Up, up and away

STOCKS REPORT

The markets witnessed another round of stellar performance today. After opening marginally higher over its previous close at 7080, the Sensex soon pierced the 7100-mark in early trades.

It finally closed 68.82 points higher to a new closing high of 7145.34. The Nifty ended 17.35 points higher to close at 2187.35.

A fund manager with a domestic mutual fund said, "The rally post-6950 was purely based on technicals. But the way the Sensex failed to maintain momentum at higher levels in today's trading, I expect a correction in the next few day. However, a correction will be healthy for the markets."

The breadth of the market was negative with 924 stocks advancing as against 1,590 stocks declining.

Volumes were moderate and accounted for Rs 4,148.5 crore on BSE and Rs 6,348.43 crore on the National Stock Exchange (NSE). Among the 30-share BSE basket stocks, 23 ended positive while 7 lost.

Among the Sensex gainers, HDFC was up by 3.37 per cent to close at Rs 871.75, Larsen & Toubro was up 3.30 per cent to Rs 1,137.00, ICICI Bank was up 3.30 per cent at Rs 418.45, Maruti Udyog was up 3.13 per cent to Rs 467.95, Cipla was up 2.58 per cent at Rs 312.60, TCS was up 2.31 per cent to Rs 1,333.95, ITC was up 2.14 per cent to Rs 1,579.25, Gujarat Ambuja Cement was up 2.07 per cent to Rs 64.15.

Profit booking was witnessed stocks such as HDFC Bank, which lost 1.92 per cent at Rs 589.45, BHEL lost 1.38 per cent to Rs 853.55, Hindalco was down 0.96 per cent to Rs 1,180.80 and SBI was down 0.67 per cent to Rs 661.05.

Among the indices, the BSE FMCG index was up 1.41 per cent gaining 16.99 points, Oil&Gas index was up 1.14 per cent gaining 38.65 points, Auto index went up 1.31 per cent adding 37.22 points, while Capital Goods index was up 0.90 per cent, up 32.45 points.

Among the FMCG stocks, the big gainers were-JL Morison, up 3.22 per cent to Rs 226, Nirma was up 2.44 per cent to Rs 415.45, Dabur (I) was up 1.20 per cent to Rs 130.20, HLL was up 1.05 per cent to Rs 154.20 and Marico was up 0.29 per cent at Rs 239.40.

In the auto sector, the big gainers were-Maruti Udyog, up 3.13 per cent to Rs 467.95, Mahindra & Mahindra was up 2.80 per cent to Rs 580.55, Kinetic Engineering was up 1.80 per cent to Rs 87.70, Bajaj Auto, up 1.79 per cent to Rs 1,270.60 and Tata Motors was up 1.67 per cent at Rs 425.45.

Among the oil and gas stocks, the big gainers were-ONGC, up 1.51 per cent to Rs 959.20 and BPCL, up 1.26 per cent to Rs 368.85, Chennai Petroleum, up 0.42 per cent to Rs 192.30 and IBP, up 0.24 per cent to Rs 492.60.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of Indian shares worth Rs 298.9 crore on Tuesday while domestic mutual funds went net sellers to the tune of Rs 68 crore.

L&T was up 3.30 per cent to Rs 1,137, while Tata Steel gained 1.83 per cent to Rs 364. HDFC was up 3.37 per cent to Rs 872 with block deals of over 1.23 crore. Standard Life today sold 4.9 per cent stake in HDFC for Rs 1,018 crore.

Bajaj Auto gained 1.75 per cent to Rs 1,270. Tata Motors scrip was up 1.67 per cent to Rs 425. Cipla, continuing with its recent upsurge, jumped 2.58 per cent to Rs 313, while Dr Reddy's was up at Rs 729. Ranbaxy, however, closed weak at Rs 1,080. FMCG scrips clocked decent gains.

United Breweries flared up 11 per cent to Rs 470, and Radico Khaitan moved up 3.34 per cent to Rs 373. William Tea, Dabur, Nirma and Ruchi Soya were up 2 per cent each.

HDFC Bank slipped sharply towards the closing hours and dropped 2.57 per cent to Rs 586. SBI, on volumes of over 7.79 lakh, slipped to Rs 661, while ICICI Bank finished with steady gains at Rs 421. BHEL declined 1.38 per cent to Rs 854.