Upturn continues

STOCKS REPORT

Value buying and some short-covering at lower levels helped the market close in positive territory on Monday. Despite opening in negative territory, the benchmark Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex closed higher for the fourth straight day but volumes remained low, brokers said.

The BSE Sensex hit a high of 6391.73 and a low of 6308.48 in intra-day trades before finally closing at 6377.85 points, up 31.28 points (0.49 per cent) from its previous close. Banking, PSU, auto and consumer durables were among the gainers on Monday while select pharma and metal scrips recorded some losses.

Among frontline counters, 18 out of the 30-scrip Sensex basket closed higher. The breadth of the market was also positive, with gainers outpacing losers 13:10 in the BSE. Volumes were average, with a turnover of Rs 1,716.62 crore recorded on the BSE and Rs 3,625.05 crore on the NSE.

Rajesh Kamdar, dealer at K G Vora Securities, said, "Investors are not taking big calls as they await a clear direction or trend in the market. The imminent expiry of the current month's futures contracts is also expected to lead to some volatility."

Besides, the results season was expected to give the much awaited impetus but some lacklustre results combined with select FII selling has led to some nervousness.

The Satyam counter was the biggest gainer in the Sensex basket, rising 4.49 per cent to close at Rs 423.20, ICICI Bank was up 3.03 per cent to Rs 407.75, Tata Motors gained 1.76 per cent to Rs 444.60, HLL was up 1.10 per cent to Rs 133.65 and Grasim gained 1.03 per cent to Rs 1,211.20.

Dr Reddy's scrip was the biggest loser in the Sensex basket, falling 3.21 per cent to Rs 660.10, Tata Power was down 1.44 per cent 357.15, Ranbaxy Labs fell 0.96 per cent to Rs 916.35, Infosys Technologies gained 0.50 per cent to Rs 1,988.10 and ITC was down 0.50 per cent to Rs 1,386.50.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of Indian shares worth Rs 284 crore on Friday while domestic mutual funds were net buyers to the tune of Rs 176.20 crore. Brokers said that renewed buying by FIIs has led to the gains in the last four sessions but volumes have mostly remained low, indicating lack of domestic participation.