BSE Sensex crosses 13,000 mark, up by 126 pts

Mumbai, Mar 22: The BSE Sensex today crossed the 13,000 barrier in the opening session and touched a firm at 13,071.81 points with a handsome gain of 126 points from its last close of 12,945.88 points on sustained heavy bull support from FIIs and domestic mutual funds in view of firm Asian bourses, brokers said.

The 30 scrips of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensitive Index (Sensex) recorded a high at 13,260.20 points and a low at 13,071 points during intra-day trade. The current index is quoted high at 13,222.54 points with a major gain of 276.66 points from its last close.

Bourses around the globe are going strong, and the domestic ones are no exception, after the US Federal Reserve policy-setting meeting on Wednesday dropped an explicit reference to the possibility of taking rates higher in its statement, sparking talk the next move could be a cut. The Fed left interest rates unchanged at 5.25 per cent interest rate indicated 48 per cent of a rate-cut by end-June 2007, compared with 24 per cent before day's announcement.

The Dow Jones industrial average shot up 159.42 points, or 1.30 per cent, to 12,447.52 on Wednesday. The Standard&Poor's 500 Index jumped 24.1 points, or 1.71 per cent, to 1,435.04. The NASDAQ Composite Index surged 47.71 points, or 1.98 per cent, to 2,455.92.

Exporters led Asian stocks higher on Thursday. Key benchmark indices in Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, China and Taiwan were up between 0.4 - 2 per cent.

The market extended its gains from an early surge, when strong global markets had triggered a firm opening. All BSE sectoral indices were in the green and the market-breadth was going strong.

Auto shares had firmed up in morning trade. Among Sensex constituents, BHEL surged and oil exploration major ONGC firmed up.

Telecom, banking and IT shares held on to their gains.

Among sectoral indices, the BSE Capital Goods Index was the top gainer, thanks to the rally in BHEL. The BSE Capital Goods Index was up 266.64 points (3 per cent), at 8,914.82.

The next best performer was the banking sector index, the Bankex, which was up 183.18 points (2.8 per cent), at 6,728.51. The FMCG Index was the next major gainer. It was up 43.79 points (2.6 per cent), at 1,709.47. The market-breadth was strong. Against 1,586 shares rising on BSE, 580 declined. Also, 68 scrips were unchanged.

Gainers outpaced losers by a ratio of 2.73:1.

PSU power equipment major BHEL surged nearly 6 per cent to Rs 2225, and was the top-gainer among the Sensex constituents. The company is set to unveil its tentative FY 2007 (year ending March 31, 2007) results on April 3, 2007.

Auto shares were in demand. Car major Maruti Udyog (MUL) surged 3.5 per cent to Rs 819.60. Earlier this week, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said the government will sell its remaining 10.27 per cent stake in the car major in the next financial year beginning April 1, 2007. Media reports had said late last week that, market volatility had prompted the government to postpone the disinvestment of its residual 10.27 per cent stake in Maruti Udyog (MUL) up to the next financial year.

The Central Government was to sell 2,96,79,709 shares of Rs 5 each of MUL through competitive bidding, and hoped to raise between Rs 2,400 crore and Rs 2,800 crore.

Oil exploration major ONGC gained 3.3 per cent to Rs 840, on value-buying.

Oil hovering near USD 60 a barrel after a big drop in US gasoline supplies raised worries of a crunch leading into the US summer driving season. US crude was up 35 cents at USD 59.96.

Engineering&construction major L&T gained 3.4% to Rs 1555. The company is &xD;sitting on a robust order-book.

Banks extended Wednesday's gains. State Bank of India gained 2.4 per cent to Rs 1006, HDFC Bank rose 3 per cent to Rs 997 and ICICI Bank gained 2.3 per cent to Rs 891. On Wednesday, ICICI Bank's ADR gained 4.3 per cent to USD 40.31, and HDFC Bank's ADR rose 3.2 per cent to USD 69.89. Banks had surged on Wednesday due to value-buying, as well as due to short-covering in the derivatives.

Reliance Industries (RIL) rose 1.7 per cent to Rs 1,364. Reliance Industries said today, it, as well as Rohm and Haas Co, US, were exploring the joint construction of an acrylic-monomer plant in India. The proposed plant in Jamnagar would be able to produce 2,00,000 tones of acrylic acid and its esters annually, Reliance said in a statement. Products from the new firm would be used to make paints, packaging adhesives, detergents, textile and construction materials, RIL said.

Punj Lloyd gained 2.6 per cent to Rs 835.50, after the construction firm won a Rs 258-crore order to expand the fuel supply system at the New Doha International Airport in Qatar.

Kotak Mahindra Bank gained 2.6 per cent to Rs 441, after the private lender signed a deal with International Finance Corp (IFC) to raise up to USD 45 million in Tier II subordinated bonds, with a maturity of more than 15 years.

India Gelatins&Chemicals rose 0.7 per cent to Rs 21.60, after the company said its board will meet on 28 March 2007, to consider selling 11 per cent stake for Rs 2.25 crore to Japan's Nippi Inc.

Material handling equipment maker Elecon Engineering rose 2.3 per cent to Rs 391.85, on securing three orders worth Rs 39.65 crore.

Healthcare services firm Kovai Medical Center&Hospital dropped nearly 1 per cent to Rs 46, after it signed an initial deal to acquire south India-based Idhayam Hospitals Erode for Rs 9.25 crore, including the latter's debt, brokers added.

UNI