Tata Steel Spurts

With the Reserve Bank of India set to announce its credit policy around noon, It is a cautious start for equities on the major Indian bourses this morning. Select metal, oil and power stocks have edged higher in early trade. Bank, auto and information technology stocks display a mixed trend.

The Sensex, which opened at 17,050.87, around 35 points higher than its previous closing mark, eased a bit in early trade, but has rallied to 17,112.88 in subsequent trade, netting a sharp gain of 96.92 points or 0.57%. The Nifty has gained 0.46% or 23.50 points at 5113.15.

Tata Steel has moved up by 3.4% to Rs 804 and is the biggest gainer in the Sensex at present. Hindalco has gained more than a per cent at Rs 188.20. Wipro (1.2%), Jaiprakash Associates (1.6%), ACC (1.2%) and ONGC (1%) are the other major gainers.

Ambuja Cements, DLF, Grasim Industries, HDFC, Larsen & Toubro, Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki, NTPC, Reliance Energy, State Bank of India and Tata Motors have posted notable gains.

TCS, Satyam Computer Services, Reliance Communications, Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, Infosys Technologies, Ranbaxy Laboratories and BHEL trade flat. Bharti Airtel, HDFC Bank and Hindustan Unilever are down with sharp losses.

Siemens, Sun Pharmaceuticals, Power Grid, Nalco, GAIL India, Tata Power, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, HCL Technologies, SAIL, Sterlite Industries and Tata Communications are among the prominent gainers in the Nifty. Suzlon Energy, ABB, Unitech and Idea Cellular have posted sharp losses.

Sensex Pares Gains; Tata Steel Gains Over 6% @ 10:48 Hrs

After a positive start and a subsequent move up north, the Sensex slipped into the red this morning due to a few blue chip stocks encountering strong resistance at higher levels. However, thanks to resumption of buying at lower levels, the Sensex, which had slipped to 16,005.07, has edged up to 16,035.21 now, netting a small gain of 19.65 points.

The Nifty, which touched a high of 4888.85 in early trade, is up with a marginal gain of 7.95 points or 0.16% at 4838.20 at present.

Metal stocks are in demand. Mirroring strong buying in that space, the BSE Metal index has jumped nearly 3% over its previous closing mark now. Consumer durables, power, FMCG, realty, capital goods and pharma stocks are also seen attracting firm buying enquiries. IT stocks have rebounded after a weak start. Oil, bank and auto stocks trade weak.

Tata Steel has rallied smartly on strong buying enquiries at the counter. At Rs 694.30, the stock is up by over 6% at present. Hindalco has posted a gain of 1.25% at Rs 174.60. FMCG heavyweight ITC has notched up a gain of 3.25% at Rs 206.50.

Cement stocks ACC (up 2.45% at Rs 839) and Ambuja Cements (up 1.1% at Rs 124), power equipment maker BHEL (up 1.15% at Rs 2008), pharma majors Cipla (up 2.55% at Rs 216.95) and Ranbaxy Laboratories (up 1.85% at Rs 443.65), realty stock DLF (up 1.35% at Rs 682.90), power majors NTPC (up 1.25% at Rs 199.10) and Reliance Energy (up 1.65% at Rs 1307.30) and software stock Satyam Computer Services (up 1% at Rs 399) also rule firm.

Reliance Industries, Tata Consultancy Services, Maruti Suzuki, Infosys Technologies and Grasim Industries are up with notable gains.

HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank, the private sector heavyweights, are down by 2.3% and 2.7% respectively. ONGC has declined by 2.7% to Rs 1040.10. Tata Motors, Hindustan Unilever, Mahindra & Mahindra and HDFC have also declined sharply.