Refiners May oil processing flat yr/yr-govt

Indian refiners processed 3.2 mn barrels of crude oil a day in May,
almost flat from the same month a year ago as higher runs at the
expanded Essar Oil plant offset lower fuel production by state firms.

Output at Indian Oil Corp's Mathura refinery was down 12 pc from the
same month a year ago because of an emergency shutdown at some of its
units, while at Hindustan Petroleum Corp's Mumbai refinery output fell
82 pc due to planned maintenance.

For details on Asian refinery maintenance Essar processed 250,000 bpd
in May, almost twice as much as a year ago, after it raised processing
and offered the output in the domestic market.

Refineries in Asia's third-largest consumer processed 3.2 mn barrels
per day last month, when margins for simple Asian refiners were at
minus $1.22 a barrel.

India raised fuel prices by about 10 pc in the first week of June but
the increase was far short of what state refiners needed to meet the
rising cost of crude. Analysts say demand is expected to keep growing,
helping refiners process more.

India plans to add 2.14 mn bpd of refining capacity by 2012 to its
existing 2.98 mn bpd, and expects domestic demand for oil products to
grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 2.9 pc to 132 mn tonnes by
2012.

Processing at India's biggest refinery, Reliance Industries Ltd's
660,000 bpd export-oriented Jamnagar plant, rose 1.3 pc from a year
ago. Crude oil output, which meets 30 pc of domestic demand, was up
3.2 pc at 687,600 bpd in May compared with a year earlier.
 

 

 

Govt aims for financial inclusion in 5 years: FM

Finance Minister P Chidambaram today said the government aimed to
achieve financial inclusion in the next five years and exhorted banks
to scale up their rural footprint.

"We can make financial inclusion a reality in the next five years. We
have many good banks, but they can become best banks only if they take
banking to the far corners of the country," the Finance Minister said
at a function here.

Chidambaram said that the country's banking industry was now on a
higher growth trajectory with significantly improved business.

"In the last four years, priority sector advances from state-owned
banks have almost doubled, while agriculture advances have tripled,"
Chidambaram said.

Besides, a steep decline in the gross and net NPAs of domestic lenders
in the last four years is also a healthy sign of growth, he
said.

Chidambaram also called for improved communication between bank
managements and their employee unions in order to improve the
functioning of the system.

"What is missing is an effective communication between bank
managements and unions.(Though) at the branch level there is a fair
level of communication, this is very less between managements and
unions," Chidambaram said.

The Finance Minister's comments come at a time when bank employees are
up in arms on issues such as demanding one more pension option for
employees and termination of merger proposals amongst state-owned
banks.
 

 

Chinese shares close down 5.29 percent

SHANGHAI: Chinese share prices closed down 5.29 pc on Friday as
investors tracked losses from weak overseas markets overnight and oil
hit new record highs, dealers said.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index, which covers A and B shares,
closed down 153.42 points at 2,748.43 on turnover of 61.7 bn yuan (9.0
bn dollars).

Investors were unsettled as the New York stock market plunged more
than three pc overnight and oil prices jumped to close to 142 dollars
a barrel in Asian trading, they said.

Oil majors, airlines, and auto makers, which are more exposed to
global oil prices, were sharply lower on rising fuel costs worries
following the spike in oil prices.

Air China was down 8.5 pc at 8.11 yuan and China Eastern Airlines fell
9.7 pc to 6.42.

Sinopec, the country's largest oil refiner, lost 9.12 pc to 10.27.
Like other Chinese refiners, it must abide by government price
controls despite rising costs.

Concerns over new share offers also weighed down the index as
investors worried liquidity pressure would further impact the already
weak stock market.

"The US market weakness is affecting local investors' confidence,"
Jacky Zhang at CSC International Holdings told Dow Jones Newswires.

The securities regulator said late on Thursday that it would assess an
application for initial public offerings in Shanghai by Everbright
Securities and China South Locomotive and Rolling Stock Corp on
Monday.

Everbright Securities said in a draft prospectus it plans to sell up
to 520 mn A shares and the official Securities Times estimated the
brokerage could raise more than 10 bn yuan (1.5 bn dollars) from the
IPO.

South Locomotive, the nation's top rail transport equipment maker,
said it plans to issue up to three billion A-shares and offer up to
two billion H-shares in Hong Kong later.

"Market sentiment was already weak and now the pending share supply,
all from relatively large companies, are further blows," Xu Yan at
Guotai Junan Securities said.

Financial and real estate companies were among the worst performers on
concerns over rising inflation and further monetary policy and credit
tightening.

Shanghai Pudong Development Bank slid 6.3 pc to 22.99 yuan and
property developer China Vanke fell 7.3 pc to 9.04.

The Shanghai A-share Index lost 161.12 points, or 5.29 pc, at 2,882.95
on turnover of 61.4 bn yuan. The Shenzhen A-share Index was down 53.8
points, or 6.06 pc, at 833.21 on turnover of 32.8 bn yuan.

The Shanghai B-share Index was down 8.84 points, or 4.05 pc, to 209.12
on turnover of 320.6 mn dollars. The Shenzhen B-share Index lost 22.61
points, or 4.58 pc, at 471.21 on turnover of 192.05 mn Hong Kong
dollars (24.6 mn US dollars).
 

 

Sharekhan Post-Market Report dated June 27, 2008

Sharekhan's daily newsletter June 27, 2008 Index Performance Index Sensex Nifty Open 14,127.76 4,315.30 High 14,127.76 4,315.30 Low 13,760.24 4,119.20 Today's Cls 13,802.22 4,136.65 Prev Cls 14,421.82 4,315.85 Change -619.60 -179.20 % Change -4.30 -4.15   Market Indicators Top Movers (Group A) Company Price  (Rs) % chg Gainers Container Corporation 794.00 2.43 Asian Paints 1,197.30 1.47 GSK Pharma 1,126.20 1.47 Cairn India 275.20 1.47 Hindustan Zinc 532.00 1.30 Losers Hindustan Construction 84.05 -13.35 Phoenix Mills 163.70 -13.11 NALCO 332.80 -9.98 Sintex Industries 325.35 -9.09 Triveni Engineering 70.05 -9.03 Market Statistics - BSE NSE Advances 601 201 Declines 2,051 1,001 Unchanged 54 19 Volume(Nos) 33.26cr 52.74cr  Market Commentary  Another brutal day on Dalal Street The Sensex ended the day with losses of 620 points after crashing to a low of 13,760 during intra-day trades. The market crashed by 4.30%, in tune with other major global indices, as concerns of hike in crude oil and inflation played on investor sentiment.      After gaining over 200 points in yesterday's trades, the Sensex resumed 294 points lower at 14,1428 and tanked another 368 points to touch the day's low of 13,760 on relentless selling in Bankex, Auto, Power, and overall stocks. The Sensex managed to recover 42 points in late trades, but still ended with losses of 620 points at 13,802. The Nifty shed 4.15% or 179 points to close at 4,137. The market breadth was extremely negative. Of the 2,706 stocks traded on the BSE, 2,051 stocks declined, 601 stocks advanced and 54 stocks ended unchanged. All the sectoral indices were battered. Among the major losers, the BSE Bankex index lost 5.34%, the BSE Auto index dropped 5.26%, the BSE Power shed 4.87%, the BSE Metal index declined by 4.53% and the BSE Realty index fell 4.45%. All the Sensex stocks ended in the red. Among the major losers Tata Motors plummeted 8.24% at Rs445.05, HDFC tanked 8.15% at Rs2,028.15, Wipro dropped 7.78% at Rs436.60, Reliance Infrastructure slumped 7.72% at Rs876, Mahindra& Mahindra crumbled by 7.61% at Rs503, Ambuja Cement dropped 7.14% at Rs80 and Jaiprakash Associates shed 7.01% at Rs141.55. ICICI Bank, DLF, SBI, Maruti Suzuki India, ONGC, Grasim Industries, Reliance Communications, Satyam Computer Services, Infosys, Hindalco and Tata Steel shed over 6-4% each. Over 2.28 crore Bafna Pharma shares changed hands on the BSE followed by Reliance Petroleum (1.63 crore shares), Chambal Fertilisers (1.16 crore shares), Niraj Cement (1.09 crore shares) and Reliance Natural Resources (1.07 crore shares). European Indices at 16:15 IST on 27-06-2008 Index Level Change (pts) Change (%) FTSE 100 Index 5526.70 8.50 0.15 CAC 40 Index 4393.99 -32.20 -0.73 DAX Index -6414.62 -44.98 -0.70 Asian Indices at close on 27-06-2008 Index Level Change (pts) Change (%) Nikkei 225 13544.36 -277.96 -2.01 Hang Seng Index 22042.35 -413.32 -1.84 Kospi Index 1684.45 -33.21 -1.93 Straits Times Index 2955.91 -25.04 -0.84 Jakarta Composite Index 2332.12 -18.77 -0.80

 

MF managers aim to trim cash, buy stocks

 

26 Jun, 2008, 1241 hrs IST, REUTERS

 

 

MUMBAI: Mutual fund managers are looking to trim cash levels and deploy money into shares after the stock market contracted by a third this year, according to a poll by Reuters.

Fund managers, who had been sitting on double digit cash levels amid the 30 percent slide in the benchmark index, expect stocks to recover in the coming quarter, the poll showed.

Seven of eight respondents in the Reuters Asset Allocation Poll conducted during June 23-25 said shares would gain 5 percent or more in the next three months. "If you look at it from a long perspective of three to five years, it's a great great time to buy," Tridib Pathak, chief investment officer of Lotus India Asset Management, said.

"Overall market valuations are quite attractive. The India story does not change in a matter of three four months," Pathak, who held 5-11 percent of the portfolio as cash in four of his stock funds at May-end, said. The one year forward price-to-earnings of the BSE index, which rose above 21 in January, has since fallen to 13.7.
 

The market should see positive swings from third week of July as earnings remain strong in view of robust advance tax collection and a good monsoon, R K Gupta, managing director of Taurus Asset Management, said. Companies paid 306.55 billion rupees as taxes this fiscal year until June 21, up 39.81 percent from a year-ago, the finance ministry said on Wednesday. "Below 14,000 selective buying will come... I think further downside is restricted," Gupta said.

SECTORAL BETS

Large-cap stocks are in favour with nearly 90 percent of the poll respondents, while half of them said they are not averse to buying relatively illiquid mid-cap stocks.

Financial and engineering shares, which have undergone sharp falls and seen popularity wane this year, are back on their radar with half of the respondents looking to raise exposure in the two sectors.

"Banking we are bullish because we find valuations to be extremely attractive," said Pathak of Lotus Mutual Fund. Financial stocks have tumbled more than 40 percent on expectations of monetary tightening by the central bank on spiralling inflation, bringing the price to book value of many state-run banks below one, which fund managers see as attractive.

Engineering stocks, also down more than 40 percent, have fallen more than warranted and should bounce back strongly as market recover, Jayesh Shroff, fund manager at SBI Funds Management, said. "The companies still have robust order books.

The margins will definitely be under pressure but it would not be as significant as the market is expecting or their prices suggest," he told Reuters. Half of the poll respondents are also looking to raise exposure to services stocks and defensive sectors such as consumer goods and healthcare in the next three months. A fourth of them said they would allocate more money to stocks in their balanced funds portfolios.

 

Source: ET

US shares slumped at the open on Thursday

NEW YORK: US shares slumped at the open on Thursday as a series of bleak corporate profit forecasts hurt sentiment and the Federal Reserve's economic outlook failed to inspire buyers.

The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 108.45 points (0.92 per cent) to 11,703.38 in the first exchanges.

The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite tumbled 38.74 points (1.61 per cent) to 2,362.52 and the Standard & Poor's 500 broad-market index retreated 14.33 points (1.08 per cent) to 1,307.64.

"Sluggish outlooks and new fears of write-downs are putting heavy pressure on stocks in early trading," analysts at Charles Schwab & Co. said.

"Goldman Sachs cut its view on Citigroup and lowered its outlook on US brokers, while Research in Motion issued a soft profit forecast, Oracle was cautious looking forward, and Nike experienced flat US orders."

Meanwhile the Federal Reserve, which made no change in interest rates but signaled growing concern on inflation Wednesday, failed to lift the market.

Analysts said the dollar fell after the Federal Open Market Committee stopped short of any pledge to hike interest rates soon.

The Fed "left rates unchanged and left a bad taste in the dollar bulls' mouths that all their talk on inflation and the buck was just that," said Andrew Busch at BMO Capital Markets.

 

Source: ET

Industry critical of hike in repo rate, CRR

Industry lobbies have criticised the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI)
move Tuesday to increase the repo rate and cash reserve ratio.

In a statement issued Wednesday, the Confederation of Indian Industry
(CII) said it hoped the growth imperative would not be lost in the
RBI's effort at inflation containment.

"While fully appreciating the threat posed by high inflation, CII
believes that action is required at the global level to deal with the
current phase of price pressure, which is largely global supply-led,"
said the CII statement.

Harsh Pati Singhania, senior vice president of the Federation of
Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), said while RBI's
efforts to tame inflation are understandable, Tuesday's move would
burden industry.

"It is important to note that Indian industry has been subjected to
successive rate hikes over the last one and a half years," Singhania
said.

"These have substantially pushed up the interest cost for industry
particularly in the face of acute international competition. The
current rate hike will further add to that burden."

Singhania said RBI's latest move is not counter-cyclical. "We are
already in a downward phase and this moderation in growth is clearly
borne out by the IIP numbers," he added.

FICCI said the industrial sector has slowed down somewhat, and the
rate hike will accentuate that further. Subsequently, the path of
overall GDP growth will also get influenced.

The chamber also said the inflationary pressure stems from supply side
rigidity. "It is, therefore, imperative that policies are devised to
ease these rigidities and increase supply of both primary articles and
manufactured products," it said.

FICCI said RBI should take a re-look at the interest rate structure at
the earliest opportunity.

The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM)
feels though these measures would create liquidity crunch in markets
and hike interest rates, "yet the pinch will be less painful than the
double digit inflation."

Assocham president Sajjan Jindal said the latest rate hike would
affect industry's domestic expansion plans, though global acquisition
plans will continue as companies raise funds mainly from abroad

1% rate hike may up housing EMI by 7%

NEW DELHI: Interest rates are all set to go up by 50-100 basis points,
following the RBI's decision to increase the lending rate on funds to
banks by half a percentage point. Punjab National Bank (PNB) CMD K C
Chakrabarty said the step taken by RBI will lead to a minimum increase
of 50 basis points in interest rate. Some banks might increase the
rate even to 75 basis points, he added.

However, a senior official of a private sector bank said increase in
the lending rate might go up to one percentage point (100 basis
points). As the interest rates are going upward for last quite some
time and not likely to come down in the near future due to
inflationary pressure , many banks will increase the rates by one
percentage point from July 1, 2008.

CMD of Union Bank MV Nair said the present round of increase in the
policy rates will force them to raise their
He said the present tight money policy pursued by RBI to contain
inflation will affect more those banks which normally borrow in the
overnight money market to meet their lending requirements. Because of
rise in the repo rate by 50 basis points to 8.50%, the interest rates
on short term funds has gone up immediately.

In fact, many banks had not increased their lending rates, when RBI
had increased its repo rate any cash reserve ratio in April.

A senior banker said that banks had absorbed them thinking that
interest rate will come down. But as inflationary pressure aggravated,
and RBI tighten the money supply further, he said, banks have no
choice but to increase the rates.

According to a senior banker, the cash reserve ratio has been
increased by 1.25 percentage point in the last three months to 8.75%.
This alone has increased the cost on funds by 45 basis points. Besides
this, because of repo rate hike, banks will be forced to hike the rate
by 50 to 100 basis points.

The worst hit by this would be the home loan borrowers. A senior bank
official said that as the rates are increasing, default rates would
also go up.

This will increase the cost of funds, forcing banks to further hike
the rate. At the same time, as interest rates are going up, the value
of the government securities will also fall. To minimize these
effects, CMD of a bank, who does not want to be quoted, said that
banks will have no choice to lend at much higher than the prime
lending rates, which might be increased by only 50 basis points.

That means, the difference between real rates that a customer will
have to pay will be higher than the rate that the bank will fix for
its best of the customers.

As shown in the chart, increase in the interest rate by 100 basis
points on a 20-year loan leads to increase in EMI by almost 7%. On the
other consumer loan also, the increase in the rate will be higher than
one percentage points.

At the same time, RBI is likely to sell dollar to contain the
depreciation of rupee. The rupee's depreciation has led to increase in
the import cost, which has also contributed in the rise in the
domestic prices. But, this will further tighten the liquidity. A
senior banker said that such majors will only worsen the condition for
borrowers.

RIL to begin production from KG-D6 block in Q3 of 2008

Reliance Industries will begin oil and gas production from its
prolific eastern offshore D6 block in the third quarter of 2008
calendar year, the company's junior partner Niko Resources of Canada
has said.


Reliance is investing USD 5.2 billion to bring to production
Dhirubhai-1 and 3 gas fields - two of the 18 finds made in the KG-
DWN-98/3 (D6) block in Krishna Godavari basin.



Alongside, it is also developing the MA oil field in the same block.



Both "oil and natural gas production is expected to commence in the
third calendar quarter of 2008," Niko said in its regulatory filing.



Volumes will ramp up to a targeted rate of 2.8 billion cubic feet per
day (80 million standard cubic meters per day) of gas within first
year of production.



Peak oil output is seen at 40,000 barrels per day (2 million tons per
annum).



On Wednesday, the government had said that Reliance will pump 25
mmscmd gas from D6 from September and 40 mmscmd from March 2009.



"The wells and facilities are substantially complete," Niko, which
holds 10 percent in D6, said.



Niko said R1 exploration well in KG-D6 block added 2.2 Trillion cubic
feet of reserves, while proved natural gas reserves in Dhirubhai-1 and
3 fields have more than doubled to 9.2 Tcf.



Proven plus probable gas reserves in the two fields has risen by 15
percent to 13 Tcf.



For oil field development, Reliance and Niko are investing USD 1.5
billion while in the second phase of gas development, the two firms
would invest another USD 3.6 billion.



Niko said conceptual studies are underway for the development of eight
of the natural gas discoveries in the prolific Block.



These discoveries are adjacent to Dhirubhai 1 and 3 gas fields that
are currently under development.



It is intended that these satellite discoveries be tied back to the
Dhirubhai 1 and 3 facilities.



Numerous other prospects have been identified in deeper water areas of
the block, where further upside potential will be evaluated.



Reliance is currently drilling MK-1 Cretaceous exploration well, which
is 11 km from the MA oil development.



Of the USD 5.2 billion Phase-I investment, Reliance and Niko had sunk-
in 2.58 billion dollar by 31st March 2008.



In September 2007, the government approved the pricing formula for the
sale of natural gas to be produced from the D6 Block, which currently
results in a gas price of USD 4.2 per million British thermal unit.



Niko said the wells, the floating production, storage and offloading
vessel (FPSO) and other facilities for the MA oil field are
substantially complete.



The initial field development costs, excluding the FPSO, are estimated
at USD 1.5 billion and USD 400 million had been spent until 31st March
2008.



The expected oil production from the MA field in the D6 Block will be
sold at international market prices.



Reliance, which holds 90 percent sake in the 7,645 sq km KG-D6 block,
won the block in the government's first international bid round in
1999.



"Development of the Dhirubhai 1 and 3 natural gas fields and the MA
oil field is substantially complete and exploration is ongoing on this
block," Niko added.

ONGC net falls for first time in 10 years

Q4 profit dips 2% on higher subsidy payout, wage bill.

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), the country's largest oil
exploration and production company, incurred its first quarterly net
profit drop in ten years on a higher subsidy payout and a rise in
salaries.

The net profit fell 2 per cent to Rs 2,627 crore during the fourth
quarter as compared. Net sales rose by 26 per cent to Rs 15,626 crore
from Rs 12,397 crore in the earlier quarter.

The state-run company has now lost its standing as the highest profit-
making company to Reliance Industries.

Analysts expected ONGC's profit for the three months ended March 31,
2008 to rise 67 per cent. Shares in the company rose 1.02 per cent to
end the day's trading at Rs 864 on the Bombay Stock Exchange. The
stock declined by 4.22 per cent on the bourse last month.

The company gave discounts worth Rs 8,400 crore to oil marketing
companies to partly compensate them for selling petroleum products at
subsidised prices. The company also set aside Rs 1,050 crore during
the quarter as a provision for higher salaries and another Rs 885
crore as gratuity payment.

"The higher subsidy payout was the major reason why net profit fell
during the quarter despite a 66 per cent-plus rise in crude oil prices
during the quarter as against the quarter last year," said Chairman
and Managing Director RS Sharma.

ONGC should have got a price of $100.37 for every barrel of crude oil
it sold. However, it sold oil at $49.66 per barrel to government-owned
refiners after giving a discount of $50.71 a barrel.

"Our gains from higher crude oil prices were limited as we sold our
oil at half the price," said Finance Director D K Sarraf.

Sarraf said that even as the higher projected subsidy burden would
continue to be a worry, the company would not have to provide for
higher wages in the current financial year.

The petroleum ministry had earlier said that ONGC would give discounts
of around Rs 38,000 crore in 2008-09 to the oil refiners. "We have
suggested that the subsidy sharing should be discontinued," Sharma
added.

The company's depreciation cost also rose by 34 per cent to Rs
3,844.48 crore during the quarter from 2,863.73 crore. The company's
net profit for the full year ended March 31, 2008 (FY08) rose by 7 per
cent to Rs 16,702 crore from Rs 15,643 crore.

Inflation seen at 11.18 per cent on June 14

Mumbai, June 26: India's annual inflation rate is expected to have
jumped to a fresh 13-year high in mid-June as the effect of higher
fuel prices spread to the broader Economy, a Reuters poll showed on
Thursday.

The wholesale price index is forecast to have risen to 11.18 percent
in the 12 months to June 14, which would be the highest since April 8,
1995, when annual inflation was at the same level.

Annual inflation, which hit 11.05 percent in early June, is expected
to remain in double digits for some time, a senior finance ministry
official told Reuters on Wednesday, adding it was difficult to predict
when it would peak.

It would be the 18th consecutive week that the inflation rate has been
above 5.5 percent, the central bank's target by the end of the fiscal
year in March 2009.

The data is due around noon (0630 GMT) on Friday.

On Tuesday, the central bank raised its main lending rate and the
proportion of deposits that banks must keep with the central bank, by
50 basis points each, to help rein in the galloping inflation rate
that has more than doubled since mid-February.

It was the second time rate increase this month after India had raised
state-set fuel prices by about 10 percent on June 4.

The wholesale price index is more closely watched than the consumer
price index (CPI) because it includes more products and is also
published weekly. The CPI is released monthly.

Double-digit inflation to stay for some more weeks: FM

NEW DELHI: Double-digit inflation is likely to continue for a few more
weeks before government efforts kick in to ease the rate of price
rise, Finance Minister P Chidambaram has said.

Ahead of new inflation data to be released tomorrow, he told a
television channel that he cannot guess the inflation figure, but
"will remain in double digit for some more weeks."

"I don't know. I can't guess the figure," Chidambaram told the channel
in an interview.

He, however, disagreed with a suggestion that inflation could spoil
the United Progressive Alliance's chances in the upcoming general
elections.

"Well, that's a premature conclusion. We will be defensive on
inflation. All politics is about communication; we must communicate to
the people why prices are high and efforts we are taking to moderate
it," he said.

Inflation touched a 13-year high of 11.05 per cent as on June 7, after
a partial pass through of increase in global crude prices.

Government and RBI have taken several fiscal and monetary steps to
cool inflation, but these measures may also have a slowdown effect on
economic expansion.

Asked whether the government feels achieving nine per cent growth this
fiscal would be difficult, the Finance Minister said: "There will be
some moderation in growth rate, but growth will not fall
precipitously.

"(Given) the structure of our economy, which is about 57 per cent
services, growth will still be above eight per cent, but the point is
we want nine per cent growing up to 10 per cent. This year we can't
hope for that," Chidambaram said.

Source: Economic Times

Mkts: Tata Communications gains 6%

The Sensex, which bounced back strongly after a sharp setback it had
suffered around noon, has drifted down a bit now due to a fresh round
of selling at a few front line counters.

At 14,309.77, more than 100 points down from a high of 14,419.40 it
had touched earlier in the day, the Sensex is up by 89.70 points or
0.63% over its previous closing mark. The Nifty is down with a small
loss of 5.80 points at 4246.85.

Hindalco, NTPC, DLF, Maruti Suzuki, Bharti Airtel and Hindustan
Unilever have lost 2% - 3% now. Reliance Communications, Ranbaxy
Laboratories, Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Motors and ICICI Bank
have also declined sharply. Mahindra & Mahindra, Grasim Industries,
HDFC Bank and State Bank of India are down with marginal losses.

Reliance Industries rules firm with a big gain of 5% at Rs 2241. Wipro
has gained 3.35%. HDFC is up with a gain of 3.25%. Ambuja Cements and
Cipla have gained 2.95% and 2.15% respectively. Larsen & Toubro,
Satyam Computer Services and Infosys Technologies have posted notable
gains. ACC, ONGC and Jaiprakash Associates are up marginally.

Tata Communications has recorded a strong gain of 6%. HCL
Technologies, Sun Pharmaceuticals, GAIL India and Power Grid have also
posted sharp gains.

Idea Cellular, Hero Honda, Siemens, Suzlon Energy, ABB, Punjab
National Bank and Dr. Reddy's Laboratories have tumbled on selling
pressure and are down by 2% - 4% from their previous closing levels
now

Sharekhan Post-Market Report dated June 26, 2008

Sharekhan's daily newsletter June 26, 2008 Index Performance Index Sensex Nifty Open 14,300.72 4,252.60 High 14,449.81 4,324.75 Low 14,196.68 4,230.00 Today's Cls 14,421.82 4,315.85 Prev Cls 14,220.07 4,252.65 Change 201.75 63.20 % Change 1.42 1.49   Market Indicators Top Movers (Group A) Company Price  (Rs) % chg Gainers Tata Comm 390.20 8.55 Maytas Infra 447.90 8.27 Bharat Forge 257.00 6.82 Chambal Fertilisers 81.15 6.71 Tata Chemicals 316.10 6.29 Losers Phoenix Mills 185.00 -8.42 Max India 164.75 -7.88 Brigade Enterprises 128.60 -7.18 Ansal Infra 78.85 -7.07 Triveni Engineering 77.00 -6.72 Market Statistics - BSE NSE Advances 1,483 663 Declines 1,143 513 Unchanged 72 42 Volume(Nos) 30.26cr 67.74cr  Market Commentary  Market ends higher amid volatility After witnessing a swing of 256 points in intra-day trades, the Sensex ended with steady gains on selective buying interest.  The market showed signs of easing off in the first half of the trading session as the Sensex dropped nearly 23 points, but a recovery in the afternoon and selective     buying towards the close saw it end higher for the second consecutive session. Exhibiting sharp volatility in early trades, the Sensex resumed with a huge positive gap of 80 points at 14,301 and soon touched the intra-day high of 14,450 on sustained buying support. However, the market soon drifted into negative territory, as a sharp bout of selling pressure dragged the index to an intra-day low of 14,197. The Sensex once again notched up significant gains on renewed buying support before profit taking saw the Sensex shed some gains and end the session at 14,422, up 202 points. However, after a mixed outing Nifty ended higher at 4,316, up 63 points. The market breadth was positive. Of the 2,698 stocks traded on the BSE, 1,483 stocks advanced, while 1,143 stocks declined and 72 stocks ended unchanged. Most of the sectoral indices ended with steady gains. However, the BSE Oil & Gas index gained 2.82% at 9,677 while the BSE IT index advanced by 2.12% at 4,181.  Select heavyweights helped the Sensex close at higher levels. Ambuja Cement rose 6% at Rs87.50, Wipro moved up 5.14% at Rs479.95, Reliance Industries advanced 4.87% at Rs2,239.25 and Cipla gained 4.36% at Rs216.65. Among the other major gainers, Satyam Computer Services jumped 3.28% at Rs459.80, Tata Motors notched up gains of 3.14% at Rs489.45 and HDFC gained 3.04% at Rs2,234.85.  However, Reliance Communications dropped 2.61% at Rs490, Maruti Suzuki India tumbled 2.44% at Rs670, Hindalco shed 2.12% at Rs142.35 and Ranbaxy Laboratories lost 2.03% at Rs529.50. DLF, Hindustan Unilever, Bharti Airtel and HDFC Bank also ended in negative territory. Select oil stocks rallied sharply. Gail India advanced 3.58% at Rs363.35, Reliance Petroleum added 1.85% at Rs173.55, Cairn India jumped 1.18% at Rs271.20 and ONGC gained 0.73% at Rs870.35. Realty stocks declined sharply on sustained selling pressure. Phoenix Mill tanked 8.42% at Rs185, Puravankara dropped 7.34% at Rs170.35, Ansal Properties shed 7.07% at Rs78.85, Mahindra Life lost 6.01% at Rs476.10 and HDFC dipped 5.89% at Rs450.20. Over 2.18 crore Chambal shares changed hands on the BSE followed by Nagarjuna Fertilisers (1.32 crore shares), Reliance Natural Resources (1.17 crore shares), Niraj Cement (1.09 crore shares) and IFCI (1crore shares).  European Indices at 16:28 IST on 26-06-2008 Index Level Change (pts) Change (%) FTSE 100 Index 5605.10 -61.00 -1.08 CAC 40 Index 4487.33 -48.96 -1.08 DAX Index 6535.19 -82.65 -1.25 Asian Indices at close on 26-06-2008 Index Level Change (pts) Change (%) Nikkei 225 13822.32 -7.60 -0.05 Hang Seng Index 22455.67 -179.49 -0.79 Kospi Index 1717.66 -0.13 -0.01 Straits Times Index 2980.95 -5.67 -0.19 Jakarta Composite Index 2350.89 9.53 0.41