Sensex opens above the 14,500 mark

Mumbai, June 22: The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex today opened by breaching the psychological barrier of 14,500 at 14,508.63 and registered a gain of 27.87 points amidst high volatility in early trade to reach 14,527.11, from it's previous close of 14,499.24.

''Volatility is expected to stay on over the next few days ahead of the expiry of this month's derivatives contracts next Thursday,''market analysts observed.

The broader National Stock Exchange (NSE) Nifty Index also registered a gain of 7.30 points and jumped to 4,274.70 from it's previous close of 4,267.40, after opening marginally higher at 4,267.55.

The total turnover on the BSE amounted to Rs 537 crore. The market breadth was strong here with almost two gainers for every loser. 993 shares advanced while 569 declined and 40 remained unchanged. Among the 30-scrip Sensex pack, 16 declined while the rest advanced.

The follow-on public offer (FPO) of ICICI Bank which was subscribed 5.18 times by 1000 hours yesterday closes today.

The important data due today is that of annual inflation for the week ended 9 June 2007. Last week's dip in inflation was due to decline in food and energy prices, analysts explained.

The early winners today were Reliance Energy, NTPC and SBI.

The prominent laggards included Reliance Industries (RIL) Tata Motors, Maruti Udyog, Gujarat Ambuja Cements and ACC.

Japanese shares were trading weaker today with banking stocks such as Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and automaker Toyota Motor Corp. leading declines, but chipmaker Advantest Corp rose sharply as the yen weakened further against the US dollar. The Nikkei was down 0.76 per cent at 18,101.65. Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 0.04 per cent at 21,963.19 Most of the other Asian markets were trading lower. South Korea's Seoul Composite was down 1.46 per cent at 1,768.04 and Singapore's Straits Times declined by 0.92 per cent at 3,605.87 and Taiwan's Taiwan Weighted down by 0.35 per cent at 8,821.03.

US stocks edged higher yesterday as investors apparently set aside some interest rate concerns and took a dose of upbeat economic data at face value. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 56.42 points, or 0.42 per cent, to 13,545.84. Broader stock indicators also rose. The Standard&Poor's 500 index was up 9.35 points, or 0.62 per cent, to 1,522.19, and the Nasdaq Composite index advanced 17 points, or 0.65 per cent, to 2,616.96.

UNI

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