Sensex spurts over 100 points, eyeing 12900:

The Sensex surged over 100 points in late afternoon session of trades, after consolidating in afternoon, as buying momentum intensified, for index pivotals for the third straight day. It is now eyeing the 12900 mark. Shares from the metal, banking and cement were preferred over others. At 14:36 IST, the BSE Sensex was up 108.88 points to 12,895.65. It opened slightly higher at 12791.60 and hit a high of 12,895.65. It also slipped to low of 12,711.50 in opening session itself. It saw high volatility in first few minutes of trade The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 2345 crore Market breadth was positive on BSE, with over 2 gainers for every loser. 1647 shares advanced as compared to 806 that declined, while 73 remained unchanged. Among the Sensex pack, 22 advanced while the rest declined. Tata Steel was the top gainer, up 6.48% to Rs 466.60 on high volumes of 19.50 lakh shares. Steel companies have reportedly hiked product prices. Late on Monday (2 April), Tata Steel said it had completed its $11.3 billion acquisition of European steel maker Corus Group PLC, a takeover that makes the Indian company the world's fifth-largest steel producer. Tata Steel’s crude steel production for the year 2006-07, crossed 5 million tonnes. The production of hot metal touched 5.55 million tonnes, crude steel at 5.05 million tonnes and saleable steel at 4.93 million tonnes. REL (up 2.72% to Rs 501), HLL (up 2.15% to Rs 202) and Hindalco (up 2% to Rs 133) were the other gainers.

Premier Explosives Ltd is consolidating around Rs.41--Rs.43 range waiting for the next upmove. The company is likely to post EXCELLENT quarterly results for the current quarter. My earlier recommended picks ZenoTech Labs and NR International Ltd hit the buyer freeze. Index heavyweight RIL was down 0.20% to Rs 1360 on 2.43 lakh shares. It moved in a range of Rs 1368.90 –1353.10 Hero Honda was the top loser, down 1.55% to Rs 633.90 on 32,632 shares State-run power generation firm NTPC was down 0.75% to Rs 159.75 on 24.95 lakh shares, recorded a net profit of Rs 6,726.4 crore in 2006-07 as against Rs 5,820.2 crore in the previous fiscal, translating into an increase of 15.57%. Net sales during the period under review rose 17.20% to Rs 30,638.7 crore compared to Rs 26,142.9 crore in 2005-06. Gross revenue increased 15.81% to Rs 33,299.7 crore in 2006-07 from Rs 28,753 crore in 2005-06. The company generated 188.67 Billion Units (BUs) of power during the year, showing an increase of 10.41% over the previous year's generation. With a share of 20.18% in the total installed capacity of the country, NTPC generated 28.50% electricity during 2006-07. Capital expenditure in 2006-07 on various capital schemes increased to Rs 7,820.5 crore as against Rs 7,018.9 crore in the previous year. The company has earmarked capex plans amounting to Rs 12,792 crore for 2007-08. Meanwhile, shares from cement sector advanced after declining on Wednesday, as buying resumed at lower levels. The fall came after the government announced cut in import duties. Analysts opine that imports would not be feasible due to high transport costs and lack of infrastructure at the port to handle bulk cement. Grasim Industries (up 2.10% to Rs 2,106), Gujarat Ambuja Cements (up 1.62% to Rs 106.65), ACC (up 2.55% to Rs 732.70), and UltraTech Cement Company (up 1.60% to Rs 688.50) advanced. An important set of data that analysts was unleveled. India's wholesale price index rose 6.39% in the 12 months to 24 March, lower than the previous week's increase of 6.46%, data showed on Thursday. The figure was slightly above a forecast of 6.29% in an analyst poll. Meanwhile annual inflation for the week ended 27 January was revised to 6.69% from 6.58%. Annual inflation stood at 4.06% in the corresponding week a year ago. The Nikkei share average slipped 0.30% on Thursday following a two-day rise, with Fast Retailing Co. Ltd. and other recent gainers dropping and lower oil prices weighing on energy stocks such as Nippon Oil Corp. The Nikkei fell 52.67 points to 17,491.42. The benchmark had booked more than 500 points in the last two sessions and saw its highest close since 28 February on Wednesday. Markets will remain closed on Friday (6 April 2007) on account of Good Friday. Low volumes indicate that many market participants are on the sidelines. The undercurrent remains cautious on concerns that economic growth will slowdown following RBI’s rate hike campaign. With inflation a percentage point above the central bank’s forecast, RBI late last week unexpectedly raised cash reserve ratio along with hike in short term interest rate. Infosys’ FY 2008, which it will unveil along with Q4 March 2007 results, on 13 April 2007, is the next major trigger for the market. In a recent pre-guidance report on Infosys, Merrill Lynch placed a short-term 'sell' on the Sensex heavyweight, expecting a conservative guidance from the company due to an uncertain US economic outlook, the appreciation of the rupee versus the dollar and other client-specific issues. Merill Lynch expects Infosys to give an EPS growth guidance in the early 20s. US stocks managed slim gains Wednesday, following the previous session's big rally, as investors eyed lower oil prices and weaker than expected economic reports The Dow Jones industrial average (up 19.75 to 12,530.05) and the broader S&P 500 (up 1.60 to 1,439.37) index both added a few points. The Nasdaq composite added 0.3 percent. US light crude oil for May delivery fell 26 cents to settle at $64.38 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Wednesday after Iran's president pardoned and pledged to release the 15 British sailors and marines being held. Concerns about the standoff between the two nations had driven up the price of oil over the past week. Iran is the No. 4 oil exporter.[With Inputs From Internet]