Sensex opens firm at 14,514 pts, slips to 14,447

Mumbai, June 5: The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensitive Index (Sensex) today opened firmer at 14,514.20 points as against its previous close of 14,495.77 but soon slipped into the red at 14,447.09 due to volatile trading in the opending session, registering a loss of 48.68 points.

The broader National Stock Exchange (NSE) Nifty Index, after opening marginally higher at 4,268.90 points, also tanked by around 16 points at 4,251.10 from its previous close of 4,267.05.

The total turnover on the BSE was Rs 453 crore. The market breadth was positive as 856 shares advanced, while 714 declined, market analysts explained and added that among the Sensex pack, 18 pivotals gained, while the rest declined.

The main gainers today were Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Bharat Heavy Electricals (Bhel) and Hindustan Unilever.

The prominent losers included index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL), Satyam Computers, ITC and Hero Honda Motors.

Nitin Fire Protection Industries which got listed today was trading at Rs 444.25 as compared to the initial public offering (IPO) price of Rs 190. The stock debuted at Rs 332.50. It struck a high of Rs 483 on BSE.

The Mumbai-based company had received strong investor response to its IPO, oversubscribing by 48.48 times. The company had priced its IPO at the top end of the Rs 171 to Rs 190 a share price band, traders said and added that the company is in the business of fire protection systems. It provides a wide range of products including fire extinguishers and gas-based suppression systems.

Asian stocks were trading mixed today, with Japanese markets trading slightly higher as investors bought Nippon Oil and other natural resource shares after crude-oil prices rose in New York on concerns over potential supply disruptions on reports a cyclone may hit the Persian Gulf tomorrow.

Japan's Nikkei 225 index rose 90.57 points, or 0.50 per cent, to 18,063.99, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gained 66.44 points, or 0.32 per cent, to 20,796.03. Taiwan's Taiwan Weighted was up 1.68 points, or 0.02 per cent, to 8,296.470. Singapore's Straits Times and South Korea's Seoul Composite were trading flat.

China's Shanghai Composite plunged 207.82 points, or 5.66 per cent, to 3,462.52, after an 8 per cent slide yesterday. Chinese markets have tumbled ever since the government, late last month, tripled a share-trading tax to cool its red-hot market. However, the fall in Chinese market has failed to trigger a broad rout in global equity markets, which some had feared.

Wall Street recovered from a mostly down session yesterday, eking out a gain as investors brushed off another slide in Chinese stocks.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) rose 8.21 points, or 0.06 per cent, to 13,676.32. Broader stock indicators were also narrowly higher.

The S&P 500 index was up 2.84 points, or 0.18 per cent, to 1,539.18, and the Nasdaq Composite index moved up 4.37 points, or 0.17 per cent, to 2, 618.29.

Oil prices eased today as the Middle East cyclone fears waned.

But concerns over gasoline supply in the US kept crude above the USD 70 mark. London Brent crude shed a cent to USD 70.39 a barrel, after climbing to USD 1.33 yesterday on concerns that the storm could disrupt shipping and output in the Middle East. US light crude fell 18 cents to USD 66.03 a barrel.

UNI