Markets open in the green, record impressive gains

Mumbai, May 14 (UNI) The Sensex today opened in the green and recorded an impressive gain of 158.25 points on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

The Sensex opened at 13,954.41 points from its previous close of 13,796.16, tracking firm Asian markets, strong fourth quaterly (Q4) results and prospects of political stability in Uttar Pradesh.

The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Mayawati was sworn-in as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh yesterday. With this development, chances of the Central Goverment resorting to any populist measures in the short-term at least is ruled out, market analysts explained.

The broader 50-stock Nifty Index opened with a marginal gain of 2.15 points on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) at 4,078.80 from its previous close of 4,076.65 points.

At the premier BSE, the market breadth was strong as against the 1,205 shares that rose only 283 shares declined, while 32 remained unchanged.

Gainers outpaced losers by a ratio of 4.25:1 and the total turnover was Rs 546 crore.

State Bank of India (SBI) gained almost 5 per cent to Rs 1,203 after it reported a 75 per cent growth in net profit to Rs 1,493.19 crore in Q4 March 2007.

Strong SBI results lifted other banks. HDFC Bank gained 1.8 per cent to Rs 1,016.

ICICI Bank rose nearly 2 per cent to Rs 865 after it yesterday said it had raised 350 million pounds through sterling-denominated bonds at a price of 83 basis points above UK government bonds. The three-year, fixed-rate bonds were raised by the Bahrain branch of the bank.

Fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) giant Hindustan Lever (HLL) rose 2.4 per cent to Rs 190 on bargain hunting after a recent steep slide.

Oil exploration major ONGC gained 2.4 per cent to Rs 980.90, tracking firm global oil prices.

Information technology (IT) shares extended last week's gains.

Wipro rose 1.8 per cent to Rs 556, Satyam Computer 1.6 per cent to Rs 462, TCS 0.9 per cent to Rs 1,265 and Infosys 0.6 per cent to Rs 2,013.

Hero Honda dropped 1.8 per cent to Rs 691.90 after it reported a 27 per cent fall in net profit to Rs 195 crore in Q4 March 2007.

Sales rose 17.01 per cent to Rs 2,639.58 crore in Q4 March 2007. The net profit declined 11.68 per cent to Rs 857.89 crore in FY 2007.

Sales were up 13.61 per cent to Rs 9,899.96 crore in financial year (FY) 2007.

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