Profit booking trims Sensex gains

Refinery stocks,however,which were in the limelight initially after the hike in petrol prices,faced profit booking.

Sensex moved between 17,702.26 and 17,474.39 before settling at 17,562.61 — up 80.68 points or 0.46 per cent. The broad-based Nifty of the National Stock Exchange today improved further by 18.45 points or 0.35 pct to close at 5,284.20.

A rise in Infosys,SBI,ICICI Bank,Bharti Airtel,L&T,Jindal Steel,Hero MoroCorp,Hindalco,Tata Steel and BHEL aided the Sensex gains.

However,top heavyweight on the barometer,RIL,as well as HUL and Tata Power closed with losses,capping the upsurge. Overall,investor sentiment turned positive globally after Greece yesterday scrapped the idea of referendum on the EU’s debt bail-out plan that was put together by European leaders last week.

Besides,the European Central Bank (ECB) surprised investors by cutting interest rate by 25 basis points amid concerns of mild recession in the euro-zone nations.

Key indices in China,Hong Kong,Japan,South Korea,Singapore and Taiwan gained up to 3.13 per cent. European markets were mixed in the afternoon — France’s CAC and Germany’s DAX were down,while the UK’s FTSE was in the green.

Back home,FIIs continued with buying spree and picked up shares worth Rs 77.90 crore yesterday as per Sebi data. 22 out of the 30 Sensex scrips closed in the green,while others ended in the red. Hindalco was the top gainer with a rise of 2.43 per cent,followed by Jindal Steel (2.42 pc),Hero MotoCorp (2.19 pc),Sterlite Ind (1.69 pc),SBI (1.54 pc),Bharti Airtel (1.38 pc),BHEL (1.34 pc),Tata Steel (1.28 pc),Infosys (0.96 pc),L&T (0.87 pc) and ICICI (0.80 pc).

However,Tata Power declined 1.95 per cent,HUL (0.85 pc),RIL (0.57 pc) and Maruti Suzuki (0.51 pc).

Among the sectoral indices,BSE-Metal rose 1.64 per cent,Capital Goods (1.03 pc) and Realty (0.80 pc),while Oil & Gas eased by 0.31 per cent.

The total market breadth turned positive as 1,580 stocks closed in the green,while 1,234 that settled in the red. The total turnover was relatively higher at Rs 2,387.90 crore from Rs 2,202.42 crore yesterday.

The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and the National Stock Exchange (NSE) will remain closed on Monday,November 7,for “Bakri-Id”.

Company INFO More on Maruti Suzuki

Stocks More on ONGC

STOCKS/PREOPEN: Sensex to open higher; Bharti,ONGC watched

Sensex is seen opening higher on Friday as a better-than-expected domestic corporate earnings bolster investor confidence,with positive developments in Greece also aiding sentiment.

State-run oil explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) and No.1 mobile operator Bharti Airtel will be watched as they report their earnings later in the day.

Domestic earnings season is better-than expected,at least it is not as bad as everyone had thought,said Jagannadham Thunuguntla,head of research at SMC Investments and Advisors.

Asian shares firmed up on hopes Greece will abandon a proposed referendum over a euro-zone bailout but investors remained cautious over a confidence vote later in the day in the Greek parliament.

On Thursday,Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou bowed to cabinet rebels and agreed to step down and make way for a negotiated coalition government if his Socialists back him in a confidence vote on Friday,allaying fears over a proposed- referendum in a debt-stricken nation.

ONGC is expected to post 21 percent higher net profit to 65.1 billion rupees for the fiscal second quarter,a Reuters poll of 11 brokerages showed.

Bharti Airtel is expected to report net profit at 12.33 billion rupees for its fiscal second quarter that ended September,a 26 percent fall over the year-ago quarter,a Reuters poll of 13 brokerages showed.

The MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 2.75 percent by 0248 GMT,while Japan’s Nikkei was 1.28 percent higher.

The Nifty India stock futures traded in Singapore were up 0.92 percent,indicating a higher opening for the Indian market.

The main 30-share index closed up 0.1 percent on Thursday at 17,481.93 points.

STOCKS TO WATCH

* Jubilant Foodworks ,after its chief executive told a conference call it will raise prices by up to 3 percent in November citing rising costs.

* Tata Teleservices Maharashtra ,after its September quarter net loss widened to 1.3 billion rupees from a year ago.

* JSL Stainless Ltd ,after it said its board has approved raising upto $150 million through issue of securities.

FACTORS TO WATCH

* Euro clings to gains but outlook uncertain

* Oil rises on Greece hopes,surprise ECB rate cut

* Asian shares rise on Greece hopes,vote eyed

* Greek about face on vote,ECB rate cut boost shares