Political uncertainty pulls market off highs

Political uncertainty pulls market off highs

Going strong till early afternoon trade, boosted by strong Asian and
European markets, faltered in afternoon session on sudden-sell off due
to political uncertainties. CPI (M) general secretary Prakash Karat
has scheduled a press conference today at 16:00 IST.

At 14:35 IST, the BSE 30-share Sensex was up 30.43 points, or 0.21%,
to 14,275.37. It had opened higher at 14,458.33 and advanced further
to hit 14,544.93 as buying continued. From here, the benchmar index
declined sharply to touch a low of 14,141.74.

At the day's high, the Sensex had gained 306.27 points. At the day's
low, it had lost 106.92 points

The Sensex moved between 14,398 and 14,142, with high volatility
between 13:30 IST and 14:30 IST.

The S&P CNX Nifty was down 6.35 points, or 0.15%, to 4,146.80

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was
strong on BSE till early afternoon session. But it turned weak
thereafter as small- and mid-caps succumbed to selling pressure. On
BSE 1,644 shares declined as compared to 989 that rose, while 61
remained unchanged.

In the opening session, the market breadth was strong on BSE, with
1,129 shares advancing as compared to 271 that declined

The BSE Mid-Cap Index was down 0.56% to 6,125.41, while the BSE Small-
Cap Index declined 0.72% to 7,464.36. Both these indices were sharply
off from their day's high of 6,285.19 and 7,679.04, respectively

Most of the sectoral indices on BSE were trading with small gains. The
BSE FMCG index (up 1.35% to 1,866.81) outperformed the Sensex. But the
BSE Bankex (down 1.71% to 7,261.34) underperformed the broad market.

The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 3764 crore by 14:30 IST as
compared Rs 3139 crore by 13:30 IST.

Among the 30-member Sensex pack, 20 advanced while the rest slipped.

Cement stocks dominated the list of gainers today boosted by Swiss
cement major Holcim's open offer to acquire an additional 20% stake in
Ambuja Cement. India's second largest cement producer by sales ACC
jumped 3% to Rs 982 and was the top gainer from the Sensex pack.

Ambuja Cement (up 2.53% to Rs 133.60), UltraTech Cement (up 1.25% to
Rs 863.65), Birla Corporation (up 5.86% to Rs 262), Grasim Industries
(up 2.24% to Rs 2788), and India Cements (up 4.21% to Rs 219) edged
higher.

Switzerland's Holcim today said it had acquired a 3.9% additional
stake in Ambuja Cements from the founding families at Rs 154 share, in
a deal worth $220 million.

Satyam Computers Services (up 2.46% to Rs 427.75), HDFC (up 1.97% to
Rs 1938.80), and ITC (up 1.52% to Rs 160.80) were the other gainers
from the Sensex pack.

India's largest engineering and construction firm by sales Larsen &
Toubro rose 1% to Rs 2408 after company won a repeat order for
construction of two ships from Netherlands's RollDock BV of The
Netherlands, (erstwhile Zadeko Shipmanagement CV) valued at over $70
million.

Reliance Industries (RIL), the country's top private sector entity by
market capitalisation and oil refiner, slipped 0.20% to Rs 1765 on
5.83 lakh shares. It had moved in a range of Rs 1747.50 - 1809.95. As
per reports, RIL will foray into solar power generation through pilot
projects that will supply electricity to a few villages in
Maharashtra. In the next 8-12 months, pilots will be launched in 38
villages in Maharashtra.

India's third largest pharma company in terms of sales Cipla slumped
4% to Rs 168.50 on 4.95 lakh shares. The stock slipped sharply from
the day's high of Rs 179.95. It was the top loser from the Sensex
pack.

Banking and financial shares came under selling pressure. State Bank
of India (down 1.71% to Rs 1433), ICICI Bank (down 2% to Rs 829.90),
HDFC Bank (down 1.48% to Rs 1102.70) and Axis Bank (down 1% to Rs 580)
slipped.

Reliance Energy (down 1.63% to Rs 713) and ONGC (down 2.13% to Rs
792 ) were the other losers from the Sensex pack.

Among the side counters, Omaxe (up 10.72% to Rs 303.55), Sel
Manufacturing (up 9.10% to Rs 184.10), Indiabulls Financial Services
(up 7.26% to Rs 486.8), Prism Cement (up 5% to Rs 53), and Orient
Paper (up 4.71% to Rs 419.95) advanced.

However, Phoenix Mills (down 9.92% to Rs 1975), HTMT Global (down
9.15% to Rs 290), Dynamatic Technoligies (down 6.77% to Rs 1205), and
Nocil (down 6.82% to Rs 23.25) declined.

All the Asian markets, which opened before the Indian markets, were
trading higher. At its meeting today, the Bank of Japan left interest
rates unchanged at 0.50%, the lowest among major economies. The BOJ
had last raised interest rates in February 2007.

Hang Seng (up 2.77% at 22,966.67), Japan's Nikkei (up 2.61% at
16,316.32), Taiwan Weighted (up 2.82% at 8,732.84), Singapore's
Straits Times (up 1.49% at 3,370.91), Shanghai Composite (up 1.05% to
5,032.40) and South Korea's Seoul Composite (up 2.29% at 1,799.72)
edged higher.

All the European markets, opened after the Indian markets, were
trading higher today. Key European indices in Germany, France and UK
were up between 0.80% and 1.10%.

US stocks rose on Wednesday, 22 August 2007, as takeover activity
resurfaced and credit markets stabilised, luring investors back into
riskier assets such as equities.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 145.27 points, or 1.11%, to
13,236.13. Broader stock indicators jumped as well. The Standard &
Poor's 500 index rose 16.95 points, or 1.17%, to 1,464.07, while the
Nasdaq Composite index gained 31.50 points, or 1.25%, to 2,552.80.

Meanwhile, as per provisional data, foreign institutional investors
(FIIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 636.19 crore, while domestic
institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers of shares worth Rs
547.29 crore on Wednesday, 22 August 2007.

FIIs have been on a selling drive recently. FIIs sold shares worth Rs
8558.10 crore in August, till 21 August 2007. FII inflow totaled Rs
23872.40 crore in July 2007.

Crude oil prices rebounded from lower levels on Thursday, 23 August
2007, as world stock markets rallied on hopes that the worst of the
credit squeeze may be past and traders braced for supply delays in the
wake of Hurricane Dean. US crude rose 29 cents to $69.55 a barrel,
while Brent crude gained 16 cents to $68.86 a barrel.