Sensex above 15,000; Nifty also advanced

Mumbai, Aug 3 (UNI) The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex is above the psychological barrier of 15,000 at 15,116.58 till afternoon trade today, registering a gain of 130 points from it's previous close of 14,985.70, after opening higher at 15,061.13 on positive sentiment as official data showed a fall in inflation and rising Asian and US stocks.

''Pharma shares slipped, informatin technology (IT) shares pared gains and index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) came off higher level. Interest rate sensitive auto, banking and real estate shares hardened. Cement shares rose for the second day in a row.

Capital goods shares too were in demand,'' market players said.

Among the broader markets, the National Stock Exchange (NSE) Nifty also advanced by around 39 points to touch 4,395.05 from it's previous close of 4,356.35 after opening slightly weaker at 4,355.75.

''The market held firm in afternoon trade as sentiment was lifted data showing fall in inflation growth and as Asian and US stocks rose for second straight session. Domestic bourses have been closely tracking global markets since the past few days ever since ever since US sub-prime worries heightened causing global risk aversion,'' market analysts observed and added that Asian stocks rose toay after a second straight session of gains on Wall Street helped ease fears about tighter credit conditions, with investors favouring shares that offer strong earnings prospects. A Moody's report saying the impact of US subprime mortgage crisis was limited for Asian banks due to smaller exposures also improved sentiments in Asian markets.

China's Shanghai Composite index vaulted 3.4 per cent to 4,560.77. Key benchmark indices in Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan and were also up, but indices in Japan and Singapore were down by between 0.03 per cent to 0.1 per cent.

In Europe key benchmark indices in London, Germany and France were up by between 0.1 per cent to 0.3 per cent.

The wholesale price index based inflation slipped to 4.36 per cent in the 12 months to 21 July this year, lower than the previous week's 4.41 per cent rise due to a fall in food prices, government data showed today. It is the ninth consecutive week that inflation has been below the central bank's target for this fiscal year of 5 per cent, after it had remained above that level for 10 months.

The market breadth is strong so far with 1,707 shares rising on the BSE as compared to 872 shares that declined. 80 shares were unchanged. Gainers outpaced losers by a ratio of 1.95:1.

BSE Small-Cap index was up 92.30 points or 1.1 per cent to 7,897.76. BSE Mid-cap index was up 82.02 points or 1.2 per cent at 6,597.44. BSE has clocked a turnover of Rs 2458 crore so far.

The early winners include Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, Canara Bank, Indian Bank, Union Bank, State Bank of India, Mahindra&Mahindra, Maruti Udyog, Tata Motors, Indiabulls Real Estate, Peninsula Land, DLF, Unitech, ACC and Grasim, while the losers were Ranbaxy and Dr Reddy's Lab.

UNI