Markets on positive territory

Mumbai, Aug 22: The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex started the day on an upbeat note at 14,055.40 from it's previous close of 13,989.11 and gained as much as 236.89 points in the first session, on positive cues from firmer Asian markets.

The National Stock Exchange (NSE) S&P CNX Nifty also opened higher at 4,081.25 from it's previous close of 4,074.90 and went ahead to gain around 72 points so far.

The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 1,469 crore till now.

The CPI(M) top brass is meeting today to decide on their next step amid signals that the Government is in no mood to heed its ultimatum on the contentious Indo-US nuke deal. The two-day Central Committee meeting of the Marxist party has to take tough decisions on how far it can go in its opposition to the Government in the critical matter, amid growing apprehensions of a mid-term election.

The meeting comes at a time when the ruling Congress has indicated that the Government will go ahead with negotiations with the IAEA next month in connection with the deal, not withstanding objections from Left. The Left party is maintaining that negotiations with IAEA on the safeguards agreement will bind India in perpetuity.

Among the 30-member Sensex pack, 16 declined while the rest gained so far.

The early leaders include ITC, Ambuja Cements, Mahindra&Mahindra and Tata Steel, while the laggards were Reliance Industries, Cipla, Tata Motors, TCS and NTPC.

Most Asian indices were trading higher today. Hong Kong's Hang Seng, Singapore's Straits Times, South Korea's Seoul Composite and Shanghai Composite gained. However, Japan's Nikkei slipped.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell yesterday, but the Standard&Poor's 500 Index and the Nasdaq Composite Index inched up.

Oil nudged up from intra-day steep losses today as traders looked towards an expected decline in weekly US crude and gasoline stocks after discounting the threat of a significantly weakened Hurricane Dean to oil flows. US crude gained 30 cents to USD 69.87 a barrel.

UNI