Markets post nominal gains

Mumbai, Sep 4: The bulls rallied for the eight consecutive session as the Sensex today rose by 43.35 points on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) to settle marginally higher at 15,465.40, amidst a mixed trend in index pivotals.

''The market settled with nominal gains, amidst a mixed trend in index pivotals. The barometer index started the day firm at 15,478.53 on account of strong fundamentals in the Indian economy.

However, it slipped in the negative zone in mid-morning trade on profit-booking. In fact at one point of time it had actually slipped below the 15,400 level at 15, 389.62. Thankfully, it then staged a recovery from lower level. Some volatility was witnessed at higher levels. Besides, negative cues from weak Asian indices capped gains,'' market analysts observed.

Similarly, the National Stock Exchange (NSE) S&P CNX Nifty also recorded a sparse gain of just around 5 points at 4,479.25 from its previous close of 4,474.75, after opening higher at 4,481.55 and moving between 4,501.30 and 4,460.40 in the day's session.

The market breadth was strong on the BSE, with 1,738 shares advancing as compared to 998 that declined, while 67 remained unchanged. The total turnover amounted to Rs 4,999 crore. From the 30-share Sensex pack, 17 declined while the rest advanced, BSE data revealed.

India's largest private sector power utility in terms of net profit Reliance Energy soared 6.06 per cent to Rs 824 on 23.42 lakh shares, making it the top gainer from the Sensex pack today. Other gainers included Cipla, HDFC, Larsen&Toubro, Reliance Industries (RIL) Infosys, TCS, Grasim Industries and ACC, while the prominent laggards were Wipro, Satyam Computers, Tata Motors, Hindalco Industries, NTPC and BHEL.

Among Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei slumped 0.63 per cent at 16,420.47, Hang Seng slipped 0.08 per cent at 23,886.07, Shanghai Composite was down 0.51 per cent to 5,294.90, Straits Times dipped 0.30 per cent to 3, 376.06, Seoul Composite sunk 0.36 per cent to 1,875.05 and Taiwan Weighted was down 0.63 per cent.

US markets remained closed yesterday on account of a holiday.

India's third largest pharma company by sales Cipla advanced 4.68 per cent to Rs 180 on 14.50 lakh shares. India's top private sector housing finance company in terms of net profit, Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) rose 2.60 per cent to Rs 2,052.25, on reports that it does not plan to cut home loan rates as of now.

India's largest engineering and construction firm by sales, Larsen&Toubro rose 1.42 per cent to Rs 2,623.75 after it received two contracts worth Rs 267 crore from the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and a China-based Liaoning Huajin Chemical Corporation for their expansion projects.

India's largest private sector company and oil refiner Reliance Industries (RIL) was up 0.79 per cent to Rs 1,971 on 5.45 lakh shares. RIL has reportedly expressed its interest in acquiring a 50 per cent stake in Kenya Petroleum Refinery (KPRL), one of Kenya's oldest refinery complexes with an annual capacity of four million tonnes.

However India's third largest software company Wipro slumped 2.29 per cent to Rs 464.50 on 1.98 lakh shares, making it the top loser from Sensex pack, inspite of the fact that the rupee was hovering at 40.96 against the greenback, weaker than its previous close.

European markets were trading mixed. Key benchmark indices in London shot up 0.12 per cent to 6,326.70 and Germany was up 0.25 per cent to 7,667.41. However France's CAC 40 index slipped 0.07 per cent to 5,647.21 Crude oil paused near a four-week high in New York on signs that the hurricane in the Caribbean may weaken and break up without disrupting production in the Gulf of Mexico. Crude oil for October 2007 delivery was at USD 74.13 a barrel, up 9 cents, in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

UNI