SENSEX Up 44 points Nifty UP 12 Points

It was sixth straight trading session for the Indian bourses; however, the session was lackluster and struggled to find any specific direction. After trading in a range for most part of the day, key indices slightly gained momentum led by index heavyweights like BHEL, JP Associates, HDFC and DLF. Finally, the BSE benchmark Sensex ended 44 points higher to close at 16,783 and the Nifty index ended 12 points higher to 4,049.

Overall about 1,569 stocks advanced; 1,127 stocks declined while 62 stocks remained unchanged. Among the 50-Nifty 29 stocks ended in green and 21 stocks ended in red.

Among the BSE Sectoral indices, BSE Realty index (up 3%), BSE Metal index (up 2.07%), BSWE Capital Good index (up 1.90%) and BSE Bankex index (up 1.59%). On the other hand, BSE IT index (down 4.3%) and BSE Teck index (down 2.40%).

TCS dropped by over 10.5% to Rs887, the most since its August 2004 debut as company reported the slowest profit growth in 12 quarter. Further on there were also reports stating that Chilean Government canceled US$70mn contract awarded to the company. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs980 and a low of Rs881 and recorded volumes of over 8, 00, 000 shares on BSE.

Satyam Computer fell by 5% to Rs435. Reports said that the company acquired the engineering giant Caterpillar’s market research and customer analytics arm for US$60mn. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs458 and a low of Rs432 and recorded volumes of over 7, 50, 000 shares on BSE.

GVK Power was marginally up by half a percent to Rs45 after the company announced its full year results with FY08 profit at Rs908.50mn (up 511.7%) and at Rs1.17bn (up 178.5%). The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs53 and a low of Rs44 and recorded volumes of over 41,00,000 shares on BSE.

Heavyweight BHEL gained by over 5.5% to Rs1871 after reports stated that the company would tie up with private firms for Assam project. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs1885 and a low of Rs1755 and recorded volumes of over 6,00,000 shares on BSE.

IOB rose by over a percent to Rs144 after the company raised rates on new sub-PLR loans by more than 50 basis points. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs145 and a low of Rs139 and recorded volumes of over 40, 000 shares on BSE.

Karnataka Bank surged by 3% to Rs116. Reports said that RBI rejected the Bank’s plan to rope in IFC as an equity investor through a preferential allotment of shares. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs117 and a low of Rs112 and recorded volumes of over 10, 00, 000 shares on BSE.

ICICI Bank gained by over 2% to Rs882. According to reports, the bank raised automobile loan rates by 0.75% from first week of April. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs888 and a low of Rs852 and recorded volumes of over 9, 00, 000 shares on BSE.

Praj Industries edged higher by half a percent to Rs175. The company opened an R&D facility in Pune, said reports. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs178 and a low of Rs168 and recorded volumes of over 11,00,000 shares on BSE.

L&T gained by over 2.5% to Rs2920 as the company on Monday announced that they would develop an integrated commercial complex in Navi Mumbai, on 40 acres at a cost of Rs35bn. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs2928 and a low of Rs2811 and recorded volumes of over 3,00,000 shares on BSE.