Bulls charge up

STOCK REPORT

Key indices closed higher on Wednesday led by gains in Reliance Industries (RIL) and ITC. Technology and aluminium shares were also in demand. Analysts said the indices had a strong closing with the Nifty closing above the crucial level of 2380.

On Wednesday, the Sensex ended at 7805.43, up 60.43 points, or 0.78 per cent, over Tuesday. The Nifty closed at 2384.65, up 16.90 points, or 0.71 per cent. The Nifty hit a high of 2387 and a low of 2355 during the session, while for the Sensex, the high was 7807.67 and low 7726.98.

The bulls beat the bears in both frontline and mid-cap shares. In BSE's 'A' group, around 69 per cent of the shares rose. Around 62 per cent and 56 per cent of the shares were the winners in 'B1' and 'B2' groups respectively.

Index heavyweight RIL ended 1.7 per cent higher at Rs 719.40; ITC rose 1.32 per cent to Rs 1731.65.

In the Nifty, Tata Power was the biggest gainer closing at Rs 450.75, up 4.5 per cent. It rose to its 52-week high of Rs 452.50 on Wednesday. Domestic institutions have been actively buying the stock, dealers said.

Technology shares were the major gainers again on further gains in the rupee value against the dollar. The CNX IT Index rose 1.4 per cent to 3177.15. Wipro Ltd, Satyam Computer Services and Infosys Technologies rose 1.0-1.6 per cent.

Aluminium shares like National Aluminium Co and Hindalco Industries rose 1.0-1.6 per cent with signs of metal prices strengthening in the global market.

In the cash market, shares worth Rs 63.90 billion were traded, as against Tuesday's turnover of Rs 58.15 billion.

"There were strong negative factors like fall in foreign fund inflows and record high oil price that could have led to a fall. It is a surprise that the indices rose," said Sharmila Joshi, assistant vice-president, Asit C Mehta Investment Intermediaries.

She said market players seemed keen to take the Sensex past the 8000-level. However, she added, no real selling had come in when the Sensex had fallen to 7550-levels. This indicated that investors did not expect indices to fall much.

The CNX Midcap Index rose 0.9 per cent to 3663.05.

Indices regained some strength and were up marginally, midway on Wednesday. Zee Telefilms was the major Nifty gainer, up over 4 per cent. HDFC Bank was down over 1 per cent.

Mid-cap shares outperformed, with the CNX Midcap Index up 0.8 per cent at 3657.85.

"Gains in Reliance Industries and most technology shares like TCS has supported the (gains in) indices," Abhijit Chakraborty, assistant vice-president, institutional sales, Prabhudas Lilladher, said.

"The market is bullish; however, I do not see any new highs coming soon, as the pace of the rally has eased. The Sensex is likely to consolidate at the current levels," he said, adding "the index is consolidating at the 7500-7800 levels."

Among the key gainers, Tata Power, GAIL (I), Satyam Computer Services, Reliance Industries, Indian Petrochemicals, Tata Chemicals and Bajaj Auto were up around 2 per cent each.

Larsen and Toubro, Hindustan Lever, Colgate-Palmolive India, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Wipro Corp and Associated Cement were down around 1 per cent each.

Most oil marketing shares were up, except Hindustan Petroleum Corp, which was down marginally.

Among the second-rung shares, Adani Exports was the top gainer on the CNX Midcap, up 13 per cent. Most pharmaceutical and fertiliser shares were up. MRF and Ispat Industries were down 3 per cent each.