), and SBI (up 0.52 per cent to Rs 1129) were the other gainers.

Index heavyweight, Reliance Industries (RIL) advanced by 0.72 per cent to Rs 1417, on a volume of 5.77 lakh shares.

Ranbaxy Laboratories was down by 0.64 per cent to Rs 391. Hero Honda was the top loser, down 3.71 per cent to Rs 716, on a volume of 38201 shares. It had slipped from a high of Rs 753.95.

Gujarat Ambuja Cements (down 3 per cent to Rs 132.40), Hindalco (down 2.31 per cent to Rs 148), and Reliance Communications (down 1.37 per cent to Rs 460.10) were the other big losers.

L&T declined by 0.12 per cent to Rs 1690, after striking a high of Rs 1717.90. The engineering and construction company said on Monday it had secured a USD 250 million contract to set up offshore platforms and related amenities.

ABB gained by 2.61 per cent to Rs 3900, but was down from a high of Rs 4000.

Lokesh Machines gained 10 per cent to Rs 148.30, after it informed it had received an order worth Rs 20 crore from Germany's Wenig Wemas.

Biocon surged by 3.4 per cent to Rs 454, on news that the firm plans to invest Rs 1000 crore in setting up a bio-pharma plant in Andhra.

The bio-pharma plant will come up at the special economic zone (SEZ) near the port city of Visakhapatnam. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, last friday, handed over the land needed for the plant to Biocon Chairman, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, brokers added.

UNI