IT stocks shine in early trade on the BSE

Mumbai, July 9: The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex surged by a handsome 92.77 points to touch 15,056.89 in early trade after, after striking an all-time high in the opening session at 15,018.71 due to profit booking at higher levels especially among information technology (IT) stocks which were in demand ahead of the Q1 June 2007 results.

The National Stock Exchange (NSE) Nifty Index also advanced by around 34 points to touch 4418.20 after opening marginally lower at 4,385.45 from its previous close of 4,384.85.

BSE data revealed that it's market breadth was strong with a little under two gainers for every loser. 1,586 shares advanced while 817 declined and 69 remained unchanged. The total turnover amounted to Rs 1,554 crore. Among the Sensex pack, 23 gained while the remaining declined.

IT stocks were in demand on renewed buying interest ahead of Q1 June 2007 results. The BSE IT index gained 1.10 per cent to 5,005.15 making it the top gainer among the sectoral indices on BSE.

The rupee climbed towards a nine-year peak today as traders built positions in the local unit in anticipation of strong foreign investment flows and on positive cues from global equities. In early trade, the partially convertible rupee was at 40.39/40 per US dollar, strengthening from it's previous close of 40.46/47. It is now moving towards a nine-year high of 40.28, whih it hit in late May this year, analysts said.

The early gainers included Infosys Technologies, Satyam Computers, Wipro, TCS, Reliance Energy, Bhel, ONGC, HDFC Bank and Larsen and Toubro (L&T).

The notable losers were Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, Hindustan Unilever and Maruti Udyog.

All the Asian stocks were up today. Nikkei surged 0.60 per cent at 18,250.16. Hang Seng was up 0.99 per cent at 22,754.96, Taiwan Weighted rose 1.98 per cent at 9,369.84, Singapore's Straits Times advanced 1.24 per cent at 3,606.28 and South Korea's Seoul Composite was up 1.40 per cent at 1,887.02. The Shanghai Composite surged by 2.30 per cent to 3,868.16.

US stocks gained during the last trading session, after rising oil prices lifted energy shares and a strong jobs report reassured investors about the economy. Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 45.84 points, or 0.34 per cent, to 13,611.68. The Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 9.86 points, or 0.37 per cent, to 2,666.51.

UNI