Indian Stock Market

On Tuesday, the benchmark index Sensex opened with a positive gap of 56 points at 15,478.53 and soon touched the day`s high at 15,521.48. Later, the Sensex slipped 132 points to touch intra-day low of 15,389.62. The BSE Sensex finally settled at 15,465.40, up 43. 35 points or 0.28%, while the broad-based NSE Nifty closed at 4,479.25, up 4.5 points, or 0.10%.

On Wednesday, the 30-share index was range-bound throughout the day, it opened with a positive gap of 70 points at 15,535.35 points. But soon pared all its gains and slipped into negative terrain. The BSE Sensex, after touching an intra-day low of 15,407, finally settled at 15,446.15, down 19.25 points or 0.12%, while the broad-based NSE Nifty closed at 4,475.85, down 3.4 points, or 0.08%.

On Thursday, the benchmark index opened with a negative gap of 63 points at 15,383.18 and touched its day`s low at 15,350.18. After that, there was no looking back, the Sensex started scaling highs, led by good buying in frontline stocks.The BSE Sensex, after touching an intra-high of 15,637.74, finally settled at 15,616.31, up 170.16 points, or 1.10%, while the broad-based NSE Nifty closed at 4518.6, up 42.75 points, or 0.96%.

On Friday, the benchmark Sensex opened with gain of 39 points, at 15,655.37. In the early morning trades, despite mixed global cues, the markets touched its intra-day high of 15,716.06 points. The 30-share index was rangebound throughout the day. However, the final hour pared all its gains to close in the negative. The BSE Sensex, after touching an intra-day low of 15,565.22, finally settled at 15,590.42, down 25.89 points, or 0.17%, while the broad-based NSE Nifty closed at 4,509.5, down 9.1 points, or 0.20%.

Corporate News

Private equity firm, Blue River Capital acquired 10.22% stake in Rane Holdings (RHL) - the holding company of Chennai-based auto component manufacturer, Rane Group.
Blue River through its Mauritius-based investment company acquired the stake in secondary market operation. Shares of the company ended down Rs 2.40, or 1.43%, at Rs 165.70.

National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Steel Authority of India (SAIL), Rashtriya Ispat Nigam (RINL), Coal India (CIL) and National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) for formation of a special purpose vehicle (SPV), for securing thermal coal from outside India. Shares of NTPC closed up Rs 1.15, or 0.62%, at Rs 187.15.

Kirloskar Brothers announced that the joint venture (JV) company KBL-PLR bagged  contract worth Rs 1,182.70 million, from the government of Andhra Pradesh, Irrigation & CAD department. Shares of the company closed up Rs 27.60, or 5.99% at Rs 488.00.

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) in consortium with Paul Wurth - Italy, secured contract worth Rs 12.05 billion from Bhushan Steel, for turnkey construction of 2.5 million tons per annum (TPA) blast furnace, for their plant in Veramandali, Orissa. Shares of the company closed down Rs 15.65, or 0.60%, at Rs 2,583.20.

Sadbhav Engineering bagged order worth Rs 1.97 billio n from Madhya Pradesh Road Development Corporation (MPRDC). The project involves construction of road from Shivpuri to Sheopur (SH-06) and from Seoni to Chiraidongri (SH-11A) and is worth Rs 1.15 billion and Rs 0.89 billion respectively. Shares of the company closed down Rs 16.00, or 2.27%, at Rs 689.75.

Sector watch

Cement major ACC posted 20.30% increase in total production figure at 1.60 million tons in the month of August 2007 as against 1.33 million tons in the same period, last year. The despatches grew 14.59%, to 1.57 million tons in August 2007 as compared with 1.37 million tons in August 2006.