Market get boost by IT

  MUMBAI July 9 2007: The market kick-started the week with the Sensex and Nifty recording fresh highs, led by positive global cues and strength in capital goods stocks. Technology shares also posted gains ahead of earnings season.

Analysts, however, feel sentiment will be cautious with key indices at lofty levels.
 
 
 
  "The upside for the market is limited today as people have turned cautious. The Nifty has resistance at 4438 and support at 4357," said Suresh Kumar Iyer, technical analyst at Asit C Mehta Investment Interrmediates.

At 11:10 am, the Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensex was 67 points or 0.45% higher at 15,031. The index made a new high of 15,075.30 in trade so far.

National Stock Exchange's Nifty was up 23 points or 0.52% at 4408, making an all-time high of 4417.30 earlier.

The biggest Sensex gainers were Reliance Energy (2.37%), Larsen and Toubro (2.26%), BHEL (1.87%), ONGC (1.80%) and HDFC (1.69%).

ICICI Bank (1.48%), Hindustan Unilever (1.18%), Mahindra and Mahindra (0.93%), State Bank of India (0.56%) and Reliance Industries (0.32%) were the losers on the 30-share index.

Market breadth showed 1,557 advances to 756 declines on BSE. On the NSE, 759 shares advanced and 321 declined.

"Traders are skeptical. There are more intra-day traders in the market, as people are reluctant to carry forward positions to the next day. We will have to wait for Infosys results and see how the market reacts to that. Till then, traders will be indecisive," Iyer said.

Fresh short positions are being built up in the derivatives segment. The July series Nifty futures traded at 23 point discount to the spot. Open interest stood at 3.34 crore.

"Volumes are low and build up of open interest is not much. The discount has widened. Theses factors also point to the indecisiveness of market players," said Iyer.

Stone India surged 8.74% to Rs 193 on receiving an initial development order for supply of five sets of 180 KVA static converter for locomotive application to Indian Railways.

Hikal rose 5.73% to Rs 500 on signing a mutually exclusive long-term agreement with Alpharma, a US-based pharmaceutical company, for manufacture and supply of an active pharmaceutical ingredient for the veterinary sector


By Saniya Mehra