Value buys give a leg-up

STOCKS REPORT

Consumer durable, auto and metal indices were the top gainers on Wednesday as the Bombay Stock Exchange's (BSE) 30-stock Sensex closed at 5,662.87, up 11.78 points, or 0.21 per cent, from Tuesday's close.The Sensex rose almost 49 points to hit an intra-day high of 5,699.18.

Blue chips shares witnessed some buying support, with 18 out of the 30 Sensex stocks closing higher. The broader market, too, reflected the positive sentiment, with gainers outnumbering losers by 2:1 on the BSE.

Brokers said index heavyweights had a mixed day as some value buying in select scrips helped the market close in positive territory after a volatile trading session. Mid-cap counters also witnessed some value buying.

Players said volatility was expected ahead of the expiry of near-month futures. Some short-covering at lower levels lifted the market higher in afternoon trades but selling at higher levels dragged it down.

Market entities added that with most big results already declared, the market will look for other impetus to give it direction. They expect the markets to be range bound in the near term.

The BSE Consumer durables index was the biggest gainer on Wednesday, up 1.41 per cent, followed by the auto index, up 1.36 per cent, metals index gained 0.77 per cent, Healthcare index was up 0.69 per cent and IT index was up 0.65 per cent. The BSE oil & gas index was the biggest loser on Wednesday, down 0.82 per cent.

Maruti Udyog was the biggest gainer in the Sensex basket, up 3.47 per cent to close at Rs 359.55, followed by Dr Reddy's Labs, up 3.05 per cent to Rs 757.20, ACC gained 2.96 per cent to Rs 259.05, HDFC was up 2.87 per cent to Rs 658.75 and Satyam Computer gained 2.82 per cent to rs 380.65.

Reliance Industries was the biggest loser in the Sensex basket, down 1.91 per cent to Rs 541.20, followed by HLL, down 1.67 per cent to Rs 120.40, HPCL fell 1.42 per cent 306.55, BHEL fell 1.17 per cent to Rs 633.05 and L&T fell 1.13 per cent to Rs 794.80.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of equities worth Rs 90.10 crore, while domestic mutual funds were net buyers of Rs 48.20 crore of shares on Tuesday.

Turnover on the cash segments of the bourses increased from Tuesday levels. The BSE reported a turnover of Rs 1,668.19 crore, while the National Stock Exchange reported a turnover of Rs 4,109.93 crore.