Bulls hold on to strong gains

At 12:44 pm (IST), the BSE 30-share Sensex was up 196 points at 17,058 and NSE Nifty was up 42 points at 5,055.




Markets continue to hold on to their early gains following a positive start in the equity markets across Europe. The CAC index in France was up 0.75% and the DAX index was up by half a percent. Constant buying in scrips across the sectors have held the markets around its days high.



At 12:44 pm (IST), the BSE 30-share Sensex was up 196 points at 17,058 and NSE Nifty was up 42 points at 5,055.



Aishwarya Telecom has surged by over 6.5% to Rs105 after 11.5% of its equity changed hands in two trades. ~5,14,570 shares were traded at Rs103 per share. The scrip has touched an intra-day high of Rs106 and a low of Rs96 and has recorded volumes of over 31,00,000 shares on NSE.



Bharti Airtel is trading lower by half a percent to Rs833. According to reports the company is expected to submit revised bid to acquire South Africa’s MTN as Dubai based Emirates Telecommunications (Etisalat) joins the race. The scrip has touched an intra-day high of Rs845 and a low of Rs825 and has recorded volumes of over 11,00,000 shares on NSE.



Bajaj Holdings has gained by 1.5% to Rs693 as the company on Monday announced that it would sign a formal agreement with Renault and Nissan in June 2008 for making their proposed small car in India, scheduled to be launched by 2011. The scrip has touched an intra-day high of Rs697 and a low of Rs686 and has recorded volumes of over 18,000 shares on NSE.



Videocon Industries has surged by over 3% to Rs365 following reports that the company is planning to enter into hospitality and hydropower businesses. The company is in talks with the Uttarakhand government for various projects. The scrip has touched an intra-day high of Rs371 and a low of Rs355 and has recorded volumes of over 99,000 shares on NSE.



Jindal Stainless has advanced by 2.5% to Rs144 after reports stated that the company signed a joint venture agreement with the Indonesia-based PT Antam Tbk to develop a nickel smelting and stainless steel facility in North Konawe, South East Sulawesi at an investment of about Rs29bn. Antam will hold 55% stake in the project. The scrip has touched an intra-day high of Rs145 and a low of Rs143 and has recorded volumes of over 40,000 shares on NSE