Having scaled its previous lifetime high on Friday, the Sensex showed no signs of tiredness today and continued its up trend to new lifetime highs. Helped by the sustained rally in index heavies and positive global cues, the indices opened with strong gains and held on to close near their intra-day highs.

The Sensex touched a new intra-day lifetime high of 12954 today while the Nifty saw a high of 3730, still below its lifetime high of 3774 set in May 2006. The Sensex has added 390 points over the last two sessions while the Nifty has gained 123 points.

Sensex closed with gains of 192 points at 12928 and the Nifty added 48 points to close at 3724. Nifty October futures closed at a premium of 6 points to the spot index.

Private sector banking stocks surged on expectations of very good quarterly results. HDFC Bank opened strong and gained strength throughout the day. The stock finally ended with gains of over 6 per cent. ICICI Bank gained more than 3.5 per cent.

TCS was firm ahead of its results announcement and added more than 2.5 per cent. Wipro also gained close to 2.5 per cent. Satyam added nearly 2 per cent while Infosys gave up part of early gains and ended 0.5 per cent higher.

Among engineering stocks, L&T added well over 3 per cent and ABB ended nearly 2.5 per cent higher.

ITC remained firm throughout the session and ended more than 3 per cent higher. Dabur gained nearly 2 per cent and HLL closed almost 0.5 per cent higher.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries rallied nearly 2 per cent while ONGC gained more than 1.5 per cent.

Hindalco was a major gainer, adding nearly 4 per cent.

Among other major gainers, Zee Tele and IPCL added around 2.5 per cent each.

The recovery in crude oil prices pulled down oil marketing stocks, which were ripe for a correction after last week's rally. HPCL was the worst performing index stock, declining nearly 2 per cent.

Auto stocks were also under pressure with Tata Motors and M&M losing close to a per cent each and Bajaj auto declining more than 0.5 per cent.

Jet Airways continued to lose ground and slipped another per cent.

Suzlon Energy came under pressure after Friday's rally and lost over a per cent.

Among cement stocks, Gujarat Ambuja declined over 0.5 per cent and ACC slipped nearly 0.5 per cent.

Dr Reddy's was another loser, giving up nearly 0.5 per cent.

Global markets / crude oil
Most Asian markets sustained the up trend from Friday and ended with good gains. Japan led the region with gains of around 0.95 per cent followed by Thailand which gained 0.7 per cent. South Korea added 0.6 per cent while Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia ended with marginal gains.

Among the losers, Shanghai gave up 0.75 per cent and Indonesia declined 0.65 per cent.

Most European indices opened with gains and are holding on in afternoon trades.

Crude oil prices have recovered on speculation that member countries may force OPEC to cut production further. Near month NYMEX futures climbed back above $59 per barrel in Asian trades and are trading close to that level in European trades today.

Large-cap news flow

• has launched its entire range of passenger cars in Ghana. The company would have three dealerships and six service centres in the country initially.
  
  
• GE Shipping has de-merged its offshore services business into a separate company, Great Offshore, with effect from today. All offshore service vessels currently owned and operated by the company would be transferred to the new entity and shareholders would receive one share of Great Offshore for every 5 shares held in GE Shipping.
  
  
• ICICI Bank would raise another $300 million from an international bond issue, according to media reports. The bank had raised more than $300 million from an international perpetual bond issue recently.
  
  
• OBC has teamed up with India Infrastructure Finance, Indian Bank and Corporation Bank to finance infrastructure projects.

Mid-Cap Action

Mid-caps and small caps once again disappointed after a firm opening. They gave up all their early gains and drifted into the red in afternoon trades. Trading interest is focussed more on large caps, though select mid-caps are seeing considerable interest on good results and news flows.

The CNX Mid-Cap index ended with losses of 16 points, or 0.32 per cent, at 4760. BSE mid-cap index gained 0.15 per cent and the BSE small cap index lost 0.29 per cent.

Aztec Software, which announced good results last week, surged and ended nearly 20 per cent higher. Among other mid-cap IT and related stocks, RS Software and Aptech were the major gainers.

Jaybharat Maruti and ING Vysya Bank also ended with gains of 20 per cent each.

Select construction stocks found good interest today. Madhucon Projects was locked in 10 per cent upper circuit while Pratibha Industries gained over 9.5 per cent.

Crisil and Godrej Industries were locked in the 10 per cent upper circuits for the second day.

Deccan Chronicle and SB&T International were among the other major mid-cap gainers.

TCI Finance, Uniphos, Tata Metalliks, IFB Industries, Shringar Cinema, Zensar Technologies, HOV Services, Suryajyoti Spinning and Sterling Biotech were among the major mid-cap losers.

Mid-cap news flow

• Wanbury has acquired a Spanish company in the branded generic drugs space for €50 million.
  
  
• IVRCL Infrastructure has received new orders worth Rs329 crore for water supply works and other construction work.
  
  
• The board of Atlanta Limited would meet next week to consider a JV to enter the real estate business and raising finance for the same.
  
  
• CG Impex has completed its retail jewellery store in Ahmedabad
  
  
• The board of Sanwaria Agro would meet next week to consider the stock split, already approved by shareholders.
  
  
• Lakshmi Machine Works would split its Rs100 face value shares into 10 shares of Rs10 each.
  
  
• Bhagyanagar India has raised $15 million from the issue of FCCB's. The bonds having a conversion price of Rs44 per share would be listed in Luxembourg.
  
  
• The board of Shrenuj & Co would meet later this week to consider raising of additional resources.
  
  
• Alchemist Limited would issue bonus shares in the ratio of one share for every share held.
  
  
• NRB Bearings is considering purchase of property in Uttaranchal for future expansion. The company's board is meeting later this month to consider a stock split.
  
  
• Lincoln Pharma has filed a patent for a herbal drug for the treatment of cold.
  
  
• Marsons has received new orders worth Rs30 crore for supplying transformers.
  
  
• EID Parry is planning to merge its subsidiary Parry Nutraceuticals with the company.
  
  
• A consortium led by Deep Industries has been awarded the exploration rights for two coal-bed methane (CBM) blocks - one each in Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh.
  
  
• Educomp Solutions would raise $25 million from a FCCB issue. The 5-year bonds would be listed in Singapore and would have a conversion price of Rs900 per share.
  
  
• Provogue India has entered into a JV with a UK-based company to develop 6 regional shopping centres in the country. The foreign partner would bring in Rs202 crore for a 25 per cent stake in the venture.
  
  
• The board of Fulford India is meeting today to consider a preferential issue of shares to promoters.
  

*Disclaimer: The author may have positions in some of the stocks specifically mentioned above at the time of writing this article. This analysis / report is only for the purpose of information and is not an investment advice. Readers are advised to consult a certified financial advisor before taking any investment decisions. While efforts have been made to ensure the accuracy of the information provided in the content the author or publisher shall not be held responsible for any loss caused to any person whatsoever.

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