Weekly Report: Bulls on a rampage
Mumbai: The benchmark BSE index Sensex, which gained a hundred points and more on two of the first three trading sessions of the week, failed to end on a positive note on the final two days and surrendered gains through profit taking. It nevertheless ended at a high of 6322.76, recording a rise of a whopping 4.7 per cent or 287.73 points.

The 50 stock Nifty index of the National Stock Exchange ended the week with a thumping gain of around 5 per cent or 95.15 points at 1996.20.

The inflow of funds into the Indian equity segment this year remains unprecedented. Till Wednesday (1 December 2004) last week, they had pumped in a massive Rs33,490 crore in calendar year 2004, over Rs400 crore more than what they had pumped in last year.

Besides sustained FII interest, a fall in global crude oil prices and the indications of a robust economic growth were the positive factors that have triggered the market to historic highs.

Overall just three stocks, HDFC Bank (down 3.3%), Satyam Computers (down 2.9%) and Zee Telefilms (down 2%) out of the 30 share strong Sensex closed the week in negative territory. Nifty components, Sun Pharma, GlaxoSmithkline, ABB, Indian Hotels, Dabur, Nalco and HCL Technologies also ended down in the red.

Engineering and construction sector major Larsen & Toubro settled down to close at Rs999.50, netting a thumping gain of 14.2% for the week. Other counters scoring major gains were the State Bank of India (up 12.6%), ICICI Bank (up 1.5%), Bharti Tele-Ventures (up 1.7%), Reliance Industries (up 7.9%), Hindustan Lever (up 6.4%) and ONGC (up 5.7%). Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (up11%), Maruti Udyog (up 9.4%), Tata Motors (up 6.1%) and Bajaj Auto (up 4.7%). Hero Honda, LML, Bajaj Tempo, TVS Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra and Ashok Leyland were the other prominent gainers in the automobile sector.

Mangalore Refineries, Kochi Refineries, Bharat Petroleum Corporation, GAIL India, Indian Oil Corporation, Castrol India, Indraprastha Gas, IBP and Bongaigaon Refinery finished sharply higher. Tisco and Hindalco also closed stronger by around 5.2% and 2.7% respectively. Essar Steel, SAIL, Jindal Steel, Jindal Stainless, Jindal Iron and Ispat Industries scored sharp to moderate gains. Hindustan Zinc, Saw Pipes, Sesa Goa, Welspun Gujarat and Gujarat Minerals shed valuable points.

Among software stocks, Infosys Technologies and Wipro ended with gains of 0.9% and 1.7% respectively. i-Flex Solutions, Mastek, Kale Consultants, Polaris, Mphasis BFL, GTL, TCS and CMC also surged higher. Cement stocks Grasim Industries, ACC and Gujarat Ambuja Cement surged 5.3%, 1.9% and 1.3% respectively. PSI Data, Rolta India, Hexaware Technologies, Hughes Software, NIIT, Ramco Systems, SSI, Patni Computers, Geometric Software, Tata Infotech drifted down to lower levels.

Ranbaxy Laboratories recorded a gain of 9.1%. Cipla went up by around 6.8% while Dr. Reddy's Laboratories ended with a marginal gain of 0.6% Matrix Laboratories, Lupin, Orchid Chemicals and Aventis Pharma posted notable gains.

Power stocks BHEL, Reliance Energy and Tata Power generated gains of 5.7%, 5.9% and 2.4% respectively. ITC and HDFC too enjoyed a fair run up the charts. J&K Bank, Corporation Bank and Bank of Maharashtra closed stronger by around 20 - 26%. Bank of Baroda, Punjab National Bank, Andhra Bank, Vijaya Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce and Indian Overseas Bank moved up by over 15% each. Canara Bank, Union Bank of India, Allahabad Bank, Syndicate Bank and Bank of India gained 10 to 15%. Kotak Bank, UTI Bank, Bank of Rajasthan, IDBI Bank, UCO Bank, Karur Vysya Bank, ING Vysya Bank and IndusInd Bank too ended with sharp gains.
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ADRs of Indian companies as of 3rd December 2004
US Index Report - 3rd Dec. 2004

INDIAN ADRs on NASDAQ and NYSE - 3rd Dec 2004

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Dena Bank targets 100 per cent growth in retail portfolio
Pune: Dena Bank has filed the prospectus for its second public issue of Rs80 crore. The IPO is expected to hit the market by January 15 at a price band of Rs23-27. The public issue would augment the bank's capital base from Rs206 crore to Rs286 crore and increase its capital adequacy ratio from the current level of 10.28 per cent to 12 per cent. Post issue, the Government's holding in the bank will accordingly come down from 71 per cent to 51 per cent. The lead managers for the public issue will be SBI Caps, ICICI Securities and AK Capital.

The bank also plans to achieve 100 per cent computerisation by the end of December and increase its ATM strength from 101 to 200 by March.
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