Auto stocks gain

The market breadth was strong on BSE with 1294 shares advancing as
compared to 822 that declined. 67 remained unchanged.

The BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.84% to 5,904.41 and the BSE
Small-Cap index gained 0.65% to 7,189.64.

The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 1685 crore by 11:30 IST as
compared to Rs 566 crore by 10:30 IST.

Among the 30-member Sensex pack, 22 advanced while the rest
slipped.

Auto shares advanced for the third straight day and dominated
Sensex gainers. India's top truck maker in terms of sales, Tata
Motors surged 4% to Rs 443.75 on 1.35 lakh shares. It was the top
gainer from the Sensex pack.

Maruti Suzuki India (up 2.63% to Rs 670), Hero Honda Motors (up
0.60% to Rs 824), Ashok Leyland (up 2% to Rs 33.25), and Mahindra &
Mahindra (up 3.56% to Rs 582), also logged gains from auto pack.

India's largest dedicated housing finance company in terms of
revenue Housing Development Finance Corporation surged 2.89% to Rs
2465 on reports the company is in talks with GE Money to buy the
latter's Indian home loan business.

Reliance Infrastructure (up 1.98% to Rs 1031), Satyam Computer
Services (up 1.77% to Rs 414.65), and NTPC (up 1.69% to Rs 183.30),
edged higher from the Sensex pack.

Banking shares were firm ahead of the inflation data. HDFC Bank (up
2.25% to Rs 1244), ICICI Bank (up 0.66% to Rs 711.50), and State
Bank of India (up 0.30% to Rs 1528.25) gained.

India's largest private sector steelmaker by sales, Tata Steel
rebounded after two straight days of fall. The stock rose 2.25% to
Rs 660.20. The stock had hit a low of Rs 640 in early trade.

India's largest pharma company in terms of sales Ranbaxy
Laboratories rose 0.69% to Rs 516.15 after the government gave its
approval to Daiichi Sankyo's proposed acquisition of shares in the
company.

India's largest private sector firm by market capitalization and
oil refiner Reliance Industries (RIL) was down marginally by 0.03%
at Rs 2295.25 on 3.76 lakh shares. The stock moved in a range of Rs
2315.25 and Rs 2248.60 so far during the day.

Bharti Airtel, the nation's top mobile operator by revenue lost
2.76% to Rs 845.70. It was the top loser from Sensex pack. The
company yesterday, 6 August 2008, said it would launch Apple Inc's
third-generation iPhone in India on 22 August 2008.

ACC (down 1.82% to Rs 626), Bhel (down 1.05% to Rs 1808) and Grasim
(down 1.40% to Rs 2010) edged lower from Sensex pack.

Among the side counters, Ledo Tea (up 13.71% to Rs 53.90), Safar
Industries (up 11.11% to Rs 30), and Bajaj Auto Finance (up 10.65%
to Rs 133), surged.

Bharat Forge fell 1.50% to Rs 265.65 following reports the firm
plans to foray into manufacturing of ultra heavy forgings catering
to the power sector, including nuclear plants.

Simplex Castings spurted 11.78% to Rs 56 after the company said
that its consortium with Hyundai Heavy Industries won an order
worth Rs 62.58 crore from Steel Authority of India. The company
made this announcement after trading hours on Wednesday, 6 August
2008.

US crude rose 26 cents to $118.84 a barrel today, 7 August 2008.
The contract is almost 20% off the record of $147.27 a barrel hit
on 11 July 2008.

Most Asian markets were trading lower today, 7 August 2008. Key
benchmark indices in Japan, China, Taiwan Singapore, and South
Korea were down by between 0.02% and 1.69%. However Hong Kong's
Hang Seng index was up 0.59%.