BSE Sensex up by 290.08 points at closing

Mumbai, July 31: Strong buying momentum in index pivotals and positive cues from Asian and global bourses today catapulted the Sensex to zoom by 290.08 points on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and settle in the green at 15,550.99, notwithstanding a hike in cash reserve ratio (CRR).

''The rally on the bourses gathered steam in the last one hour of day's trade, as buying momentum intensified for index pivotals. The market had witnessed a bout of volatility in early afternoon trade when the sentiment was dampened by RBI decision to increase the CRR by 50 bps to 7 per cent from 6.5 per cent. 100 bps is equal to 1 per cent. Firm Asian and global markets boosted sentiments here. All the sectoral indices on BSE posted gains, with shares from capital goods leading the rally on strong revenue growth visibility. Cement, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG), metal and banking scrips rallied here,'' market analysts observed.

Similarly, the National Stock Exchange (NSE) S&P CNX Nifty also advanced by an impressive 88.80 points to settle higher at 4,528.85 from its previous close of 4,440.05, after opening firmer at 4,444.25 and moving between 4,534.20 and 4,432.85 during the day's session.

BSE data showed that the market breadth was strong with over 1.5 gainers for every loser as small-cap and mid-caps attracted buying interest. 1,695 shares advanced as compared to 973 that declined, while 79 remained unchanged. The total turnover here amounted to Rs 5272 crore compared. Among the 30-scrip Sensex pack, 24 advanced while the rest declined.

BHEL, L&T, ACC, India Cements, UltraTech, HDFC, ITC, Ranbaxy Laboratories, Reliance Communications, Tata Steel, Satyam Computers, Reliance Industries (RIL), Bharat Petroleum Corporation and Indian Oil Corporation were the day's leaders, while the laggards included Mahindra&Mahindra, Hindustan Unilever, Infosys and Tata Motors.

Among Asian markets, Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 1.96 per cent at 23,184.94, Taiwan Weighted was up 2.37 per cent at 9,287.25, Singapore's Straits Times advanced 0.61 per cent at 3,547.66, South Korea's Seoul Composite was up 1.39 per cent at 1,933.27, and China's Shanghai Composite gained 0.68 per cent to 4,471.03, while only Japan's Nikkei slipped 0.37 per cent at 17,248.89.

All the European indices were trading higher today. Even the US Dow Jones advanced 92.84 points, or 0.70 per cent, to 13,358.31 in the last trading session. Broader stock indicators also posted gains. The Standard&Poor's 500 index added 14.96 points, or 1.03 per cent, to 1,473.91, and the Nasdaq Composite index advanced 21.04 points, or 0.82 per cent, to 2,583.28.

The central bank left the reverse repo rate, the rate at which it absorbs excess cash from banks, unchanged at 6 per cent. It also kept bank rate unchanged at 6 per cent. The RBI said it will endeavour to contain inflation close to 5 per cent this fiscal and in the range of 4-4.5 per cent over the medium term. It also maintained next financial year's gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast unchanged at 8.5 per cent.

Capital goods stocks rallied on the back of strong growth visibility ahead due to their robust order book positions. BHEL surged by 5.48 per cent to Rs 1734.10 and L&T gained 7.29 per cent to Rs 2624.

India's largest power equipment BHEL firmed up even as it reported a lower than expected 22 per cent growth in net profit to Rs 288.9 crore in first quaterly (Q1) June 2007 over the corresponding period last year. At the end of Q1 June 2007, BHEL had an outstanding order book position of around Rs 62,400 crore.

Cement shares posted smart gains on fresh buying, in the wake of ongoing infrastructure boom. ACC, India Cements and UltraTech Cement Company scrips edged higher.

India's second largest listed telecom service provider in terms of sales, Reliance Communications advanced 3.83 per cent to Rs 561.40 after its net profit soared 76.58 per cent to Rs 837.3 crore in Q1 June 2007 over the corresponding period last fiscal. Total income rose 18.21 per cent to Rs 3229.69.

Fourth largest information technology (IT) services exporter Satyam Computer Services rose 0.52 per cent to Rs 481.40 on bagging two multi million dollar contracts to support International Federation of Association Football and its major forthcoming events.

Reliance Industries (RIL), the country's largest private sector company, gained 2.44 per cent to Rs 1,893. There were reports that after acquiring the retail venture of the Adani Group, RIL is now likely to acquire Adani's Rs 331 crore gas supply network linking three towns in western India.

On the other hand, India's top tractor and utility vehicle maker Mahindra&Mahindra lost 2.86 per cent to Rs 731 on 3.09 lakh shares. It was the top loser from the Sensex pack. The stock slipped for the second day in a row today after it posted a 6.4 per cent fall in net profit to Rs 191 crore in Q1 June 2007 over Q1 June 2006. The results were declared during market hours yesterday.

Oil prices changed little today with US crude still within sight of its record high as traders feared further declines in hefty US crude stocks. US crude eased 16 cents to USD 76.67 a barrel.

London's Brent crude slipped 14 cents to USD 75.60 a barrel.

UNI