Oil stocks set markets ablaze

STOCK REPORT

Bulls scored a convincing victory over bears with both BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty ending at record closing highs for third straight session Monday.

The Sensex zoomed past the 8400-mark in early trade, with oil retailing majors Bharat Petroleum Corp. and Hindustan Petroleum Corp.""up 5 per cent and 4 per cent respectively""added fuel to the upswing.

The Bombay Stock Exchange's 30-share Sensex ended at record closing high of 8444.84, up 63.88 points, or 0.7 per cent, over Friday. The National Stock Exchange's 50-share Nifty closed at 2567.10, up 14.75 points, or 0.6 per cent.

Intra-day, the Sensex and Nifty recorded lifetime highs of 8461.10 and 2579.70 respectively. Including today, the Sensex has gained over 240 points, or nearly 3 per cent, in just three sessions.

Frontline shares scored over others, with nearly 60 per cent of the shares in the BSE A group posting gains. In the B2 group, this figure was around 50 per cent. The total traded volume was lower on the NSE at Rs 70 billion compared with Rs 75.89 billion on Friday.

"There is unlikely to be any major correction near-term and we see the Sensex touching the 9000-mark by month end," said a senior dealer at a local brokerage.

Dealers said indices are likely to record new highs ahead of September quarter corporate results. Leading the gainers in the Nifty were Maruti Udyog, Steel Authority of India, and Hindalco Industries, up 4-5 per cent. Among others, bank shares HDFC Bank, Punjab National Bank, and ICICI Bank were up nearly 2 per cent each. A good number of shares recorded new 52-week highs.

Among them was Larsen and Toubro, touching a high of Rs 1,400, before settling at Rs 1,381.15. The stock was up on news that Dubai Aluminium Co. has signed a $3.6-billion deal with the company. ABB, Mahindra and Mahindra, and Housing Development Finance Corp. featured among the laggards in the Nifty.