The market surged today on renewed buying in index pivotals on smooth rollover of positions from the June 2007 series to the July 2007 series in the derivatives segment and on built-up of fresh positions. The June 2007 derivatives contracts expired on Thursday, 28 June 2007. Data showing a further fall in inflation aided the rally.

Shares from the banking, sugar, cement and capital goods sectors rose, while some profit booking was seen in metal stocks.

The BSE 30-share Sensex vaulted 136.29 points to 14,640.86, as per provisional close. It opened higher at 14,589.52, and surged to strike a high of 14,663.25 at 15:07 IST as buying inetensified towards the close of the trading session. The benchmark hit a low of 14,574.45, at 10:20 IST. The Sensex oscillated in a range of 89 points for the day. A bout of volatility was witnessed in mid-afternoon trade.

India's wholesale price index rose 4.03% in the 12 months to 16 June 2007, lower than the previous week's increase of 4.28% due to a decline in food and manufactured product prices, government released today, 29 June 2007, afternoon showed. The annual inflation rate was the lowest since the end of April 2006.

The Sensex is just about 83 points away from its all-time high of 14,723.88, which it had struck on 9 February 2007.

As per market data, rollover from the Nifty June 2007 series to Nifty July 2007 was smooth, with marketwide rollover of 69% and Nifty rollover of 74%.

The total turnover picked up sharply in last one hour of trade on BSE to Rs 4817 crore, from Rs 3542 crore at 14:30 IST.

The market breadth was strong on BSE with 1,496 shares advancing as compared to 1141 that declined. 80 remained unchanged.

Among the Sensex pack, 23 advanced while the rest declined.

Reliance Energy (REL) surged 5.63% to Rs 613.25 on 6.81 lakh shares, and it was the top gainer from the Sensex pack. REL’s wholly owned subsidiary Rosa Power Supply on 26 June 2007 tied up long-term loans of around Rs 2,000 crore for the first stage of its 600 meg watt (MW) power project.

Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) jumped 3.27% to Rs 2,022.50 after it received Rs 445 crore for its stake-sale in BPO firm Intelenet to Blackstone, which has resulted in a total capital gain of Rs 381 crore on its BPO venture. The stock surged to an all-time high of Rs 2039, in intra-day trade.

At its 30th annual general meeting (AGM) held on Wednesday, 27 June 2007, HDFC chairman Deepak Parekh said interest rates had peaked and he expected them to remain stable for some time.

Bank shares surged after inflation data. HDFC Bank (up 4.39% to Rs 1140.25) and ICICI Bank (up 1.18% to Rs 954), advanced.

State-run banking major State Bank of India (SBI) vaulted 3.89% to Rs 1,527.50, after striking an all-time high of Rs 1,531 in intra-day trade. The stock is buzzing on reports that it is planning to launch a private equity fund with a corpus of $1 billion (Rs 4,100 crore).

Bhel (up 3.50% to Rs 1541) and L&T (up 1.49% to Rs 2186) advanced from the capital goods pack.

Cement shares rallied for the second straight day as buying continued after the Finance Minister P Chidambaram told a television news channel, after market hours, on Wednesday, 27 June 2007, that there was no freeze on cement price and the government has not tried to control cement prices. He also said prices had gone up by a few rupees in south India.

Cement major ACC (up 3.58% to Rs 931.05), and Grasim (up 0.32% to Rs 2632) advanced.

Pharma shares Cipla (up 3.92% to Rs 211), Dr Reddy’s Laboratories (up 0.10% to Rs 655.45), and Ranbaxy Laboratories (up 2.17% to Rs 355.50) edged higher.

Aluminum and copper major Hindalco Industries slipped throughout the day as selling continued. It lost 5.25% at Rs 160.10, on 13.74 lakh shares. It was the top loser among the Sensex constituents.

Auto major Maruti Udyog lost 1.05% to Rs 742, while telecom services provider Bharti Airtel slipped 0.98% to Rs 834.50.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries was up 0.46% to Rs 1,700, on 7.01 lakh shares. It moved in a range of Rs 1,689.05 –1,711.50

Asian stocks were mixed today, 29 June 2007, after the US Federal Reserve left US interest rates unchanged. The yen weakened against the dollar. Japan's Nikkei surged 1.15% at 18,138.36 and Straits Times rose 0.28% at 3,548.20. However, Taiwan's Taiwan Weighted (down 0.11% at 8,883.21), Seoul Composite (down 0.47% at 1,743.60) and Hong Kong's Hang Seng (down 0.75% to 21,772.73) slipped.

China’s Shanghai Composite slumped 2.39% to 3,820.70

Most of the European markets were trading weak.

US stocks finished flat on Friday, 29 June 2007, after the Federal Reserve said the economy appeared to be growing at a moderate pace. The Fed, however, repeated its worries about inflation. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 5.45 points, or 0.04%, to 13,422.28. Broader stock indicators finished mixed. The S&P 500 index slipped 0.63 points, or 0.04%, to 1,505.71, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 3.02 points, or 0.12%, to 2,608.37.

As per provisional data, FIIs were net sellers of equities worth Rs 398.11 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 73.51 crore on Thursday, 28 June 2007.

Oil held steady around $70 for the third session on Friday, 29 June 2007 as the market remained focused on falling US gasoline inventories and a decline in crude stocks in a key delivery point in the world's largest consumer. US crude rose 5 cents to $69.62 a barrel