Bulls hold sway on markets; Sensex up by 116.45pts

Mumbai, June 20: For the second successive session the bulls roared on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), as the Sensex today surged by another 116.45 points to settle remarkably higher at 14,411.95, as buying momentum continued in index pivotals on positive cues from Asian and global bourses.

''The market was on a winning streak for the second straight day today. All the sectoral indices on BSE logged gains. Shares from auto, banking, cement and metal lead the rally. Also the notable fact was the high daily BSE turnover which crossed Rs 5,000 mark today indicating fresh buying. Earlier, market players were worried that liquidity might get sucked out from the secondary market, as huge Rs 8,750 crore follow on public offer (FPO) of ICICI Bank opened yesterday,'' market analysts observed.

After opening firmer at 14,359.96 from its previous close of 14,295.50, it moved between 14,449.38 to 14,347.58.

The broader 50-stock Nifty Index also registered an impressive gain of 34.35 points on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) to close in the green at 4,248.65 from its previous close of 4,214.30, after opening unchanged and recording an intra-day high of 4,257.00 and a low of 4,214.30.

Traders said the turnover picked-up sharply in the late-afternoon session and the total turnover on the BSE amounted to Rs 5,049 crore.

The market breadth here was positive as there were close to 1.25 gainers for every loser, market analysts explained. 1,457 shares advanced while 1,139 declined, while 99 remained unchanged.

Among the Sensex pack, 23 advanced, while only 7 were trading in negative territory.

In early trade, the rupee was trading at 40.815/825 per US dollar, easing from its yesterday's close of 40.79/80. It is up about 8.5 per cent this year on robust capital inflows.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net buyers of approximately Rs 171.71 crore equities, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold shares worth nearly Rs 32.98 crore yesterday, dealers said.

The major gainers today were Gujarat Ambuja Cements, State Bank of India (SBI), Reliance Industries (RIL), BHEL, Wipro, Satyam Computers and L&T.

The losers included Ranbaxy Laboratories, TCS, Infosys, Hindustan Unilever, Tata Steel and NTPC.

Some star performers from small-cap and mid-cap pack included, Voltas, South India Bank, India Infoline, Ess Dee Aluminum, Vakrangee Software, Gateway Distriparks, Divi's Labs, Shasun Chemicals, Hindustan Construction and Gati.

After trading hours yesterday, market regulator SEBI directed 15 brokers and some market participants not to indulge in distortion of the derivatives market. A SEBI investigation of derivative transactions on NSE for the period from January-March found that these entities were involved in manipulation in the futures and options segment.

Most the Asian markets were trading higher today, with Nikkei 225 index gaining on automakers Toyota Motor Corp and Nissan Motor Co.

Nikkei rose 0.26 per cent at 18,211.68, Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 0.47 per cent to 21,684.67, Taiwan's Taiwan Weighted up by 2.13 per cent to 8,755.88, Malaysia's KLSE Composite rose by 0.69 per cent to 1,386.27. But China's Shanghai Composite lost 2.07 per cent to 4,181.32.

South Korea's Kospi index dropped after hitting a fresh high intraday. It lost 1.33 per cent at 1,783.79.

All the European markets opened higher.

Wall Street posted small gains yesterday, as investors found solace in declining Treasury yields. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) rose 22.44 points, or 0.16 per cent, to 13,635.42.

The blue-chip index was buoyed largely by GE, which rose USD 1.22, or 3.2 per cent, to USD 39.29.

Broader stock indicators also edged higher. The Standard&Poor's 500 index rose 2.65 points, or 0.17 per cent, to 1,533.70, and the Nasdaq Composite index rose 0.16 point, or 0.01 per cent, to 2,626.76.

Oil prices were, however, steady today, as traders waited to see if a threatened strike in Nigeria would cut its crude exports and whether gasoline inventories in the US have built as forecast. London benchmark Brent crude edged 3 cents lower to USD 71.81 a barrel today.

UNI