The market edged higher for the fifth straight trading session on firm global markets, steady progress of monsoon, and lower inflation. Shares from the metal, cement and sugar sectors saw buying, while IT pivotals were offloaded.

The BSE 30-share Sensex rose 78.19 points to 14,884.70, as per provisional closing. The barometer index opened higher at 14,848.16 and surged to strike a record high of 14,906.93 at 10:01 IST as buying intensified. But it came off the higher level to touch a low of 14,790.75 by 10:56 IST, a fall of 15.76 points for the day. It recovered later in volatile trade. The Sensex oscillated in a range of 116 points for the day.

The S&P CNX Nifty settled with a 1.75-point gain at 4,359.30, as per provisional close. It hit an all-time high of 4,386.45. The index touched a low of 4,342.

The market breadth, which was strong in the opening session on BSE, turned negative by mid-morning trade: 1,445 shares declined as compared to 1,219 that advanced, while 68 remained unchanged.

Among the Sensex pack, 18 advanced while the rest declined.

Cement stocks traded up following reports that cement firms have hiked prices by Rs 3-Rs 5 per 50-kilogram bag across India effective today. Cement major ACC surged 7% to Rs 1004, on 14.40 lakh shares, after striking an intra-day high of Rs 1047. It was the top gainer from the Sensex pack.

Ambuja Cements (up 4.50% to Rs 130), Grasim (up 1.45% to Rs 2742), UltraTech Cement Company (up 4.72 % to Rs 926), and India Cements (up 3.51% to Rs 215) were the other gainers from the cement sector.

The ongoing monsoon season, generally considered as slack season for cement companies, failed to dampen monthly sales of cement companies. ACC's cement dispatches stood at 1.70 million tonnes in June 2007, up 9.67% from 1.55 million tonnes in June 2006. It produced 1.70 million tonnes of cement compared to 1.53 tonnes last year, a rise of 11%.

Private sector banking major ICICI Bank rose 2.46% to Rs 989.95 following reports that the department of industrial policy and promotion has approved ICICI Bank's plan to sell a 24% stake in ICICI Financial Services. ICICI Bank had recently said that its plant to sell stake in ICICI Financial Services to foreign investors was unlikely to get go ahead from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB).

Steel stocks firmed up. Tata Steel (up 2.74% to Rs 617.15), Sail (up 1.50% to Rs 132), and JSW Steel (up 3.23% to Rs 639.95) edged higher. JSW Steel registered a growth of 26% in crude steel production in Q1 June 2007.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) advanced from a low of Rs 1,705, to strike a high of Rs 1,731. It settled 0.43% higher to Rs 1,712.80 on 6.19 lakh shares. The Committee of Secretaries (CoS), which met on 2 July 2007 to decide on the issue of gas pricing from RIL’s D6 fields in the Krishna-Godavari (K-G) basin, has asked the power and fertiliser ministries to present their views before the committee on 5 July 2007. No decision was taken in the meeting even as the petroleum ministry pitched for a market-determined price of gas produced from NELP blocks.

Shares from the auto pack edged higher on hopes that interest rates may soften. Tata Motors (up 1.17% to Rs 696), Maruti Udyog (up 0.75% to Rs 790) and Bajaj Auto (up 0.80% to Rs 2115) edged higher from the auto pack. Around 50-75% of the sales of auto companies are derived from loans given by banks and financial institutions.

Oil exploration major ONGC was the top loser from the Sensex pack. The stock was down 1.79% to Rs 872 on volume of 1.93 lakh shares

IT pivotals slipped as the rupee hovered near one-month high at 40.55/56 against the US currency in late morning deals on Wednesday, 4 July 2007. Wipro (down 1.30% to Rs 508.50), Infosys (down 0.62% to Rs 1935), and TCS (down 0.95% to Rs 1117.10) edged lower from the IT pack.

Vishal Retail settled at Rs 752.20, a huge premium of 178.51% over the IPO price of Rs 270. The scrip touched a high of Rs 809 and low of Rs 423.25. It debuted at Rs 472.50. On BSE, 1.14 crore shares were traded in the counter.

Indus Fila (up 13.51% to Rs 210.50), Madhucon Projects (up 13% to Rs 244), Nahar Spinning (up 10% to Rs 93), Ceat (up 8% to Rs 171.90), and Arvind Mills (up 6.99% to Rs 48.20) surged from the small-cap and mid-cap segments.

As per provisional data, FIIs were net buyers of Rs 445-crore equities on Tuesday, 3 July 2007, when the Sensex had surged 142 points. Domestic institutional investors were net sellers of Rs 171-crore equities on that day.

Asian stock markets rose today, 4 July 2007, with South Korea's benchmark KOSPI index hitting a fresh record high after stocks such as Hyundai Motor rose, while broader sentiment was lifted by fresh US takeover talk.

Hang Seng (up 0.17% to 22,188.52), Nikkei 225 (up 0.10% to 18,168.79), Seoul Composite (up 1.70% to 1,836.28), and Taiwan Weighted (up 0.87% to 9,074.90), gained

China’s Shanghai Composite was down 2.14% to 3,816.65

All the European indices opened higher, except Austria’s ATX (down 0.12%).

On Wall Street, the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 0.3%, while the tech-laden Nasdaq Composite Index added 0.5%. Deal news again contributed to the gains, with news of a takeover of fast-food chain Wendy's International Inc.

Oil prices struck a 10-month high above $73 a barrel on Tuesday, 3 July 2007, on strong summer driving demand in the US. London Brent crude, seen as the best price gauge of the global oil market, settled up 30 cents to $72.93 a barrel after rising to $73.10 earlier, the highest since 25 August 2006.