Sensex gains 47.54 points to settle at 14,130

Mumbai, June 12: After slipping below the psychological barrier of 14,000 during mid-afternoon trade, the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) 30-scrip Sensitive Index had a modest gain of 47.54 points to settle at 14,130.95, aided by value buying that emerged at lower levels.

After opening firmer at 14,122.33, it had touched a low of 13,946.99 and a high of 14,153.44 during intra-day.

Among the broader markets, the Nifty Index also recorded a gain of 9.60 points on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and closed in the green at 4,155.20 from previous close of 4,145.60 , after opening weaker at 4,139.70 and touching an intra-day high and low of 4,166.85 and 4,100.80 respectively.

Market analysts pointed out that the market started weakening since afternoon trade after the official industrial production data was released during early afternoon trade. India's industrial production was up by 13.6 per cent per annum in April this year, as compared to 9.9 per cent growth during the corresponding period last year. Manufacturing output climbed 15.1 per cent in April this year against 11 per cent in April last year. Industrial output growth of March this year has been revised upwards at 14.5 per cent. The strong industrial production growth indicates that further tightening of monetary policy by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) may be on the cards, belying expectation that the interest-rate cycle had peaked, analysts explained.

The total turnover on the BSE amounted to Rs 3,817 crore. Experts said the market breadth was weak here as 1,693 shares declined while 858 advanced and 86 remained unchanged. They said that there were around 2 losers for every gainer and added that among the Sensex pack, 16 lost ground while the other 14 gained.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in equities of approximately Rs 26.12 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers of equities worth nearly Rs 237.12 crore yesterday, dealers disclosed.

In early trade, the Rupee was at 40.7600/7700 per dollar, moving up from 40.79/80 yesterday, and heading back towards a recent nine-year peak of 40.28. The Rupee's rise was attributed to increased foreign fund inflow to subscribe to the mega IPO of DLF, a real-estate developer. The issue opened on Monday and will close on Thursday.

Today's winners included ACC, Gujarat Ambuja Cements, Birla Corporation, India Cements, Madras Cement, index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) Larsen&Toubro, Infosys and Hindustan Unilever.

The laggards were Satyam Computers, Wipro, TCS, SBI, ONGC, Dr Reddy's, NTPC, Tata Motors, Maruti Udyog, Bajaj Auto and Mahindra&Mahindra.

UNI