Stock Market Reports Headline : Foreign Market

Friday, the US stocks markets closed higher by logging impressive, broad-based gains for the week. Friday''s rally was broadly due to the better-than-expected jobs report. Financials propelled to fresh highs 2009 by logging a 2.7%gain led by AIG which was a primary leader in the financial sector after posting its first profit since 2007 and also its earnings exceeded expectations. The mortgage financer Fannie Mae however posted a deeper-than-expected loss for the latest quarter.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) suregd by 113.81 points at 9,370.07, NASDAQ index grew by 27.09 points to 2,000.25 and the S&P 500 (SPX) advanced by 13.40 points to close at 1,010.48 points.

On the economic front, the jobs report came in better than expected. The report showed the fewest amount of job losses in nearly one year by coming in at 247,000 for July as against the consensus estimate called for 350,000 job losses.

Meanwhile, the unemployment rate eased back for the first time since April by coming in at 9.4%, down from 9.5%. It was expected to click up to 9.6%.

US light crude oil futures for September delivery closed at $70.88 per barrel down by 1.5% on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Gold futures for the month of December delivery finished the session marginally lower at $959.80 per ounce down by 0.3% on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Technical Analysis of Stock Market Close

The market comes off from the day’s low on selective buying across the counters.

The market comes off from the day’s low on selective buying across the counters. Tracking the negative cues from the global markets and the rising inflation figure that stood at 11.98%, the domestic market opened with a huge gap down. The metal stocks are attracting the investors confidence as most buying is seen from this basket. The market breadth is flat as 1114 stocks are trading lower while 1016 stocks are trading in green.

The BSE Sensex is trading lower by 88.42 points at 14,267.33 and the NSE Nifty is trading down by 35.5 points at 4,297.45. The BSE Mid Cap and Small Cap are trading with marginal gains of 10.01 points and 19.38 points at 5,577.38 and 6,932.17 respectively.

Leading the rally form the losers pack of BSE are Rel Com trading down by 12.26% at Rs438.75 followed by Glenmark pharma by 5.56% at Rs610.75, Tata Tea by 4.60% at Rs725, Gammon India by 3.33% at Rs204.95, Tata Power by 3.28% at Rs1122.10, Maruti Suzuki by 3.11% at Rs557.

The Metal index is trading higher by 126.25 points at 13,038.86. Pushing it are JSW Steel trading up by 5.12% at Rs772 along with NMDC by 4.07% at Rs343, Jindal Saw by 3.53% at Rs529.45, Welspun Guj by 3.50% at Rs341.30, Ispat inds by 3.07% at Rs26.85, Tata Steel by 1.99% at Rs668 and Nalco by 1.40% at Rs430.50.

From the Banking Space, Union bank is trading lower by 2.80% at Rs128.25 in line with SBI by 2.04% at Rs1385.85, Bank of Baroda by 1.53% at Rs251.60, Allahabad bank by 1.09% at Rs59.10 and Axis bank by 1.05% at Rs647.

Tata Steel is trading higher by 2.08% at Rs668.7 as the company reported a growth of 21.78% in standalone net profit to Rs1488.40 crore for the first quarter ended June 2008 as against Rs1222.11 crore reported during the same period a year ago. The total income grew to Rs6177.25 crore as against Rs4305.33 crore previous year.

HCL Technologies is trading up by 1.85% at Rs204.05 as the company announced a acquisition of UK based BPO firm Liberata Financial Services (LFS) for $2 million. As per the agreement, HCL will acquire four LFS delivery centres in UK and will invest $24 million in the business over the next three years. This is second acquisition for HCL tech this yaer. Earlier in February its had acquired US based Capital Stream Inc. for about $40 mn in cash.

Suzlon Energy is trading firmly at Rs227.3 up by 1.88% due to strong quarterly numbers. The company has posted a consolidated net profit of Rs39.4 crore as against Rs20 crore. During te same period, the total income rose to Rs2760.46 crore from Rs1944.63 crore previous year.

The markets have gained some grounds from the day’s low and are trading flat.

The markets have gained some grounds from the day’s low and are trading flat. The selling pressure continued in the selective scrips mainly led by the FMCG, Auto, Realty and Pharma stocks. However, the Metal, Capital Goods, Consumer Durables and Power stocks are trading higher. The BSE Mid Cap and BSE Small cap are trading marginally higher.

The overall market breadth is positive as 1218 stocks are advancing while 1135 stocks are declining and the 83 stocks remained unchanged on BSE.

The BSE Mid cap is higher by 24.59 points at 5,591.96 and the BSE small Cap is up by 22.17 points to trade at 6,934.96.

At 12.30 pm, BSE Sensex was at 14,366.17 up by 10.42 points and the NSE Nifty was at 4,329.20 down by 3.75 points.

BSE Metal index surged by 195.71 points at 13,108.32 as Tata Steel (1.93%), SAIL (0.75%), Nalco (0.44%) and Hindalco Industries (0.11%) are trading in green.

BSE Oil & Gas index was trading 53.82 points higher at 9,783.30 as Essar Oil (2.32%), BPCL (0.92%), Gail India (0.90%) and ABN Offshore (0.51%) are trading in positive.

BSE Capital goods index advanced by 143.14 points to 11,826.94. The main gainers are BHEL (1.39%), ABB (1.32%), Siemens (1.21%) and L&T (1.02%).

BSE Power index increased by 15.66 points to 2,589.93. Gainers are NTPC (0.67%), Suzlon Energy (0.38%) while the losers are Tata Power (2.60%), Reliance Infra (2.09%) and Reliance Power (1.85%).

BSE Bankex index is trading higher by 2.80 points at 6,519.21. Gainers are Orienetal Bank (2.08%), Kotak Bank (1.39%), Indus Ind Bank (1.24%) and PNB (0.83%).

BSE Realty index slipped by 69.11 points to 5,009.96. The major losers are DLF (2.42%), Mahindra Life (0.93%), India Bull Real (0.65%) and Sobha Developers (0.48%).

BSE Auto index decreased by 47.54 points to 3,631.97. The top losers are Maruti Suzuki (3.48%), Hero Honda (2.19%), Bajaj Auto (2.96%) and Tata Motors (1.18%).

BSE IT index inclined by 15.63 points to trade at 3,705.20 as Financial Technologies (1.86%), I-Flex (1.34%), and HCL Technologies (1.07%) trading in positive.

Financial Technologies fixes Book Closure for first interim dividend, final dividend

Financial Technologies India Ltd has informed that the Register of Members & Share Transfer Books of the Company will remain closed from August 25, 2008 to August 28, 2008 (both days inclusive) for the purpose of 20th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Company to be held on August 28, 2008 and also for the payment of 1st Interim Dividend (F.Y. 2008-09) & Final Dividend (F.Y. 2007-08).

Insurance market witnesses important BPO deals

Indian outsourcers WNS and HCL Technologies have each acquired separate strategic assets, including the offshore unit of insurance giant Aviva and the financial services division of UK outsourcer Liberata. These deals have highlighted three important trends within the industry: the move away from captives, the increasing focus on the insurance vertical and the maturity of the Indian BPO market.

India-based outsourcer WNS has announced the GBP115 million ($228 million) purchase of Aviva Global Services (AGS), the captive offshore unit of insurance giant Aviva. As part of the acquisition, WNS, which is majority-owned by private equity shop Warburg Pincus, will continue to provide services to Aviva: the two companies inked a 100 month agreement that will provide WNS with approximately $1 billion in service revenue. Soon after this announcement, HCL Technologies, another Indian IT services provider, revealed the acquisition of Liberata Financial Services (LFS), a division of the UK outsourcer that serves the life and pension industry. The deal price was not disclosed, although the fixed assets have reportedly been valued at $2 million.

Indian IT sector set to be 2nd largest

Indian IT industry may be passing through a rough patch because of a slowdown in the US economy and high inflation rates, but this stage will pass. India will continue to drive the global IT market for the next few years. In fact, it will emerge as the second most important IT industry in the world after the US in terms of revenue and employment," says a study. "India will create the second largest IT services labour pool after the US within the next seven to eight years. That''s not all, domestic IT industry''s contribution to our GDP is likely to rise from 0.8% in 2006-07 to 2.65% by 2015-16."

This has been forecasted by a yet to be released white paper ''India''s Role in the Globalization of the IT Industry'' by Evalueserve, a KPO. It says, "by 2015-2016, the number of professionals working in the IT industry will grow ten-fold (from 2001-2002) and the total revenue will grow 22 times. This means, the IT industry is likely to employ 3,750,000 professionals and record $193.1 billion in revenue by 2015-16.

While in the last decade, IT services exports have been growing at 32% annually. Evalueserve estimates this growth rate will taper off and become around 20% in the next seven to eight years. The reason: rising wages, lack of high quality talent, and IT jobs relocating to other low-cost destinations in Eastern Europe and Latin America. The paper thus concludes: First, by 2016 India will have the second highest number of IT professionals in the world after the US. In fact, US will employ between 1.25 to 1.33 times more professionals than India. Second, even in 2016, the US IT industry will generate approximately $810 billion in annual revenue, which would be almost five times the revenue of the Indian IT industry.

Max New York Life rolls out insurance-cum-savings product

Max New York Life Insurance on July 24 rolled out "Max Vijay", an insurance-cum-savings product aimed at the underserved segment of society.

Max Vijay has been designed keeping in mind the lifestyle, income patterns and needs of the rural and semi-urban population. It empowers millions of Indians to benefit from the economic boom in financial services that was hitherto denied to them. The minimum premium payable under the product has been fixed at Rs 1,000 and the policy will not lapse as long as there is sufficient value in the account. The company has tied-up with IBM to provide end-to-end technology backbone for fulfilment. Apart from this, they will facilitate the handheld terminal, which enables data transfer to the back-end through GPRS and hence facilitates on-the-spot policy receipt.

Market pares gains

Profit booking at higher levels in early afternoon trade capped gains in key benchmark indices after a solid early spurt. Metal, banking and capital goods stocks witessed buying demand. The market breadth was strong with small and mid-cap shares staging a comeback after a sharp recent plunge. Cues from the Asian markets, which opened before the Indian market, were positive. Spice Communications was up marginally on massive volumes.

At 12:24 IST, the 30-share BSE Sensex was up 178.37 points or 1.33% at 13,632.45. At the day’s high of 13,793.39 hit in mid-morning trade, the Sensex had gained 339.29 points.

The broader based S&P CNX Nifty was up 69.35 points or 1.38% at 4002.

The BSE Mid-Cap index was up 2.31% at 5,400.36, while the BSE Small-Cap index was up 2.94% at 6,639.34. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth was strong on BSE, with 1896 gainers outpacing 480 losers. 57 stocks remained unchanged.

Among the 30-member Sensex pack, 26 advanced while the rest declined.

India’s largest private sector firm by market capitalization and oil refiner Reliance Industries fell 1.29% at Rs 2072. It was the top loser from Sensex pack.

Tata Motors (down 1.14% to Rs 396.25), HDFC (down 1.09% to Rs 2,032), Cipla (down 0.36% to Rs 207.20) and Reliance Communications (down 0.3% to Rs 436.90) edged lower from Sensex pack.

India's second largest software exporter by sales Infosys Technologies rose 1.57% at Rs 1780.

Banking stocks rose on fresh buying. State Bank of India (up 4.3% to Rs 1,175.50), ICICI Bank (up 2.97% to Rs 617.90) and HDFC Bank (up 2.02% to Rs 1,019) edged higher.

Battered capital goods stocks staged a comeback today on bargain hunting. Siemens (up 7.59% to Rs 459.50), Suzlon Energy (up 3.51% to Rs 198.90), Bharat Heavy Electricals (up 0.13% to Rs 1,502.20) rose.

India’s largest engineering and construction firm by sales Larsen & Toubro (L&T) rose 2.65% to Rs 2,444.80 after it won a transmission line order worth Rs 446 crore.

Metal stocks rose. National Aluminium Company (up 3.31% to Rs 357.50), Steel Authority of India (up 3.21% to Rs 131.90), Hindalco Industries (up 2.68% to Rs 141.75), Tata Steel (up 1.78% to Rs 651.50) and Sterlite Industries (up 1.18% to Rs 650) edged higher.

Reliance Infrastructure (up 4.98% to Rs 812.10), Jaiprakash Associates (up 4.86% to Rs 161), Maruti Suzuki India (up 4.01% to Rs 571), Bharti Airtel (up 3.69% to Rs 743) edged higher from Sensex pack.

Spice Communication rose 0.48% to Rs 73.30 after a massive block deal of 28.45 crore shares was struck on the counter at Rs 74 per share in early trade on BSE, amounting to a sizeable 40.8% stake of the company changing hands. It was the top traded counter on BSE with turnover of Rs 2137.16 crore.

Among the small-cap counters, Silverline Technologies (up 18.39% to Rs 18.35), ITI (up 14.52% to Rs 28), Astra Microwave (up 13.15% to Rs 52.05) and Garware Offshore (up 12.39% to Rs 160.50) surged.

Deccan Aviation (up 19.35% to Rs 69.70), Panacea Biotec (up 17.22% to Rs 355), State Trading Corporation of India (up 15.52% to Rs 262.90), Spicejet (up 15.6% to Rs 28.90) and HMT (up 14.18% to Rs 54.35) edged higher from midcap pack.

ICSA India declined 0.13% to Rs 277.90 even on securing order of Rs 79.88 crore from Ajmer Vidyut Vitran Nigam for providing rural electricity infrastructure under Rajiv Gandhi Gramin Vidyutikaran Yojna of Banswara District, Rajasthan, on turnkey basis.

Tricom India rose 8.64% to Rs 115 after it fixed 22 July 2008 as the record date for 5 for 1 stock split.

Ramco Systems rose 9.66% to Rs 102.70 after it deferred board meet on 10 July 2008 to consider right issue. The revised date of the Board meeting will be communicated later.

Asian markets which opened before Indian market, edged higher. The key benchmark indices in China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan were up by 0.11% to 4.19%. US stock markets were closed for the Independence Day holiday on Friday, 4 July 2008.

US light crude for August delivery traded at $143.92 a barrel and London Brent crude rose 23 cents to $144.65 a barrel. Crude oil hit a record $145.85 on 3 July 2008.

As per provisional data, foreign funds bought shares worth a net Rs 372.35 crore while domestic mutual funds sold shares worth a net Rs 97.02 crore on Friday 4 July 2008.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers of Rs 120.10 crore in the futures & options segment on Friday, 4 July 2008. They were net sellers of index futures to the tune of Rs 215.54 crore and bought index options worth Rs 99.23 crore. They were net buyers of stock futures to the tune of Rs 221.21 crore and purchased stock options worth Rs 15.20 crore.

Indian stock Market is choppy in early trade.

The market today opened higher on the back of sharp positive cues from the global markets. But suddenly the market turned choppy and shed early morning gains. The significant buying is seen in the Consumer Durables, Metal, Realty and IT stocks. However, the FMCG and Oil stocks are trading marginally down. The BSE Mid Cap and BSE Small Cap are however trading higher in the opening trade.

The overall market breadth is positive as 1112 stocks are advancing whereas 627 stocks are declining on BSE.

At 10.30AM, the BSE Sensex was down by 29.70 points at 15,740.02 and the Nifty was down by 6.44 points to 4,670.50.

The BSE Mid Cap increased by 31.18 points to 6,431.48 and the BSE Small Cap advanced by 40.94 points to 7,776.54.

HDFC reported the top gainer from the BSE Sensex pack. It is trading with a gain of 2.20% at Rs.2445 while ONGC reported the top loser down by 1.68% at Rs.930.35.

BSE IT index advanced by 38.40 points to trade at 4,655.84. The major gainers are Satyam Computer, Infosys Technologies, HCL Technologies and TCS grew by (2.15%), (1.34%), (1.18%) and (1.08%) to Rs.523, Rs.2006, Rs.309.45 and Rs.992.50 respectively.

BSE Metal index improved by 115.91 points to trade at 15,830.50. The top gainers are Sterlite Industries inclined by (4.83%) to Rs.873.10, NALCO increased by (0.76%) at Rs.504 followed by Tata Steel up by (0.62%) to Rs.846.95.

Mahindra & Mahindra is trading higher by (1.24%) at Rs.570.05. The company is developing a small engine for a smaller version of its Uvs. The engine will have a capacity ranging between 650cc and 750cc.

M&M takes over two-wheeler design house

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. (M&M) said on June 5 that the company inked a pact with Italian two-wheeler design house, Engines Engineering, to buy its business. Engines Engineering''s with an annual revenue of about Rs 50 crore is primarily into two-wheeler design and developing of motorcycle prototype. Engines Engineering carries out a full range of activities comprising conception, design, styling, on line assembly, industrialisation and marketing, said a release from Mahindra. Its clients comprise international two-wheeler manufacturers Benelli, Ducati, Honda, LEM and Yahama. Mahindra has bought almost a dozen auto component/engineering companies in India and overseas during the last two and a half years.

Andhra Bank signs MoU with Crisil

Andhra Bank has forayed into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Credit Rating Information Services of India Ltd (Crisil) for rating their corporate borrowers. Andhra Bank said credit rating assumed importance due to migration of banks to Basel II norms by March 2009. At first corporate borrowers availing credit limit of Rs 50 crore and above will be rated by the rating agency.

Reliance Infrastructure receive MERC approval to raise power tariff

Reliance Infrastructure, controlled by billionaire Anil Ambani, on June 5, won regulatory clearance to increase power tariff by as much as 10.22 per cent. The move will assist the utility to charge more from its 2.6 million users in Mumbai. Reliance Infrastructure (Rel Infra) had urged the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) for a 4.19 per cent increase in its annual revenue requirement (ARR). It was instead approved an increase of 10 per cent. The Ambani company will required to purchase power from the spot market. MERC was distributing power equitably between BEST and Rel Infra and the financial burden was also equitably shared by the organisations till last financial year, in the absence of a formal power purchase agreement between TPC and the distribution utilities.

Usha International fixes Record Date for Scheme of Amalgamation

Usha International Ltd has informed that the Scheme of Arrangement between Usha International Ltd (UIL) and Shriram Fuel Injection Industries Ltd (SFIL) with The Jay Engineering Works Ltd (JEW) and their respective Shareholders and Creditors under section 391 to 394 of the Companies Act, 1956 has been approved by the Honble High Court of Delhi vide its order dated May 26, 2008 and the said order has been filed with the Registrar of Companies on June 02, 2008.

Further, with reference to Point No. 6 of the said Scheme, wherein it was decided that:

a) 44 Exchange equity shares of Rs 10 each fully paid up in The Jay Engineering Works Ltd (Transferee Company) for every one equity share of Rs 10 each fully paid up held in Usha International Ltd (Transferor Company No 1 i.e. UIL); and

b) 31 Exchange equity shares of Rs 10 each fully paid up in The Jay Engineering Works Ltd (Transferee Company) for every ten equity share of Rs 10 each fully paid up held in Shriram Fuel Injection Industries Ltd (Transferor Company No. 2 i.e. SFIIL).

Further as per Point No. 6.3 of the said scheme where it is mentioned that upon coming into effect of this Scheme and after the reduction of the capital the transferee Company shall issue and allot to the Equity Shareholders of the Transferor Companies and the Transferee Company whose name would appear in the Register of Members as on the record date i.e. June 23, 2008 New Equity Shares in the following ratio:

1. 44 New Equity Shares of Rs 10 each fully paid up of Transferee Company for every 10 equity shares of Rs 10 each fully paid up held in Transferor Company No. 1 i.e. UIL.

2. 31 New Equity Shares of Rs 10 each fully paid up of Transferee Company for every 100 equity shares of Rs 10 each fully paid up held in Transferor Company No. 2 i.e. SFIIL.

3. 1 New Equity Shares of Rs 10 each fully paid up of Transferee Company for every 10 equity shares of Rs 10 each fully paid up held in Transferee Company.

International Combustion Board to consider dividend

International Combustion India Ltd has informed that a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Company will be held on June 25, 2008, inter alia, to consider the Annual Accounts for the year ended March 31, 2008 as well as for recommending Dividend, for the year 2007-08 to the Shareholders at the forthcoming Annual General Meeting.

Shivalik Bimetal Board declares second interim dividend

Shivalik Bimetal Controls Ltd has informed that the Board of Directors of the Company at its meeting held on June 06, 2008, inter alia, has declared 2nd Interim Dividend @ 12.50% on Paid up Equity Shares for the financial year ending March 31, 2008.

ITC revises prices of three cigarette brands

ITC Ltd, the Kolkata-based company, has increased prices of select brands by around 10 per cent to offset rising cost of tobacco, paper and other inputs. ITC revised prices on three brands including Classic, Gold Flake and Silk Cut. The price of a 20-stick pack of the premium brand Classic has been increased by 10 per cent to Rs 88 from Rs 80 earlier, while a pack of the mid-market Gold Flake brand will cost 5 per cent more at Rs 40 against Rs 38 earlier. The price of economy brand Silk Cut has been revised slightly from Rs 20 now. The current price revision is apart from the increase the company effected after Finance Minister P Chidambaram increase excise duty on cigarettes in the Union Budget. The three brands are the company''s major cigarette brands and only the Wills brand, priced at Rs 34, has been kept out of the purview of this exercise.

Mid Session indian stock market commentary May-29-2008

The market is trading with marginal gain. The significant buying witnessed in the Metal, Realty and Pharma stocks. However, the Auto, Bank and FMCG stocks are still trading in pressure. The BSE Sensex is hovering around the 16500 mark and the NSE Nifty is trading around the 4900 mark. The broader market has outperformed the benchmark index today as sustained buying is seen in the Mid Cap and Small Cap stocks.

The overall market breadth is positive, as 1455 stocks are advancing while 958 stocks are declining and the 76 stocks remained unchanged on BSE.

The BSE Mid cap is higher by 49.01 points at 6,802.54 and the BSE small Cap advanced by 47.13 points to trade at 8,284.22.

At 12.30 pm, BSE Sensex was at 16,518.32 down by 6.95 points and Nifty was at 4,927.15 up by 8.80 points.

BSE Metal index surged by 347.58 points to trade at 16,997.23. The major gainers are Sterlite Industries (2.92%), NALCO (1.98%), Tata Steel (1.18%) and SAIL (0.69%).
Tata Steel has received mineral concession approvals from the ministry of Mines for two large mines-one for an iron ore mine in Jharkhand and other for a chrome ore mine in Manipur.

BSE Oil & Gas index was trading 49.58 points higher at 10,827.49 as BPCL (2.80%), Cairn India (2.28%), ONGC (0.82%) and RPL (0.55%) are trading in green.

BSE Capital goods index improved by 30.16 points to 12,602.07. The main gainers are BEML (2.93%), Crompton Greaves (1.89%), L&T (0.63%) and Punj Lloyd (0.28%).

BSE IT index inclined by 1.93 points to trade at 4,568.35 as I-flex (2.32%), Satyam Computer (2.58%), Wipro (1.74%) and Tech Mahindra (1.50%) are trading in green.
Satyam Computers and Siemens PLM Software has entered into an alliance to provide software and services to help customers enhance efficiency and enable them to benefit from the duos expertise. Also, it has entered into a comprehensive agreement GE Healthcare to support customers deploying healthcare IT solutions based on GE centricity enterprise software. The companies will join the forces to plan, design and implement infrastructures for global healthcare providers.

BSE Bankex index is trading lower by 65.39 points at 7,868.11. Losers are Allahabad Bank (3.30%), Bank of India (2.37%), ICICI Bank (1.55%) and SBI (1.60%).

BSE Realty increased by 50.83 points to 7,281.25. Leading to its gain are Indiabull Real (2.82%), Unitech (0.53%), Sobha Developers (0.36%) and HDIL (0.28%).

BSE Power index decreased by 6.96 points to trade at 3,097.33 as Suzln Energy (4.23%), Tata Power (0.83%) and NTPC (0.37%) are trading in negative.
Tata Power is investing Rs.500 crore for the expansion of wind power. The company would be adding 115 MW of wind power capacity in the current fiscal.

BSE Auto slipped by 78.46 points to 4,483.57. Leading to its fall are Tata Motors (6.66%), Mahindra & Mahindra (2.18%) and Maruti Suzuki (1.65%).

Indian stock Market Commentary: Market is still weak.

The market is not showing a mood for recovery. All the key benchmark indices are trading in red. The Bank, Realty, Capital Goods and Auto are out of favor today. The BSE Mid Cap and Small Cap stocks are also trading lower. The BSE Sensex is still below the 17, 000 mark and the NSE Nifty is hovering around the 5000 mark.

The overall market breadth is negative, as 1097 stocks are advancing whereas 1549 stocks that are declining.

TCS reported the top gainer from the BSE Sensex pack. It is trading higher by (0.68%) at Rs.970.50 while Tata Motors the top loser down by (4.01%) at Rs.661.25.

At 2.31PM BSE Sensex is at 16,914.44 down by 328.72 points and Nifty is at 5,028.90 down by 88.75 points.

The BSE Mid Cap is lower by 76.13 points to 7,071.92 and the Small Cap dropped by 78.70 points to 8,710.28.

The BSE Bank is the top loser trading with a loss of 226.24 points at 8,413.66. The main losers are PNB down by (3.44%) at Rs.539, ICICI Bank decreased by (3.27%) at Rs.881.70 followed by SBI and HDFC Bank declined by (2.05%) and (1.89%) to Rs.1627.95 and Rs.1383.40.

The most active shares on NSE are Reliance trading at Rs.2634.95 with a total traded quantity of 1739730 shares followed by Reliance Capital trading at Rs.1417.10 with a total traded quantity of 3001204 shares.

Indian stock Market Commentary: Mid Session Market May-22-2008

The market has recovered a bit from the morning lows but is still reeling under heavy pressure as strong selling in scrips continued across the board. The Bank, Capital Goods. Realty and Power stocks are feeling the most selling pressure. The BSE Sensex is hovering around the 17,000 mark and the NSE Nifty is trading above the 5,000 mark. The broader market is also recovered but is till in red.

The overall market breadth is negative, as 1033 stocks are advancing while 1457 stocks are declining and the 77 stocks remained unchanged on BSE.

The BSE Mid cap is lower by 65.46 points at 7,082.59 while the BSE small Cap slipped by 54.52 points to trade at 8,734.46.

At 12.30 pm, BSE Sensex was at 16,492.69 up by 17.46 points and Nifty was at 5,027.80 down by 89.85 points.

BSE IT index inclined marginally by 2.97 points to trade at 4,456.32 as I-Flex (2.76%), Patni Computer (1.90%), TCS (0.71%) and Satyam (0.10%) are trading in green.
Satyam Computers and GE Healthcare has entered into a comprehensive agreement to support customers deploying healthcare IT solutions based on GE Centricity Enterprise software. Under this agreement, both the companies will plan, design and implement infrastructures for global healthcare providers.

BSE Oil & Gas index was trading 137.94 points lower at 11,294.86 as BPCL (4.09%), RPL (1.92%), ONGC (1.92%) and Gail India (1.02%) are trading in red.

BSE Metal index dropped by 165.12 points to trade at 17,225.16. The major losers are SAIL (2.55%), NALCO (2.38%), Hindalco Industries (1.55%) and Tata Steel (0.67%).
SAIL has signed a memorandum of understanding with Rajasthan State Mines and Minerals Limited (RSMML) for a long-term supply of low silica limestone, a critical input for steel making.

BSE Capital goods index declined by 208.96 points to 13,461.12. The main losers are L&T (1.99%), ABB (1.90%), Siemens (1.51%) and BHEL (1.50%).

BSE Bankex index is trading lower by 167.63 points at 8,472.27. Losers are ICICI Bank (2.89%), PNB (2.88%), HDFC Bank (1.96%) and SBI (1.56%).

BSE Realty slipped by 115.04 points to 7,789.84. Leading to its fall are Indiabull Real (3.34%), Purvankara (2.22%), Ansal Infrastructure (2.18%) and DLF (1.66%).

BSE Power index decreased by 48.61 points to trade at 3,254.31 as Suzlon Energy (3.61%), Reliance Energy (3.07%), NTPC (1.54%) and Power Grid (1.40%) are trading in negative.

BSE Auto index down by 80.57 points to trade at 4,702.33 as Tata Motors (3.91%), Mahindra & Mahindra (2.08%), Maruti Suzuki (1.60%) and TVS Motor (1.50%) are trading in negative.