10:00AM New York, 7:30PM Mumbai - Nuclear deal between the U.S. and India was approved by the upper legislative house of the U.S. Mobile telecom users cross 300 million.

Market Sentiment

In Mumbai, the BSE 30-share Sensex gained 0.9% or 122.21 to 13,692.52, and the CNX Nifty rose 0.83% or 34.35 to 4,161.25.

Of the stocks traded on BSE 1349 advanced, 1,241 declined, and 89 remained unchanged.

Trading Statistics

Daily turnover on BSE stood at 4,304 crore rupees from 4,336.47 crore rupees yesterday. Sterlite Industries rose more than 8% after it cancelled restructuring plan.

Mobile Users Cross 300 Million

Reuters News reported on its Web site today that Indian mobile telecommunication companies added 9.16 million users in August and pushed the aggregate number of mobile subscribers to 300 million.

In July, subscribers had increased by 9.22 million users. According to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, there were 305.24 million wireless subscribers by the end of August.

In particular Bharti Airtel added 2.7 million wireless customers in August, to reach 74.8 million, while Reliance Communications snapped up 1.75 million users more than in July to 54.3 million wireless users. Vodafone Essar users gained by 1.81 million new users to 52.8 million.

State operated Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd signed up 638,118 wireless users to 43.2 million mobile users and Idea Cellular had 29.3 million users at end-August.

The fixed-line user base continued its decline to be at 38.63 million at the end of August.

On the overall, India had 343.87 million telecoms subscribers at the end of August.

US - India Civilian Nuclear Deal Advances

The US-India civilian nuclear cooperation agreement inched closer to approval after a senate panel approved the deal. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 19-2 in favor the deal without the controversial proposal from the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman. If granted, the approval will allow India to purchase nuclear fuel and technology from the U.S.

The bill will now go to the floor of the U.S. Senate for the final ratification.

Gainers & Losers

Ranbaxy Laboratories advanced 0.63% to 310.80 rupees after Daiichi Sankyo said its offer to buy 20% in the company was oversubscribed.

IT stocks declined. Wipro slid 5.05% to 370.75 rupees, Infosys lost 1.27% to 1,523.70 rupees and Tata Consultancy Services fell 1.01% to 713.45 rupees.

However Satyam Computer Services gained 0.68% to 333.90 rupees.

Metal stocks increased. National Aluminum Company jumped 5.79% to 419.35 rupees, Tata Steel rose 3.13% to 485.70 rupees, Hindalco Industries edged up 0.69% to 108.85 rupees and Steel Authority of India gained 0.11% to 142.25 rupees.