Bulls drive Nifty to record 4147

Bulls stamped their authority once again as renewed buying in metals stocks, hectic short covering and lower inflation numbers acted as a boost to propel the markets to new highs on Thursday.

The bellwether Sensex closed at a lifetime high of 14,282.72 points, up 172.26 points or 1.22 per cent, while the National Stock Exchange's Nifty-50 also ended at record level of 4147.70, up 1.41 per cent or 57.8 points from yesterday.

"I think, the momentum is upward. But, you could see bouts of volatility in short term," said Ved Prakash Chaturvedi, managing director of Tata Mutual Fund.

The last day of the January expiry day today also saw smooth roll-overs to February series in most stocks, indicating that many expect the market to remain bullish. "Short covering in the F&O positions towards the end lifted the indices," said an analyst.

Metal stocks were in the spotlight led by Tata Steel (up 5.77 per cent to Rs 509.25 - the biggest gainer on Sensex) on expectations that it would post higher earnings that estimated. Analysts said the rising profit of US major Steel Dynamics Inc was a positive cue of an improved outlook for the steel industry. This news acted as a major positive for the metal counters today.

The BSE Metals Index was the biggest gainer, up 4.30 per cent at 9,625.45, while other indices showed a rise of 2 per cent. The next biggest riser among the indices was BSE Capital Goods Index at 1.70 per cent to 9,630.21.

Analysts expect the markets, which remain closed for next three days, to take cue from international markets for direction next week. BHEL was another star of the day as the stock rose by 3.3 per cent to Rs 2,448.35 after its net profit rose to Rs 571 crore in the third quarter ended December 31, 2006.

Foreign funds, which were staying away from the cash market during this month, also were net buyers for Rs 225 crore today, as per the provisional figures of NSE.

The other top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel (up 4.77 per cent to Rs 719.65), Hindalco (up 3.79 per cent to Rs 175.25) and Wipro (up 2.88 per cent to Rs 650.40).

Sesa Goa was another stock that attracted big buying on reports that international steel maker Arcelor Mittal, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto Group are competing to buy a stake in the company for $ 850 million. Sesa Goa's shares climbed 6.3 per cent to Rs 1,929.85.

Capital goods counter Larsen & Toubro and ABB were other top gainers. L&T rose by two per cent to Rs 1,615 after company said it received orders worth Rs 355 crore, while ABB gained by 0.9 per cent to Rs 3,598.

Auto stocks shifted gears after being laggards in recent sessions. M&M rose by 1.6 per cent to Rs 922, Tata Motors gained 1.3 per cent to Rs 927, Maruti was up by 1.5 per cent to Rs 948 and Bajaj Auto added 0.2 per cent to Rs 2,745.

Technology stocks also recorded smart gains. In addition to Wipro, the other major gainers were Satyam Computer (up 1 per cent to Rs 475), followed by Infosys at Rs 2,241.