BSE Sensex slips into red in early trade

Mumbai, June 4: The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex which had surged above the 14,650 level in opening session, pared gains by mid-morning trade, as profit-booking emerged at higher level.

It opened higher at 14,618.78 and surged to strike an intra-day high of 14,683.36 as buying intensified. This is Sensex's highest level in nearly four months since February 9.

The total turnover on the BSE amounted to Rs 1,340 crore. The market breadth was positive as 1,310 shares advanced and 924 declined, while 85 remained unchanged. The advance-decline ratio was 1:41:1.

In the morning session, there were over 2 gainers for every loser on BSE, market analysts explained and added that among the Sensex pack, 17 advanced, while the rest declined.

The major gainers included aluminium and copper major Hindalco Industries, State Bank of India (SBI), HDFC Bank, HDFC, ICICI Bank and index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL).

The major losers included Tata Motors, Satyam Computers, Infosys, Wipro, Hero Honda Motors and Tata Tea.

Traders disclosed that foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers to the tune of approximately Rs 373.38 crore, while domestic institutional investors bought net shares worth around Rs 319.84 crore in the last trading session.

Wall Street carved out a solid advance last week, after data on job creation, manufacturing and inflation injected the market with renewed confidence about the economy and sent major indices to record closes.

The Standard&Poor's 500 index was the biggest gainer among the major indicators and moved toward its all-time high.

The Dow Jones industrial average advanced 40.47 points, or 0.30 per cent, to 13,668.11, with the Dow closing on all-time high for the 26th session in the year. The Dow also set a fresh intra-day high of 13,692 points.

Broader stock indicators also gained in the last trading session to end a week that saw stocks advance amid a bevy of favourable economic figures and the continued hum of corporate takeover activity.

The Standard&Poor's 500 index rose 5.72 points, or 0.37 per cent, to 1,536.34. The S&P traded as high as 1,540.56 and advanced toward its record trading high of 1,552.87 set in March 2000.

Oil prices slipped today, after three days of gains as a major US gasoline pipeline resumed pumping and some Nigerian militants called a one-month truce, although analysts saw little to suggest an end to 18 months of violence.

London Brent crude, currently seen as a better gauge of global oil markets, fell 31 cents to USD 68.76. US light, sweet crude fell 40 cents to USD 64.68 a barrel.

UNI