Small, mid-caps save the blushes

STOCK REPORT

The Sensex counters witnessed lack of action in Tuesday's trade. But the market was supported by a spurt in a group of small-cap and mid-cap stocks, robust rise in cement majors as well as rise in the auto stocks, owing to a drop in global crude oil prices.

The market breadth was positive. 1,336 scrips advanced on BSE, as compared to 1191 stocks that declined. The benchmark index closed at 7346.63 with minor depreciation. The Nifty went up 0.15 per cent to a lifetime closing high of 2237.30.

The side-counters which included, Kirloskar Brothers, TVS Electronics, Amtek India, Amtek Auto, Financial Technologies, Hitachi Home, Kale Consultants, Kajaria Ceramics rose on Tuesday. The turnover on the BSE was low as witnessed in past few days. It traded volumes of Rs 3055 crore. NSE turnover also went down to Rs 6130 crore.

The ACC scrip climbed 4.09 per cent to close at a lifetime closing high of Rs 443.15. The Gujarat Ambuja Cements scrip also appreciated, 1.4 per cent, to Rs 61.75

The auto stocks major, Maruti Udyog gained 1.24 per cent, to Rs 458.10 and Tata Motors went up 1.63 per cent, to Rs 476.05. The BHEL scrip gained 2.29 per cent to a lifetime closing high of Rs 921.10.

The other major gainers in front-line stocks were Tata Steel (1.92 per cent), HDFC Bank (1.78 per cent), HDFC (1.03 per cent), SBI (0.59 per cent), Reliance Industries (0.54 per cent), Wipro (0.44 per cent), Satyam Computer (0.22 per cent) and Dr Reddy's Labs(0.22 per cent). 13 scrips registered loss in the Index basket. The major losers were Hero Honda (2.84 per cent), ITC (2.36 per cent) and Tata Power (1.43 per cent).

None of the indices registered big change. The BSE metal index ended as the biggest gainer on Tuesday, up 0.84 per cent to 5697.13. The BSE small-cap Index was up 0.59 per cent and the BSE mid-cap index was up 0.49 per cent.

Among the major losers, BSE FMCG Index (1.19 per cent), the BSE IT Index (0.21 per cent) and the BSE Consumer Durables Index (0.08 per cent), were the indices that reported noticeable changes.

The Foreign Institutional Investors were net buyers of Indian shares worth Rs 369.40 crore on Monday, while domestic mutual funds were net sellers of Rs 10.11 crore.

In the banking sector, Syndicate Bank went up 5.23 per cent to close at Rs 67.45. Other major gainers in this sector were the Bank of Rajasthan (5.16 per cent), Dena Bank (5.10 per cent), State Bank of Mysore (5.10 per cent) and Centurion Bank (4.77 per cent).

The major losers in this section were United Western Bank (8.87 per cent), Dhanlaxmi Bank (4.58 per cent), City Union Bank (3.58 per cent) and Karnataka Bank (1.37 per cent).

The HMT scrip ended up as the highest gainer among the Auto stocks, for the second consecutive day, up 23.34 per cent at Rs 87.20. The Mahindra & Mahindra scrip went up 2.22 per cent, to Rs 608.55.

Other major gainers in this sector were LML (7.82 per cent), Hind Motors (3.41 per cent) and Eicher (2.27 per cent). The major losers were Hero Honda (2.84 per cent), Kinetic Motors (2.29 per cent), Escorts (1.72 per cent) and Maha Scooters (1.37 per cent).

Among the major gainers in the IT Index, the KLG Systel scrip and the Kale Consultant scrip were on fire, up 20 per cent, to Rs 128.25 and Rs 112.35 respectively. Other gainers in this sector were 3I Infotech (8.16 per cent) and Nucleus Software(8.07 per cent). The Aptech scrip went down 3.62 per cent to Rs 91.75.