Cement scrips surge

DALAL STREET SPIKES

Cement major Grasim lead the pack of gainers among the cement stocks which were battered in the past few trading sessions. Most cement stocks registered smart gains with Grasim gaining 4.98 per cent to close at Rs 1,100.80 on impressive volumes of 1.07 lakh shares at the BSE.

Other major gainers were ACC, up 3.42 per cent at Rs 245.10, and Gujarat Ambuja, up 1.04 per cent at Rs 286.65. Even the second rung cement stocks such as Birla Corporation, India Cements, Mangalam Cement, Madras Cement and Kakatiya Cement gained in the range of 2 to 7 per cent in today's trading.

Analysts said, cement counters witnessed bargain hunting at lower levels after the recent crash. For instance, ACC lost 7.7 per cent in a mere two trading sessions to Rs 237 on May 31 from Rs 257 on May 27.

GACL slipped 8.5 per cent in last one week while Birla Corporation plunged 20 per cent in two trading sessions to Rs 85.80 before today's recovery.