Sensex closed with gains of 80 points at 13696 and the Nifty gained 27 points to end at 3955. Nifty December futures closed at a premium of 5 points to the spot index.

Technology stocks opened firm and held on to their gains throughout the day. TCS was the best performer, adding 2.94 per cent, followed by Wipro which ended 2.93 per cent higher. Satyam gained 1.74 per cent and Infosys added 1.07 per cent.

Gail India surged late in the day and was the best performer among index stocks, with gains of 4.3 per cent. ONGC recovered from a weak start and closed 0.74 per cent higher.

HDFC Bank saw a rally in the afternoon and closed 3.17 per cent higher. Among other banks, ICICI Bank gained 1.61 per cent and SBI closed 1.26 per cent higher.

Among pharma stocks, Cipla gained 2.21 per cent and Dr. Reddy's gained 2.15 per cent.

Dabur made a strong recovery and closed 2.6 per cent higher.

Zee Tele extended its gains and closed 2.36 per cent higher.

BHEL was the other major gainer, adding 1.89 per cent.

Oil stocks came under more pressure today and extended their losses. HPCL was the worst performer, down 3.49 per cent, while BPCL gave up 2.82 per cent.

Among other oil refining stocks, Essar Oil dropped 5.24 per cent and Bongaigaon gave up 4.82 per cent.

Metal stocks came under pressure in afternoon trades, led by Tata Steel which closed 1.99 per cent lower. Hindalco gave up 1.68 per cent and SAIL closed 1.46 per cent lower.

Among pharma stocks, Ranbaxy gave up 2.82 per cent and Sun Pharma lost 2.76 per cent.

Jet Airways extended its loses and gave up 2.02 per cent.

ACC corrected 1.44 per cent after the recent rally.

IPCL was the other major loser, closing 2.27 per cent lower.

Global markets / crude oil
US markets sustained their recovery from Monday on better than expected US economic growth for the third quarter. Sustained up trend in crude oil prices helped oil stocks and pushed up the indices further.

The Dow ended rallied nearly 0.75 per cent while S&P 500 added more than 0.9 per cent. Technology stocks also did well and the NASDAQ index closed more than 0.8 per cent higher.

Markets across Asia rallied for the second day, helped by the up trend in US. Shanghai was the best performer, gaining nearly 2.2 per cent, followed by Malaysia which added over 1.5 per cent. Japan gained nearly 1.25 per cent, while Hong Kong ended nearly a per cent higher.

South Korea added nearly 0.7 per cent while Thailand and Singapore gained over 4 per cent each. Indoensia ended with modest gains.

European markets opened substantially higher but have shed part of their gains in early afternoon trades. Major indices are trading with gains of between 0.2 and 0.4 per cent each.

Crude oil prices continued to rise yesterday as well following an unexpected drop US fuel inventory and more forecasts about a colder winter. The Fed chairman's statements that US economic growth would rebound next year also led to higher prices.

NYMEX futures gained more than 2 per cent to settle at $62.46 per barrel yesterday. The commodity went close to $62.7 per barrel in Asian trades today and is trading over $62.5 per barrel in European trades.

Large-cap news flow

• ONGC has reportedly received the first shipment from the Sakhalin - I oil field in Russia. The company holds a 20 per cent stake in the field and is expected to receive 2.4 million tonnes of crude next year.
• Bharti Airtel has tied up with Google to offer internet search over mobile phones.
• MTNL has revised its second quarter net profits to Rs109.92 crore from Rs136.52 crore announced earlier.
• VSNL has launched a new voluntary separation scheme for employees who are above 40 years or have completed 10 years of service.
• ICICI Bank's UK branch may issue perpetual dollar-denominated bonds to raise up to $150 million, according to media reports.

Mid-Cap Action
Mid-caps and small caps started on a firm note, but came under pressure later. Many of the prominent mid-caps lost ground and the indices slipped into the red by early afternoon. Though they recovered modestly in late trades, both mid-cap indices ended in the red.

The CNX Mid-Cap index ended with losses of 21 points, or 0.41 per cent, at 5069. BSE mid-cap index lost 0.11 per cent and the BSE small cap index ended with gains of 0.18 per cent.

Parsvnath Developers had a very good listed on the exchanges today. Issued at Rs300, the stock opened at Rs456.7 on the NSE and went on to touch a high of Rs575.65. The stock finally ended 75.47 per cent higher at Rs526.4.

Pioneer Embroideries ended on the 20 per cent upper circuit for the second day.

R Systems, Elecon, Flex Industries, Action Construction, Lakshmi Precision, Balkrishna Industries, Micro Technologies and Aarvee Denim were the other major gainers among mid-caps.

FDC, Hanung Toys, Indraprastha Gas, Celebrity Fashions, Ramco Systems, Aftek, Shivam Autotech and Saregama were among the major mid-cap losers.

Mid-cap news flow

• Promoters of Jindal Stainless have acquired an additional 12.7 per cent stake in the company by acquiring GDS.
• PSL has won a Rs308 crore order for supplying pipes for a 600 km pipeline related to the proposed Bina refinery of BPCL.
• Financial Technologies has received an invitation to set up a multi-commodity exchange in that country.
• Subex Azure has opened a new regional office in Dubai.
• ISMT has raised $20 million from a FCCB issue. The bonds are convertible into equity shares at Rs92 and Rs122.28 per share at different dates.
• Bank of Rajasthan would raise Rs50 crore from an issue of unsecured subordinate bonds.
• Indo-Rama Synthetics would merge Indo-Rama Petrochemicals with the company. The latter is implementing a 30 MW power project.
• GMR Infrastructure said its subsidiary which is setting up the new Hyderabad airport has tied up with a Singapore-based hotel chain to set up a 300 room business hotel near the airport.
• Uniply Industries said it has not finalised any JV with a Malaysian entity though the matter has been under consideration.
• Ruby Mills has denied media reports that the company is planning to sell its mill.
• Goldstone Technologies would raise funds from a FCCB issue and convertible warrants on a preferential basis.
• S Kumars Nationwide has issued 2.31 crore equity shares to institutional investors at Rs78 per share.
• Rama Pulp has issued 8.5 lakh equity shares to promoters
• UB Engineering would go in for a one time settlement of its dues with bankers.
• Flex Industries has received High Court approval for the merger of Flex Engineering and FCL Technologies with the company.
• Archies has opened a large format retail store at Agra and is planning to open another 200 stores by 2008. The company currently has 79 stores.
• Eicher would de-list its shares from the BSE and NSE voluntarily, following a proposal from its 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.