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Equities harden on sustained buying; Sensex up 126 points

MUMBAI —The market extended gains yesterday on the back of upmove in index heavyweights Reliance Industries and ICICI Bank. The 30-share BSE hit a record high. The market recovered in the mid-morning trade from an initial slump. IT, healthcare and metal stocks declined. Realty, banking and FMCG stocks rose. The market breadth was strong.

European markets which opened after Indian market were trading firm. Asian markets which opened before Indian market were trading weak. US stocks tumbled on Friday, 4 January 2008, as a sharp rise in US unemployment rate in December 2007, heightened fears the US economy is heading into a recession.

The 30-share BSE Sensex rose 125.76 points or 0.61 per cent to 20,812.65, a record closing high. Sensex hit all-time high of 20,861.83 in mid-afternoon trade. At day's high, Sensex gained 174.94 points. Sensex had hit a low of 20,438.19 at the onset of the trading session. At day's low, Sensex had declined 248 points.

India's largest private sector firm by market capitalisation and oil refiner Reliance Industries rose 1 per cent to Rs 3,015.60. Reliance Energy rose 2.94 per cent to Rs 2,584.15 on reports Reliance Power, in which it holds 50 per cent stake, is reportedly planning to tap the inorganic route and explore possibilities of taking over existing government power projects, including Ratnagiri Gas and Power plant at Dabhol, to scale up its generation capacity.

IT stock slipped as weaker-than-expected job growth in United States in December 2007 sparked worries that the US economy may head towards recession. Infosys (down 3.35 per cent to Rs 1,638.10), Wipro (down 2.72 per cent to Rs 483.35), Tata Consultancy Services (down 2.88 per cent to Rs 976.15), Indian IT companies derive more than half of their revenues from the US market.

India's fourth largest software service provider by sales Satyam Computer Services declined 2.08 per cent to Rs 413.45. Satyam today said it had entered into a tie-up with Greenplum, a leading provider of database software for business intelligence, to combine Satyam's reach and expertise in delivering business intelligence (BI) solutions with Greenplum's innovative database software.

Healthcare stocks declined. Ranbaxy Laboratories (down 1.08 per cent to Rs 420.90), Cipla (down 0.38 per cent to Rs 211.90) and Dr. Reddyís Laboratories (down 2.25 per cent to Rs 712.20) edged lower.

Metal stocks also drifted lower. Tata Steel (down 0.47 per cent to Rs 925.70), Steel Authority of India (down 1.13 per cent to Rs 271.05), Hindalco Industries (down 1.27 per cent to Rs 217.15) edged lower. National Aluminium Company rose 1.27 per cent to Rs 525.40 and Sterlite Industries rose 0.63 per cent to Rs 1,066.15.

Banking stocks rose. ICICI Bank (up 6.11 per cent to Rs 1,363.90) and State Bank of India (up 0.51 per cent to Rs 2,402.95) edged higher. India's second largest private sector bank in terms of net profit HDFC Bank declined 2.38 per cent to Rs 1,657.

As per reports, the mandatory licensing requirement for Indian banks to open branches may be done away with. The department of financial services is taking up the matter with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) as banks are no more shying away from opening branches in semi-urban and rural areas.

FMCG stocks rose. ITC (up 5.26 per cent to Rs 231.10), Nestle India (up 3.14 per cent to Rs 1,506), REI Agro (up 5 per cent to Rs 940.35), Hindustan Unilever (up 2.55 per cent to Rs 237.25) edged higher.

India's second biggest listed telecommunication services provider by sales Reliance Communications rose 3.95 per cent to Rs 790.05.

India's largest oil exploration firm by revenue ONGC declined 3.26 per cent to Rs 1,299.95.

India's largest engineering & construction firm in terms of revenue, Larsen & Toubro Ltd (L&T) rose 0.78 per cent to Rs 4,277.65 on securing two major contracts from Cairn India for the construction of civil works and the consolidated construction works of Cairn's project located near Barmer in Rajasthan.