"The same will be indicated by the higher volumes and the ratio of number of trades to the total volumes on the Nifty composites. Refrain from pressing short sales unless compelling evidence emerges to support such a trade on Friday.
"On Thursday, the markets opened on a cautious note and proceeded to surge higher through the day. The benchmark indices gained over 1.5 % on bull support coupled with bear covering. The traded volumes were marginally lower than the previous session as the trader participation was limited due to skepticism at higher levels.
" The market breadth was highly positive as the BSE and NSE combined figures were 2000 : 1408 and the capitalisation of the breadth was also positive as the figures on a BSE & NSE combined basis were Rs 9430 cr : Rs 721 cr. The F&O data for the previous session indicated a 0.49 % increase in net long positions, that too in the lower risk options segment. That indicated a lack of buying conviction at higher levels.
"The indices have closed at the upper end of the intraday range that too with a very positive market breadth. While these are big positives, the lower traded volumes indicate a lack of large scale participation. Part of the reason can be attributed to skepticism from the retail segment.
" Should follow up buying not emerge on Friday, some profit sales maybe seen from the short term bulls / weaker hands. The intraday resistance specified for Thursday at the 3601 for the Nifty spot was easily and convincingly overcome as the closing was at the 3621 mark. That indicates a breakout above the significant close of Sept. 29 2006.
"The 3610 Fibonacci level has also been overcome, which indicates bullishness. The coming session will witness intraday levels of 3652 on advances and 3591 on declines. Since the intraday range of Thursday was wide, the range may narrow on Friday due to the dual effect of profit sales and the weekend factor."
BS Web Bureau report: The Sensex opened with a positive gap of 35 points at 12,388, but soon slipped into negative zone to a low of 12,315. The index thereafter swung in and out of positive zone as bulls and bears fought it out to take the initiative.
The bulls took charge by mid-noon deals, and heavy buying in technology, metal and oil & gas stocks saw the index rally to higher levels. The index zoomed to a high of 12,557 - up 242 points from the day's low.
In the process, the Sensex recorded its second best-ever close at 12,538, a gain of 184 points.
The index is now just 74 points away from its all-time closing peak of 12,612 registered on May 10, 2006.
| BEST OF SENSEX... | |
| DATE | CLOSE |
| 10-May-06 | 12612.38 |
| 12-Oct-06 | 12537.98 |
| 9-May-06 | 12513.86 |
| 8-May-06 | 12462.47 |
| 29-Sep-06 | 12454.42 |
The BSE Metal index surged 2.6% to 8713 today. The BSE IT index advanced 2.3% to 4689, and the Oil & Gas index added 2% to 5841.
The market breadth was positive - out of 2,547 stocks traded, 1,414 advanced, 1,070 declined and the rest were unchanged today.
INDEX MOVERS & SHAKERS
HDFC zoomed 4.5% (Rs 65) to Rs 1505.
Technology stocks continued to witness buying for the second consecutive day. TCS surged 3.6% to Rs 1,083, and Wipro soared over 3% to Rs 546. Infosys and Satyam advanced 2% each to Rs 2,021 and Rs 423, respectively.
Bajaj Auto and Grasim rallied 2.7% each to Rs 3,148 and Rs 2,641, respectively. SBI and Maruti were up 2.5% each at Rs 1,029 and Rs 957, respectively.
Reliance, Reliance Communications, Hindalco and Tata Motors moved up 2.3% each to Rs 1,170, Rs 346, Rs 175 and Rs 901, respectively.
Tata Steel and ACC gained nearly 2% each at Rs 517 and Rs 989, respectively. Gujarat Ambuja added 1.3% to Rs 121.
Larsen & Toubro and Dr.Reddy's were up 1% each at Rs 1,272 and Rs 711, respectively.
HLL slipped 1.3% to Rs 232. HDFC Bank and Hero Honda declined marginally today.
VALUE & VOLUME TOPPERS
Reliance topped the value chart with a turnover of Rs 192.05 crore followed by Atlanta (Rs 181.87 crore), Infosys (Rs 115.17 crore), Hindustan Zinc (Rs 104.46 crore) and Mahindra Gesco (Rs 79.72 crore).
Debutant Richa Knits (close of Rs 30) led the volume chart with trades of around 1.94 crore shares followed by Silverline (1.04 crore), IDFC (79.94 lakh), Atlanta (60.28 lakh) and Rain Calcining (55.55 lakh).