Sensex again settles above 15,000

Mumbai, July 12: The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex todayzoomed by a whopping 181.42 points to scale the 15,000 mark and settledon positive terrain at 15,092.04 as buying momentum gathered steam inall sectoral indices, except the IT index, on positive cues from globalbourses.

''The barometer indice started on a strong note and gainedstrength with the progress of time, as buying momentum continued athigher levels. All the sectoral indices logged gains, with shares fromauto, banking, real estate, capital goods and metal sector in theforefront. However IT shares were subdued,'' market analysts observed.

It had earlier opened stronger at 14,963.53 from its previousclose of 14,910.62 and moved between 15,112.22 and 14,963.53 during theday's session.

Similarly, the National Stock Exchange (NSE) Nifty Index alsoadvanced by an impressive 59 points to settle in the green at 4,446.15from previous close of 4,387.15, after opening firmer at 4,388.05 andreaching an intra-day high and low of 4,451.95 and 4,387.05,respectively.

Market pundits said the market breath was strong on the premierBSE, with a little over 2 gainers for every loser. 1,820 sharesadvanced while 894 declined and 61 remained unchanged. The turnovervaulted in last hour of trade, as the market surged to Rs 6,080 croreindicating fresh buying momentum. Among the 30-scrip Sensex stocks, 22gained, while only five declined.

India's industrial production growth slowed for a second month inMay this year and currency gains weakened exports. Output at factories,utilities and mines rose 11.1 per cent from a year earlier, following arevised 12.4 per cent increase in April.

However, manufacturing output rose 11.9 per cent in May from ayear earlier, the slowest pace in four months, while consumer goodsoutput growth halved to 9.8 per cent.

The Indian Rupee fell 1 per cent against the US dollar today dueto central bank intervention. In noon trade, the partially convertibleRupee was at 40.60/61 per US dollar. It may be recollected here that ithad hit a nine-year high of 40.28 in late May, this year.

Information technology (IT) pivotals underperformed in a strongmarket. Infosys, Satyam Computers and Wipro declined, while TCSadvanced.

The prominent gainers included Hindalco Industries, Tata Steel,JSW Steel, Hindustan Zinc, Sterlite Industries, SAIL, Reliance Energy(REL), Maruti Udyog, Tata Motors, Mahindra&Mahindra, Bajaj Auto,State Bank of India (SBI), ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, GMR Infrastructureand BHEL.

Aluminium and copper major Hindalco Industries galloped by 6.94 percent to Rs 165.70 on high volumes of 55.31 lakh shares. Notably, it wasthe top gainer among Sensex stocks. The stock advanced on hopes ofconsolidation of global aluminum industry and on reports that Alcan Incwas closer to arranging a friendly deal, involving Rio Tinto, as itfought a hostile USD 28.8-billion bid from Alcoa Inc.

Reliance Energy (REL) vaulted 6.50 per cent to Rs 666.50 afterunveiling plans to invest Rs 60,000 crore to add 15,000 mega watts (MW)of power over the next five years. This move will boost the company'sgeneration capacity almost 17 times from 941 MW now. The stock was alsoboosted by market rumours that promoters may hike their stake in REL by5 per cent, taking it around to 40 per cent, analysts pointed out.

Auto shares surged on renewed buying as fears of further interest rate hikes eased.

Motorcycle maker Bajaj Auto advanced 3.30 per cent to Rs 2,199after the company said its profitability will increase in the secondhalf of the fiscal year as it introduces new models to woo buyersdeterred by higher borrowing costs. The company today reported a 21 percent decline in consolidated net profit at Rs 201.15 crore in the firstquarter ended June this fiscal compared to Rs 255.77 crore during thecorresponding period last year. Consolidated income from operationsalso declined to Rs 2,206.43 crore, from Rs 2,294.28 crore.

While banking stocks were in demand on a view that interest rateshave peaked for the time being, capital goods shares rallied on thebelief that these companies are expected to show robust growth inearning in the next couple of years on strong order book position.

Stare-run engineering major BHEL surged 4.63 per cent to Rs 1,649.50 after striking an all-time high of Rs 1,650.

Astra Microwave rose 14.27 per cent to Rs 179.80, Bharat Bijleewas up 7.32 per cent to Rs 2400), Alstom power advanced 6.87 per centto Rs 880.50, Gammon India gained 4.29 per cent to Rs 457, and SiemensIndia was up 3.68 per cent to Rs 1459.90, in the capital goods space.

GMR Infrastructure galloped 13.86 per cent to Rs 954 on highvolumes of 48.79 lakh shares. It also struck an all-time high of Rs 980in intra-day trade on BSE. It was the top traded counter on BSE withturnover of Rs 458.54 crore.

Most of the Asian indices advanced today, helped by the recovery onWall Street. The Japanese market edged higher as exporters such asCanon Inc and Sony Corp advanced on a weakening Yen. Nikkei lost 0.35per cent at 17,961.75.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.89 per cent at 22,809.02, Taiwan'sTaiwan Weighted advanced by 0.68 per cent at 9,354.41, Singapore'sStraits Times edged higher by 0.82 per cent at 3,624.56 and SouthKorea's Seoul Composite gained 1.06 per cent at 1,909.75. China'sShanghai Composite also rose 1.30 per cent to 3,915.91.

Meanwhile, European markets were trading mixed.

Bank of Japan (BoJ) left its key policy rate unchanged at 0.50 percent for the fifth month today, a widely expected move that sets thescene for a possible rate hike next month, experts explained.

Wall Street bounced back during the last trading session, boostedby takeover activity ahead of second-quarter earnings reports.

Investors, shaken by profit warnings earlier in the week, appearedto be cautiously optimistic as they awaited quarterly earnings reports.The Dow Jones advanced 76.17 points, or 0.56 per cent, to 13,577.87.

Broader indexes also staged a rebound. The Standard&Poor's500 index rose 8.64 points, or 0.57 per cent, to 1,518.76, while theNasdaq Composite index moved higher by 12.63 points, or 0.48 per cent,to 2,651.79.

Oil prices were higher today as the market continued to fret overUS gasoline (petrol) reserves. New York's main oil futures contract,light sweet crude for August 2007 delivery, was eight cents higher atUSD 72.64 a barrel. Brent North Sea crude for August 2007 delivery rose10 cents to USD 75.54, dealers said.

UNI