It was a day of roller-coaster moves for the indices as the frontline stocks saw very high volatility. After opening with good gains, both frontline indices slumped more than a per cent each in mid-morning trades. They started a steady recovery soon after, which lasted till the end of the session.

Sensex closed with gains of 117 points at 13731 and the Nifty gained 40 points to end at 3929. Nifty December futures closed at a premium of 5 points to the spot index.

Today's rally was led from the front by ONGC, which was helped by reports of a major gas find. The stock was up more than 5 per cent in morning trades before giving up part of the gains. Afternoon saw another rally which helped the stock to finally end 4.17 per cent higher

Reliance Industries also did well to end 2.82 per cent higher. Gail India added 3.89 per cent.

Tata Power was the best performer among index stocks, rallying 5.81 per cent on reports that the company is the lowest bidder for one of the ultra-mega power projects

Ranbaxy added 4.13 per cent on reports of government assistance for its research programme. Glaxo closed 3.01 per cent higher

Tata Motors closed 4.01 per cent higher after the company announced a JV in Thailand

Metal stocks continued the rally from Friday, led by SAIL which gained 2.0 per cent. Nalco added 2.46 per cent

Wipro was the best performer among tech stocks, rallying 2.89 per cent

BHEL saw a sell-off in afternoon trades and was the biggest loser among index stocks, closing 4.37 per cent lower

Zee Entertainment, the entity after the de-merger of news business, DTH and cable distribution, started trading today and ended at Rs272.35

OBC recovered from its early lows, but ended 1.88 per cent lower

Jet Airways continued its decline and lost 1.74 per cent

Reliance Energy lost 1.25 per cent as the company has not been successful in its bids for ultra-mega power projects

Hindalco lost 1.01 per cent even as other metal stocks rallied

IPCL, Dabur, Sun Pharma and HPCL were the other major losers

Global markets / crude oil
Asian markets were mostly firm, helped by the gains in US indices and the modest correction in oil prices. Shanghai soared 2.5 per cent, continuing its out-performance in the region. Singapore gained 1.1 per cent while South Korea added more than 0.8 per cent. Hong Kong ended with gains of over 0.4 per cent while Japan added nearly 0.3 per cent.

Among the losers, Thailand lost nearly 0.8 per cent and Malaysia ended 0.7 per cent lower. Indonesia closed 0.25 per cent lower.

European markets opened firm but have given up part of their gains. Major indices are trading with gains of between 0.1 and 0.5 per cent each in early afternoon trades.

Crude oil prices have corrected modestly after last week's rally. Near month NUMEX futures has lost over 0.5 per cent and is trading close to $63 per barrel in European trades today.

Large-cap news flow

• ONGC has discovered gas reserves in some of the offshore blocks in the west coast, according to unconfirmed reports. The finds may contain up to 21 trillion cubic feet of in-place gas reserves, according to reports.
• Tata Power has reportedly emerged as the lowest bidder for the 4,000 MW Mundra ultra-mega power project in Gujarat. A consortium led by Lanco Infratech is the lowest bidder for the Sasan project in Madhya Pradesh
• Tata Motors has formed a JV in Thailand to assemble and market pickup trucks. The company would hold a 70 per cent stake in the venture, but investment and volume details have not been disclosed
• Ranbaxy would receive financial assistance in the form of soft loans from the government for new drug discovery research
• Nalco is planning an aluminium smelter in Indonesia, according to unconfirmed reports
• Satyam would provide JD Edwards ERP solutions to mid-size domestic companies
• Ashok Leyland has acquired the technology to offer a more emission-free CNG engine

Mid-Cap Action

Mid-caps and small caps also declined after a firm start, before attempting a recovery in afternoon trades. However, they missed out on the last hour rally in large caps.

The CNX Mid-Cap index ended just one point lower at 5010. BSE mid-cap index gained 0.05 per cent and the BSE small cap index ended with gains of 0.58 per cent.

Select mid-cap technology and related stocks continued to rally ahead today. Sonata Software, Softpro Solutions, Teledata and RS Software were all locked in 10 per cent upper circuits. Goldstone Technologies, which gained 80 per cent last week, was locked in the 10 per cent upper circuit today as well.

Birla Ericsson was locked in 20 per cent upper circuit while RPG Cables, Parekh Aluminex and Vivimed Labs all closed in the 10 per cent upper circuits

LT Overseas had a weak listing today. Issue at Rs56 per share, the stock opened at Rs60 on the NSE and saw a low of Rs51.25. It finally ended at Rs52.3 per share.

Sutlej Textiles, Simbhaoli Sugar, Sandesh, Madhucon Projects, RPG Life, DCM, Khaitan Limited, Shree Cement and NEPC India were among the major mid-cap losers.

Mid-cap news flow

• Subex Azure would raise $200 million from an overseas issue besides raising FII investment limit to 100 per cent
• IVRCL Infrastructure has raised Rs555 crore from a QIP issue at a price of Rs370 per share
• Federal Bank has raised Rs200 crore from an issue of subordinated tier-II bonds
• Yokogawa India said its parent company has informed its willingness to buy out the minority shareholders, who now hold nearly 17 per cent of the company, through an open offer at a price not exceeding Rs380 per share
• ABG Shipyard has won a new order from a Dutch company for an offshore supply vessel worth €16.54 million
• Geojit Financial Services said one of its subsidiaries has acquired an unidentified Dubai-based company for an undisclosed sum, and has opened a branch office of the company there
• Mysore Cements said Heidelberg Cement is going ahead with the earlier announced open offer at Rs58 per share, which would open on 27 December. Heidelberg would pay an additional Rs14.5 per share if it is unsuccessful in its appeal against a SEBI order to pay a higher price
• Uttam Sugar would invest Rs300 crore for diversification into ethanol production and power generation at its units
• Shreyas Shipping has taken delivery of a second hand container vessel with a capacity of 1,300 teu
• Shriram Overseas Finance has received High Court approval for the merger with Shriram Transport Finance
• Surana Strips would sell the assets of its closed manufacturing units in Andhra Pradesh
• Aviva Industries is considering a rights issue of equity shares
• ICSA India has received work orders worth Rs21.5 crore for design, supply and commissioning of electrical sub-stations
• K Sera Sera would raise FII investment limit to 100 per cent
• An equal JV between Unity Infraprojects and Pratibha Industries has won an order for setting up a water supply scheme worth Rs94 crore
• The board of KPIT Cummins would meet next week to consider a bonus issue and stock split
• IFGL Refractories has acquired 2 companies based in the US and UK for undisclosed sums
• California Software has set up a new research centre in Bangalore for telecom sector
• Glenmark Pharma has reportedly received €25 million as milestone payment from Merck, under a licensing agreement for a drug discovered by the company
• Pidilite Industries would set up a subsidiary in Singapore
• Crew BOS is planning an overseas issue to raise up to $25 million. The company would also make a preferential issue of equity shares at a price of Rs178 per share to promoters and other investors
  

*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.