The market traded off highs early noon as selling pressure emerged after early gains. Old Economy stocks were trading steady on the arrival of the monsoon, tech stocks rose following gains in the US markets Tuesday. Defensive pivotals were trading mostly lower on profit booking. Stock-specific activity was observed on a number of stocks.

By 13:00 IST, the BSE Sensex was trading 10.03 points higher at 3,299.58, having eased from 3,327.61 touched in early trades.

The NSE S & P CNX Nifty Index was up 1.30 points at 1,039.10.

Reliance group power utility BSES (up 8.09% to Rs 248.50) spurted, though slightly off its 52-week high of Rs 252.50 touched earlier, on volumes of over 2 lakh shares .

Tech pivotals Infosys Tech (up 1.84% to Rs 2,926), Satyam Computer (up 1.12% to Rs 175.95) and HCL Tech (up 0.42% to Rs 144.30) were off highs after early gains.

Largest media listing Zee Telefilms (up 1.02% to Rs 89.15) eased from the day's high of Rs 93.15 . Over 12.70 lakh Zee shares were traded on BSE today.

Other pivotals Bajaj Auto (up 1.77% to Rs 529), L & T (up 1.02% to Rs 228.05), Reliance Industries (up 0.69% to Rs 305), Hindustan Lever (up 0.50% to Rs 169.90) and ICICI Bank (up 0.33% to Rs 136.70) remained in the positive zone.

Oral care major Colgate (down 1.62% to Rs 139.25) proved subdued after the company denied rumours of a buy-back of shares.

Old Economy pivotals Hero Honda Motor (down 1.39% to Rs 234.50), Telco (down 0.89% to Rs 178.25), HPCL (down 1.05% to Rs 309.80), Hindalco (down 0.67% to Rs 696.80), Castrol India (down 0.45% to Rs 199.40), Gujarat Ambuja Cements (down 0.73% to Rs 184) and Tata Steel (down 0.27% to Rs 150.40) were trading in the red .

Defensive sector pivotals Ranbaxy Labs (down 0.83% to Rs 696.20), GlaxoSmithKline (down 0.64% to Rs 359.80), Nestle India (down 0.32% to Rs 537.50), Dr Reddys' Labs (down 0.11% to Rs 949) and Cipla (down 0.15% to Rs 722) were trading in negative territory.

i-flex Solutions (up 4.89% to Rs 939.85) remained firm – although off its day's high of Rs 961.55 – amid talk that the company has bagged a major overseas order. Rumours are also rife that the company may consider an issue of bonus shares.

SSI (up 3.15% to Rs 86.75) was trading off its day's high of Rs 91 . The SSI stock rose as much as 8.20% in early trades after the company announced that its subsidiary, SSI North America, has been awarded a contract to build the State of Minnesota HealthMatch eligibility system. The HealthMatch software application will automate healthcare eligibility for the Minnesota Department of Human Services. When completed, HealthMatch will improve health care programme efficiency and integrity, and result in more prudent use of Minnesota healthcare dollars. The two-year software development project has a value of $ 13 million.

Digital GlobalSoft (up 2.13% to Rs 367.50) rose after a two-session sell-off following the disappointing terms of the company's merger with HP's Indian operations. Over 2.70 lakh Digital shares were traded on BSE so far.

Other non-Sensex frontline tech stocks Mascot Systems (up 1.20% to Rs 109.50), Polaris Software (up 1.04% to Rs 107.15), NIIT (up 0.40% to Rs 137.75), Hughes Software (up 0.40% to Rs 211.40) and Wipro (up 0.35% to Rs 831) were trading off highs .

Media stocks TV 18 India (up 5.82% to Rs 100), Balaji Telefilms (up 2.76% to Rs 63.40), ETC Networks (up 1.96% to Rs 51.90), K Sera Sera (up 1.38% to Rs 58.95), Mukta Arts (up 1.33% to Rs 57.20), Sri Adhikari Brothers (up 1.11% to Rs 77.50) and Tata Infomedia (up 1.20% to Rs 88.25) gained ground on sustained buying interest.

PSU banking stocks Vijaya Bank (up 3.36% to Rs 20), Union Bank of India (up 3.31% to Rs 32.75), Punjab National Bank (up 3.46% to Rs 143.60), Bank of Baroda (up 2.16% to Rs 99.05), Andhra Bank (up 1.66% to Rs 30.55), Canara Bank (up 1.71% to Rs 95.35), Syndicate Bank (up 1.55% to Rs 23), Bank of India (up 1.09% to Rs 46.40), Dena Bank (up 1.45% to Rs 17.50), Corporation Bank (up 1.16% to Rs 165.25) and Indian Overseas Bank (up 0.82% to Rs 24.80) were trading off highs .

Bank stocks fell sharply on Tuesday after the government asked the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to submit a report on the abnormal movement in banking scrips.

Saw Pipes (up 1.25% to Rs 125.40) was trading off its day's high of Rs 130 on selling at higher levels. The stock rose nearly 5% in early trades after the company announced the bagging of a Rs 122-crore coating order from Gail India in Gujarat. This is the second order of this magnitude for the company this year. It had earlier bagged a $ 100-million contract from Gail India for laying a 610-km gas pipeline between Dahej and Bijapur.

VST Industries (Rs 124.30) was frozen at the 10% upper limit of the circuit breaker, with nearly 1,600 shares traded on the counter on BSE.

Neyveli Lignite (up 7.59% to Rs 39.70) gained further ground after the PSU announced impressive Q4 results on Monday. For the quarter ended 31 March 2003, the company posted a net profit of Rs 602.25 crore (Rs 276.96 crore) on total income of Rs 1,283.70 crore (Rs 766.32 crore). Over 27.88 lakh NLC shares were traded on BSE so far.

Counters like Chennai Petroleum (down 4.31% to Rs 48.90), IBP (down 3.03% to Rs 474), BPCL (down 2.95% to Rs 256.50), Hind Organic Chem (down 1.94% to Rs 22.80), Balmer Lawrie (down 1.87% to Rs 92), ONGC (down 1.49% to Rs 458.90), Kochi Refineries (down 1.32% to Rs 82.10) and Shipping Corp of India (down 0.52% to Rs 76.05) were trading lower on selling pressure.

Power stocks Alstom Projects (up 9.02% to Rs 97.30), Ahmedabad Electricity (up 6.42% to Rs 82), CESC (up 5.35% to Rs 35.45), ABB (up 4.64% to Rs 376.90), Siemens (up 3.73% to Rs 373.95), KEC Int'l (up 3.33% to Rs 21.70), Surat Electricity (up 1.92% to Rs 101), Alstom (up 1.44% to Rs 35.15) and Tata Power (up 1.14% to Rs 141.90) gained further ground on sustained buying interest.

Power stocks have been rising of late amid hopes that the Electricity Act will immensely help the power sector.

Voltas (up 7.37% to Rs 62.55) gained ground after the company announced that that the Government of Gujarat has awarded the company an order encompassing three pumping projects, with a total value of Rs 26.25 crore to be completed by the end of the year. The project is designed to alleviate the recurring drought in North Gujarat caused by continuous depletion of water level in the Dharoi reservoir.

Source: www.capitalmarket.com