10:30 AM The Sensex gains on Tuesday supported by a rally in large-caps.
The Sensex on BSE finished 236.60 points, or 1.76% higher, at 13,708.34. The market-breadth was strong. There were more than 3 advancers for every two decliners. As 1,644 shares advanced, 956 declined and 76 remained unchanged. From the Sensex stocks 26 advanced while the rest declined. The turnover on BSE was Rs 3,051 crore, lower than Rs 4,188.60 crore on Friday. The turnover on NSE was 6,163.81, compared with Rs 7,570.55 crore.

[Economic news

The Reserve Bank of India, on Friday, made possible for up to 49% foreign investment in stock exchanges. The rule change may pave international bidding for investment in some of the fastest growing exchanges in India. The Reserve Bank of India also permitted international investing up to 49% in depositories and clearing corporations servicing exchanges. Under the new regulations, foreign direct investment will be restricted to 26%, while foreign portfolio investments would be limited to 23% in all such entities.

Foreign funds have invested $8.2 billion in Indian equities this year, lower than $10.7 billion in 2005.

Most-active stocks

Great Offshore was the most active stock with a turnover of Rs 212 crore followed by Tech Mahindra and Sobha Developers.

Advancers

IT stocks were in focus on expectations of a strong December quarter results. Wipro led the gainers, advancing 4.69% to Rs 599.95, on a volume of 1.90 lakh shares. Other IT shares had also advanced with TCS rising 3.45% to Rs 1,191 and Satyam Computers up 3% to Rs 476.

IT large-cap Infosys Technologies advanced 2.33% to Rs 2,222.15, following its schedule of a board meeting on January 11, 2007, to consider third-quarter December 2006 results. It is also thought to be in talks with ten global banks for its banking software – Finacle.

ITC surged 3.04% to Rs 174.80, it said it had agreed to an agro-alliance with Marubeni Corp, a Japanese trading house. Recently listed construction company Atlanta has joined hands with Amdavad based NG Realty Pvt Ltd. Atlanta will acquire 50% of the company and management control for Rs 910 million.

Oil and gas leader, ONGC advanced 2.80% to Rs 889.50. Industry reports suggest that ONGC has discovered oil in Assam and ONGC Videsh has secured 28% stake in a Libyan oil site. The company has declared record interim dividend of 180%, for the current fiscal year.

Engineering company BHEL gained 1.53% to Rs 2,236.30, on reports that the company is in negotiations with GE and Siemens to invest up to Rs 500 crore to improve nuclear production capacities.

Index heavy Reliance Industries advanced 0.52% to Rs 1,278, on a volume of 4.35 lakh shares. Tata Motors gained 2.78% to Rs 883.15 while the State Bank of India advanced 2.36% to Rs 1,242.70.

Decliners

There were only a few decliners led by a loss of 0.62% in Hero Honda to Rs 745, on 1.06 lakh shares. It traded as low as Rs 737. Textile firm S Kumar''s Nationwide shed 0.76% to Rs 73.35, ahead of its board meeting on December 30, 2006.

Other decliners included Tata Steel falling 0.49% to Rs 476, Dr Reddy shedding 0.39% to Rs 801.10 and Reliance Communications dropping 0.18% to Rs 467.


9:45AM Stocks opened modestly up on higher oil.
U.S. stocks moved slightly higher at opening on Tuesday as an increase in oil prices lifted major energy stocks like Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM: chart) and Chevron Corp. (CVX: chart). Shares of airlines traded mixed, with larger network carriers losing ground to smaller regional airlines. Crude prices rose to $62.63 a barrel after the Iranian government expressed determination to continue its nuclear research despite threats the UN would impose sanctions on the country.

Returning from the holiday weekend, investors were interested in retail stocks which were largely under pressure amid concerns that the holiday shopping season was somewhat disappointing. Target Corp. (TGT: chart), Best Buy (BBY: chart), Federated Department Stores (FD: chart) were among the early decliners. Industry gainers included Circuit City Stores Inc. (CC: chart), RadioShack Corp. (RSH: chart). Elsewhere, pharmaceutical and biotech shares advanced, boosted by strength in King Pharmaceuticals Inc. (KG: chart). However, shares of Telik Inc. (TELK: chart) tumbled 70% after the company said results from three separate Phase III trials related to its cancer drug Telcyta were ‘extremely disappointing’. In the first hour of trading, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 4.70, or 0.20%, to 2,405.88. The Standard & Poor''s 500 index was up 2.75, or 0.19%, to 1,413.51, and the Nasdaq composite index was up 4.48, or 0.19%, at 2,405.66.