SENSEX ends day slightly higher

The benchmark BSE Sensex rose 0.07 percent, or 13.09 points, to end at 19,255.09.The broader Nifty rose 0.14 percent, or 8.05 points, to end at 5,855.75.

The BSE Sensex edged slightly higher on Monday as Tata Motors extended its recent rally on hopes of improved sales at its key unit Jaguar Land Rover, while short-covering helped technology shares such as Infosys advance.

Volumes were thin, with global shares steady, as the holiday mood set in across markets despite tensions over the U.S. budget dispute.

The thin volumes could exacerbate the volatiliy expected later this week ahead of the monthly derivatives expiry on Thursday.

“Indian shares are adopting a wait-and-watch policy to await the outcome of the U.S. fiscal cliff and not moving in a tangible manner,” said Kaushik Dani, fund manager at Peerless Mutual Fund.On the domestic front, third-quarter earnings will also start and developments on earnings will determine the direction of the market, Dani added.

Tata Motors Ltd ended 2.52 percent higher, extending a rally on hopes of improved sales at its key unit Jaguar Land Rover and as the company planned investment into passenger vehicles.

The auto-maker’s shares have gained 9.5 percent so far this month, as of Friday’s close.

Technology shares gained on short-covering as the recent underperformance was seen as overdone. Infosys Ltd rose 1.1 percent after falling 5.75 percent this month, as of Friday’s close.

Tata Consultancy Services Ltd was up 0.6 percent.

Analysts expect the technology sector to see some pick-up in outsourcing activity as the sector has been beaten down in 2012 due to the eurozone crisis and unfavorable election rhetoric in the U.S.

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals gained 4.23 percent after a unit entered into a development pact with Forest Laboratories, which will make an upfront payment of $6 million to the Indian drugmaker.

Loss-making Kingfisher Airline rose 5 percent, its maximum daily limit, after TV news channels reported it had submitted a revival plan to the civil aviation authorities, without citing sources.

Oil & Natural Gas Corp shares fell 1.9 percent after the stock went ex-dividend on Monday. The explorer had offered a dividend of 5 rupees for 2012/13.

Shares in Tata Steel fell 0.5 percent after the company reported a clash between contract workers and security guards at its main Jamshedpur plant in eastern India on Monday.

Maruti Suzuki Ltd shares ended 1.73 percent lower on concerns about its domestic passenger car sales outlook.

Angel Broking says Maruti Suzuki expects “muted” volume growth of around 6 percent in fiscal 2013 and 6-7 percent in fiscal 2014, according to a note on Monday, citing the automaker’s management.

indian shares provisionally closed 1.9 percent higher today

• The 30-share BSE index provisionally ended up 1.86 percent or 355.75 points at 19,477.58, with 28 components gaining. Auto, IT and metal remained the prime gainers and banks also registered good gains.
• India’s exports surged to record high growth in fiscal year 2010/11, but uncertainty over the global economy and a ballooning import bill mean concerns persist over the trade deficit of one of the world’s fastest-growing economies.
• Stock index futures pointed to a stronger open on Wall Street on Wednesday, with futures for the S&P 500 up 0.8 percent, Dow Jones futures up 0.5 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.8 percent at 0847 GMT.
• Upbeat earnings from companies including chip maker Intel lifted stocks and boosted appetite for riskier assets on Wednesday, driving commodities higher and the Australian dollar to a 29-year high versus the dollar.
• Brent crude rose above $122 a barrel on Wednesday, helped by a rebound in equities and a weaker dollar.
• Tokyo stocks snapped a three-day losing streak on Wednesday after Intel’s earnings guidance sparked short-covering in chip-related stocks, but trade is expected to stay thin ahead of forecasts from Japanese firms.
• Spot gold prices breached $1,500 for the first time and silver hit a 31-year high on Wednesday, supported by a weak dollar and concerns over a sovereign debt crisis in the euro zone.
• The euro and commodity currencies surged higher in thin trading conditions on Wednesday, as upbeat corporate earnings in the U.S. prompted investors to buy riskier assets amid rising growth expectations.
• U.S. oil rose on Tuesday in volatile trade as a weaker dollar and stronger equities lifted prices and offset concerns over sovereign debt and uncertain demand prospects.
• General Motors Co has a better grasp of how to handle disruptions in its global network of suppliers, said GM’s chief executive, who also reiterated the automaker’s outlook for vehicle sales this year.
• Yes Bank on Wednesday reported a 45 percent jump in January-March net profit to 2.03 billion rupees as compared to a net profit of 1.4 billion rupees over the same period last year.
• Global miner Rio Tinto said it has control over 72 percent of takeover target Riversdale after Brazil’s CSN accepted its offer.
• India should allow exports of wheat and rice as the country has huge grain stocks and global prices are favourable, Farm Minister Sharad Pawar said on Wednesday.
• A top executive at Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co (BAIC) said on Wednesday the Chinese state auto group was not currently in talks to invest in ailing Swedish car brand Saab, with which it shares some vehicle technology.
• Shares in DB Realty, Unitech and Reliance Communications fell on Wednesday, after a CBI court rejected bail applications of executives involved in the telecoms graft trial.
• Online travel firm Yatra Online Private Ltd said on Wednesday it received 2 billion rupees in funds from investors including Valiant Capital Management, Norwest Venture Partners and Intel Capital.

a volatile trade today at dalal street

• The Sensex closed at 19122, up 31 points from its previous close, and Nifty shut shop at 5741, up 12 points.
• The BSE Sensex eked out a 0.2 percent gain on Tuesday after falling for two consecutive sessions, but trading was volatile and the near-term outlook seemed subdued as investors shunned risk after rating agency Standard & Poor’s lowered its U.S. credit outlook to negative.
• State Bank of India, the country’s largest lender, said on Tuesday it will raise its benchmark lending rate, or base rate, by 25 basis points to 8.5 percent per annum with effect from April 25.
• The Indian government on Tuesday forecast normal rains for the 2011 monsoon, strengthening the prospect for a good farm output that could help bring relief to Asia’s third-largest economy in its battle with high food prices.
• Harley-Davidson Inc reported a wider quarterly profit on Tuesday on higher income from the company’s financial services division and a 3.5 percent increase in sales of new motorcycles.
• The government is risking losing control of inflation, leaving the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) with few tools other than the blunt instrument of more aggressive interest rate increases even as growth momentum slows.
• Falling gas output and a rising subsidy burden are expected to weigh on the respective outlooks of energy major Reliance Industries and explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corp, taking the shine off their likely strong fourth-quarter earnings.
• The Indian rupee pulled back from a 2-1/2 week low touched earlier in the session due some dollar selling at higher levels.
• A German government adviser said on Tuesday that a restructuring of Greek debt was inevitable, raising pressure on Athens to seek a solution to the debt woes that are shaking investor confidence in the euro zone.
• India’s annual headline inflation in April could ease below 8 percent and 2011/12 economic growth should range between 8.75 and 9.25 percent, the chief economic adviser to the finance ministry said on Tuesday.
• Falling gas output and a rising subsidy burden are expected to weigh on the respective outlooks of energy major Reliance Industries and explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corp, taking the shine off their likely strong fourth-quarter earnings.
• A renewed rise in Spanish debt yields is bad news for the euro zone, since it shows Spain is still failing to set itself apart from the zone’s weakest states in the eyes of the markets.
• Some of the United States’ biggest creditors moved to shore up confidence in its sovereign debt on Tuesday after Standard & Poor’s threatened to cut its credit rating on the world’s top economy, touching a nerve among big holders of Treasuries.
• Costly oil could place a major strain on consumer countries with fragile economies, OPEC ministers said on Monday, in their clearest statements yet that they believe fuel demand has shrunk.
• India, which has allowed exports of 500,000 tonnes of sugar following a bumper crop, has asked mills to register starting Tuesday, a source in the food ministry said.
• Foreign direct investment flowing into China rose 29.4 percent to $30.3 billion in the first three months of the year, data showed on Tuesday, as the country’s booming services sector pulled in more funds.
• China will tightly regulate land supply to boost affordable housing and to clamp down harder on illegal land use this year, the Ministry of Land and Resources said on Tuesday, as it seeks to contain housing inflation.
• India’s current account deficit for the last fiscal year that ended in March 2011 is expected to be less than 3 percent, Trade Secretary Rahul Khullar told reporters on Tuesday.

Sensex closed at 19091, losing 296 points

• Indian shares provisionally closed 1.5 percent lower on Monday led by losses in Infosys  and financial stocks, as worries over quarterly earnings and further interest rate increases dampened investor sentiment.
•  Selling pressure in the afternoon took its toll on the markets and forced both the benchmark indices to lose about 1.5% in a single trading session. IT along with interest rate sensitive sectors like realty, banking and capital goods remained the worst performers and auto and a few FMCG counters were only a few stocks that performed a bit better. Selling pressure primarily came from hedge funds and FIIs. The Sensex closed at 19091, down 296 points from its previous close, and Nifty shut shop at 5729, down 95 points. The CNX Midcap index was down 1.5% and the BSE smallcap  index was down 0.8%. The market breadth was negative with advances at 335 against declines of 965 on the NSE. The top Nifty gainers were HUL,Hero Honda, Bajaj Auto and ONGC and prime losers included DLF,HCL tech, Sesa goa and TCS.
•  The Indian rupee erased early gains to trade weaker on Monday afternoon as local shares turned negative and the euro fell sharply.At 2:39 p.m., the partially convertible rupee was at 44.3350/3400 per dollar, almost steady from Friday’s close of 44.3250/3350, but down from Monday’s high of 44.2550.
• World finance leaders must find a way to bring down debt while creating jobs and watching over their shoulders for the threat of inflation, the head of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said on Saturday.
•  China’s banking regulator will launch a thorough examination this year of loans extended over the past few years, and will tighten the issuance of banking licenses in response to global easing of liquidity, the Shanghai Securities News reported on Monday.
• China still has room to further tighten monetary policy, the official China Securities Journal said in a front-page editorial on Monday.
•  China and India reported higher-than-expected inflation readings on Friday, giving fresh ammunition to central bankers and investors alike who are worried about mounting price pressures in the global economy.
•  India’s food price index rose 8.28 percent and the fuel price index climbed 12.97 percent in the year to April 2, government data on Friday showed.
• The euro sank on Monday and European stocks fell into the red for the year as the rise of a euro-skeptic party in Finland and growing unease about Greek debt battered investor sentiment in the single currency zone.
• Brent crude oil fell $1 a barrel on Monday to below $123 after a cut in output from the world’s top exporter Saudi Arabia raised concern that high prices were hurting demand.
• Spot gold hit a record high and silver rose to a 31-year high on Monday, fueled by concerns of rising inflation globally, while a lingering euro zone sovereign debt crisis continued to boost safe-haven demand in precious metals.
• The euro extended its losses on Monday after repeated attempts to break above a resistance level failed yet again and on renewed worries about euro zone debt problems, giving the dollar a much needed reprieve after the recent sell-off.
• Europe’s debt crisis weighed on financial stocks on Monday, dragging Britain’s top share index lower, while analysts said short-term macro pressures present an attractive longer-term buying opportunities on the FTSE.
• General Motors Co plans to team up with its partners to introduce light commercial vehicles to India, the head of its international operations said on Monday.
• High oil prices represent a potentially major burden for importers with global economic recovery still fragile, leading OPEC ministers said on Monday.