Recovery nipped in the bud; Market Breadth turns Positive: The market may remain range bound today as traders may refrain from taking fresh positions ahead of holidays. The market remains closed on Tuesday (1 May) and Wednesday (2 May) for public holidays. Southern Online Bio Technologies Ltd, doing well: There is a meeting of the executive committee gpoing on at present in Premier Explosives Ltd, to thrash out future course of action, about the date of declaration of Results and also for making the smooth arrival of the new Company Secretary. The directors have come from their overseas Joint Venture Spots and detials are awaited:Sanguine Media hits the Buyer Freeze:

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The market was off the higher level reached after a recovery from the lower level from an initial sharp fall. IT stocks rose even as banking stocks fell after ICICI Bank reported disappointing Q4 results along with plans for a large equity issue. An easing rupee also aided the recovery in IT stocks, while cement shares inched forward. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) also came off the lower level.

The Union Budget 2007-08 is due to be passed by parliament on Thursday (3 May), so markets will be watching for any rollback of measures announced on 28 February 2007. Markets will be watching whether Finance Minister P Chidambaram rolls back the export duty imposed on iron ore exports, which has hit exports to China, and any changes to bring employee stock options plans under fringe benefit tax. The market-breadth had improved. Against 1,072 stocks that rose on BSE, 907 declined. A total of 76 scrips were unchanged. Gainers outpaced losers by a ratio of 1.18:1. At 11:21 IST the Sensex was down 159 points, at 13,749. It had tumbled as many as 209.02 points at the onset of the trading session, to 13,699.56. From this low, the benchmark index had recovered to 13,801.95 by 10:50 IST. The BSE clocked a turnover of Rs 1011 crore. A softening rupee led to buying in IT counters. IT bellwether Infosys gained 2% to Rs 2049, Satyam Computer rose 1.8% to Rs 475.75, TCS gained 1% to Rs 1247 and Wipro rose 0.7% to Rs 570.55. IT stocks had weakened over the past few days, as a surging rupee raised concerns of its impact on their revenue and profits. A rise in the rupee directly impacts revenue and profits of IT firms, as they derive a lion’s share of their revenue from exports to US. The Indian rupee eased to its lowest in almost a week on Monday, extending a retreat from last week's nine-year high on month-end dollar demand from oil importers and renewed fears of central bank intervention. At 9:15 IST the partially convertible rupee was at 41.34/37 per dollar, about 0.6% weaker than the previous close of 41.08/10 and well off last Thursday's nine-year high of 40.60. ICICI Bank was down 7.5% to Rs 862.90, after the bank announced a large equity issue along with a dismal financial performance in Q4 March 2007. The stock hit a low of Rs 844.10. A whopping 5.1 lakh shares changed hands in the counter on BSE. ICICI Bank on Saturday posted lower-than-expected Q4 earnings due to higher cost of funds. ICICI Bank’s net profit rose 4.45% to Rs 825.12 crore in the quarter ended March 2007, against Rs 789.93 crore during the previous quarter ended March 2006. Total income for the bank rose 54.2% at Rs 8495 crore. Concerns of huge equity dilution also weighed on the stock. Along with Q4 results, ICICI Bank’s board approved raising additional equity capital by way of a public issue of shares and of American Depositary Shares (ADSs). The exercise is expected to generate around Rs 20000 crore. The approval of shareholders will be sought by postal ballot, the private sector bank said. Other banks drifted lower. HDFC Bank shed 1.4% to Rs 1001.70 and State Bank of India lost nearly 1% to Rs 1088. Reliance Communications (RCL) shed 1.7% to Rs 452.25, ahead of its Q4 results today. RCL is seen reporting bumper Q4 results on the back of strong growth in new subscriptions. Many Portfolio Management Services have recommended the stock ahead of results. Bharti Airtel dropped 2.3% to Rs 807, extending its fall on Friday (27 April). During trading hours on Friday, Bharti Airtel had reported bumper Q4 results. Reliance Industries (RIL) was down 0.6% to Rs 1528.70, off the early low of Rs 1505. As many as 2.4 lakh shares changed hands in the counter on BSE. RIL had on Thursday reported stronger-than- expected 14% growth in net profit in Q4 March 2007. Oil exploration major ONGC lost 1.9% to Rs 911.50, extending Friday’s decline. Housing finance major HDFC lost nearly 3% to Rs 1640.50. The company unveils Q4 March 2007 results on Thursday (3 May). Sesa Goa dropped 0.4% to Rs 1756. The company today reported 31% growth in net profit in Q4 March 2007 at Rs 252.48 crore from Rs 192.11 crore in Q4 March 2006. Income from operations surged to Rs 775.15 crore from Rs 607.57 crore. Indo Tech Transformers gained 3% to Rs 323. Indo Tech Transformers, on Friday (27 April), reported 159% surge in net profit in Q4 March 2007 at Rs 10.29 crore (Rs 3.97 crore). Net sales surged 80.1% to Rs 56.72 crore (Rs 31.48 crore). Lanxess ABB jumped 6% to Rs 170.85. The company registered 92.9% growth in net profit in Q1 March 2007 at Rs 8.39 crore (Rs 4.35 crore). Net sales rose 41.3% to Rs 138.66 crore (Rs 98.13 crore). The results were announced on Friday (27 April 2007). Micro Technologies (India) gained nearly 4% to Rs 250. The company had on Thursday (26 April) reported 44.6% growth in net profit at Rs 9.43 crore (Rs 6.52 crore). Net sales rose 56.5% to Rs 30.24 crore (Rs 19.32 crore). Sakthi Sugars rose 3.4% to Rs 92.70, after the the firm said its unit had acquired European precision castings maker, INTERMET Europe, for an unknown sum. Ajanta Pharma jumped 7% to Rs 79.10. The company today reported 39.6% growth in net profit in the March 2007 quarter to Rs 7.62 crore (Rs 5.46 crore). Net sales rose 6.4% to Rs 79.72 crore from Rs 74.91 crore.

The outcome of the ongoing seven-phased Uttar Pradesh assembly elections is a key political event to watch out for. The assembly poll gets over in early-May 2007, and the vote is seen as a barometer of national political trends. Some opinion polls show the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) could emerge second in the race, further adding to the woes of the ruling Congress, which is battling rising prices.

FIIs have pumped money heavily into Indian stocks, this month. Their buying picked up after IT major Infosys on 13 April 2007, issued a strong guidance for FY 2008, putting to rest concerns of a US economic slowdown on the IT sector. FII inflow for April 2007 (till 26 April) reached Rs 6874 crore. FIIs had pulled out a net Rs 1082 crore in March 2007.But a bout of selling was witnessed on FIIs on Friday 27 April. As per provisional data, FIIs were net sellers to the tune of Rs 378 crore on Friday, the day when Sensex had plunged 320 points. Chinese stocks on Monday shrugged off a central bank announcement at the weekend that it will raise bank reserve ratios to help restrain loan growth. The Shanghai Composite Index was up 1.3%. But other Asian markets were subdued, as exporters were hit by a weak US GDP growth data. A report on Friday showed the US economy grew by just 1.3% in the first quarter. Strong earnings helped lift the Dow to another record close above 13,000 on Friday (27 April). It rose 15.44 points, or 0.12%, to end the day at a record 13,120.94, capping off its fourth straight week of gains. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down just 0.18 of a point, or 0.01%, to finish at 1,494.07. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 2.75 points, or 0.11%, to close at 2,557.21. Brent crude oil prices hovered above $68 a barrel on Monday, following sharp gains at the end of last week, with investors still on edge over a foiled plot to attack oil facilities in top-exporter, Saudi Arabia. Brent rallied over 1% on Friday after Saudi Arabia said it fended off an Al-Qaeda-linked plot to attack oil facilities, military-bases and public figures, arresting Islamist militants, including some trainee pilots preparing for suicide operations.[WIth inputs from the Intenet] Important Links: www.eindiabrokers.com & www.capitalmarket.com