Sensex gains just 25.20 pts on political uncertainty

By Staff
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Google Oneindia News


Mumbai, Sept 20: The 30-scrip Sensex today posted a nominal gain of just 25.20 points on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) to settle marginally higher at 16,347.95 from its last biggest single-day rally of a whopping 653.63 points at 16,322.75, on the back of the political deadlock over the nuclear deal.

''Though the barometer index had breached the 16,400 level to touch an intra-day high of 16,415.88 during trading hours, the gains were capped since political uncertainty still looms large over the horizon. After discussing the nuclear deal for two hours yesterday, neither the UPA nor the Left budged an inch from their earlier position on the contentious Hyde Act,'' marketmen said.

''The market posted small gains after moving in and out of positive zone since mid-mornign trade. It had opened on a firm note at 16,341.55, but immediately slipped in the red on selling pressure. The market rebounded from lower level in mid-afternoon trade. Turnover on BSE remained high for the second day in a row.

Reliance Industries struck an all time high of Rs 2,200 on the BSE at the fag end of trade,'' market analysts pointed out and added that the Sensex has surged 2, 358.84 points to 16,347.95 from a recent low of 13,989.11 on Aug 21, in just 22 trading sessions.

Among the broader markets, the National Stock Exchange (NSE) S&P CNX Nifty also advanced by a nominal 15.20 points to close higher at 4,747.55.

BSE data shows that the market breadth was negative as small and mid-cap shares came under selling pressure. 1,574 shares declined as compared to 1,196 that advanced, while 56 remained unchanged. the BSE Mid-Cap index hit an all-time high of 7, 177.65 today, while the BSE Small-Cap index also hit an all time high of 8,962.81. The BSE clocked a turnover of Rs 7,033 crore. Among the 30-share Sensex pack, 17 declined while the rest advanced.

Information technology (IT) pivotals kept on declining as the day progressed on fresh selling as a steep interest rate cut by the US Federal Reserve yesterday, set the rupee on fire and it hit a nine-year high above Rs 40 per USD. Consequently, three out of the top 4 losers in the Sensex were IT pivotals.

India's third largest software services exporter Wipro lost 3.22 per cent to Rs 433.70 on a huge volumes of 53.45 lakh shares. It was the top loser from the Sensex pack. Other IT pivotals, Satyam Computers, Infosys Technologies and TCS also edged lower.

The other losers from the Sensex pack were Ranbaxy Laboratories shedding 1.43 per cent to Rs 407, Maruti Suzuki India that slumped 1.93 per cent to Rs 908, and ACC which declined 1.56 per cent to Rs 1135.

India's top private sector utility company in terms of revenue Reliance Energy (REL) surged 4.76 per cent to Rs 991.15 on 11.25 shares. The stock hit an all time high of Rs 998.60. It was the top gainer from Sensex pack. REL is scouting for coal mines in Indonesia, Australia, Africa and Mozambique and it sees infrastructure projects such as road and rail transport as key growth drivers. It also plans to raise USD 12.0-USD 12.5 billion in debt over the next seven to eight years to expand generation capacity nearly 16 times to 15,000 mega watt.

Mahindra&Mahindra, Hindalco Industries and ITC were the other gainers from Sensex pack.

India's largest private sector entity by market capitalisation and oil refiner Reliance Industries (RIL) advanced 1.02 per cent to Rs 2,195 on 5.96 lakh shares. It struck an all time high of Rs 2,200 on BSE in late trade. The Mukesh Ambani-led RIL yesterday became the first company to attain a market capitalisation of a jaw-dropping Rs 3,00,000 crore.

The largest engineering&construction firm by revenue Larsen&Toubro climbed up 2.89 per cent to Rs 2747 on reports that the company is eyeing a stake in Feedback Ventures, a leading integrated infrastructure services firm.

European markets were trading weak, with key benchmark indices in United Kingdom shedding 0.73 per cent to 6,413.10, Germany down 0.36 per cent to 7,722.89 and France decling 0.94 per cent to 5,676.86.

Key Asian markets were trading with gains today. Japan's Nikkei is up 0.20 per cent at 16,413.79. Hang Seng advanced 0.57 per cent at 25,701.73, Taiwan Weighted gained 0.63 per cent at 8,983.03, and the Shanghai Composite soared 1.39 per cent to 5,470.06. However, Singapore's Straits Times slipped 1.17 per cent at 3,552.46.

US stocks posted steady gains overnight, building on a huge rally the previous day as markets cheered the US Federal Reserve's cut in key interest rates. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 76.17 points or 0.55 per cent to 13,815.56. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index rose 14.82 points or 0.56 per cent to 2,666.48 while the broad-market Standard&Poor's 500 index gained 9.25 points or 0.61 per cent to 1529.03.

NYMEX crude for October delivery held near USD 82 a barrel, aided by a bigger than expected drawdown in US crude inventories, after hitting an all-time intraday high of USD 82.51 yesterday. UNI

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