Sensex settles with modest gains, Nifty in red

Mumbai, July 2: The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex today breached the 14,700 mark, but finally settled with a nominal gain of 13.75 points at 14,664.26, as selling pressure emerged at higher levels during the closing session.

After opening firmly higher at 14,685.16 from its previous close of 14,650.51, it moved between 14,745.97 and 14,638.88 during the day.

''The market, which was firm till mid-afternoon trade, pared gains later as some selling emerged at higher levels. It also slipped in the red during intra-day trade, but settled with modest gains, rising for the third straight day. It oscillated in a range of 108 points for the day. Auto, capital goods, healthcare shares saw buying interest, while those of cement and IT saw selling,'' market analysts observed.

Deviating from the normal trend, the broader Nifty Index shaved-off nearly 5 points on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) to settle in the red at 4,313.75 from its previous close of 4,318.30 after opening practically unchanged and reaching an intra-day high and low of 4,346.75 and 4.305.45, respectively.

The total turnover on the premier BSE amounted to Rs 4,303 crore.

The market breadth was strong as 1,490 shares advanced and 1,163 shares declined, while 64 remained unchanged. Among the 30-scrip Sensex pack, 17 advanced while the rest declined, BSE data revealed.

The Indian Rupee opened at its highest level in over three weeks today as traders built positions in the local unit on positive cues from high-yielding Asian currencies, and expectations of foreign investment flows. In early trade, the Rupee was at 40.645/655 per US dollar, slightly off its opening of 40.60, its strongest start since 6 June, this year.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net buyers of approximately Rs 558.59 crore equities while domestic institutional investors (DII) bought shares worth nearly Rs 161.66 crore in the last trading session, traders revealed.

The prominent winners today were Maruti Udyog, Tata Motors, Hero Honda, Bajaj Auto, Ranbaxy Laboratories, Cipla, Dr Reddy's, Infosys Technologies, L&T, Crompton Greaves and ACC.

The laggards include Reliance Industries (REL), BHEL, Ambuja Cements, Grasim, Wipro, Satyam Computers and TCS.

Asian markets, which were subdued during the day, recovered. Singapore's Straits Times rose by 0.06 per cent to 3,550.34, Taiwan's Taiwan weighed up by 0.63 per cent at 8,939.49 and Seoul Composite advanced by 1.59 per cent at 1,771.35.

China's Shanghai Composite was back on positive zone, up by 0.41 per cent to 3,836.29 from an early slide.

Japan's Nikkei was flat at 18,146.30. The Tankan report released by the Bank of Japan showed that the major manufacturers' business confidence index was unchanged at 23 in June from the previous survey in March, while the index for large non-manufacturers was also unchanged at 22.

Besides, all the European indices were trading lower.

US stocks slipped during the last trading session, as investors sold shares due to rising oil prices and lingering worries about subprime mortgage lending.

The Dow Jones lost 13.66 points, or 0.10 per cent, to 13,408.62, after swinging dramatically higher and lower over the course of the day. Broader stock indicators also dipped. The S&P 500 index fell 2.36 points, or 0.16 per cent, to 1,503.35, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 5.14 points, or 0.20 per cent, to 2,603.23.

UNI