Waiting for a fresh impetus

STOCKS REPORT

Automobile shares were in the limelight in an otherwise lacklustre day on the bourses on Tuesday.

The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex witnessed very low activity, with the benchmark index ruling in a narrow range for most part of the day.

The Sensex closed at 4,962.63 points, up 0.50 per cent (24.48 points), after hitting a low of 4,891.86 and a high of 4,972.74 in intra-day trades.

The Sensex saw 20 scrips closing higher, though the wider market was negative with losers outpacing gainers in the 870:751 ratio on the BSE.

The National Stock Exchange (NSE) Nifty gained eight points to close at 1,550.55.

The market traded in a negative territory for a major part of the day but late buying helped it close with gains, extending gains to a third consecutive day but with low volumes.

Brokers attribute the low activity to lack of fresh impetus. A dealer at a domestic brokerage said, "Almost all news like the oil price hikes and the recent political uncertainty have been discounted and the market is looking for fresh news to trigger a movement."

He added that the monsoons and the Budget should bring about some activity soon.

Volumes were low in the cash markets today with a turnover of Rs 1,575.06 crore reported on the BSE and Rs 3,656.76 crore on the NSE.

The BSE Consumer Durables Sector Index was the biggest gainer today, up 0.70 per cent, followed by Bankex, up 0.53 per cent. The BSE Capital Goods Index was up 0.42 per cent, BSE-PSU Index gained 0.31 per cent and the Healthcare Index was up 0.20 per cent.

The BSE IT Sector Index was the biggest loser, falling 0.31 per cent, followed by the FMCG index, down 0.13 per cent.

Reliance Energy was the biggest gainer in the Sensex basket today, gaining 4.26 per cent to Rs 560.60, followed by Zee Telefilms, up 4.05 per cent to Rs 141.20 and Bharti Tele-Ventures was up 3.8 per cent to Rs 146.25.

Tata Steel was the biggest loser in the Sensex basket, falling 3.56 per cent to Rs 297.75, followed by Satyam Computer, down 3.08 per cent to Rs 308.40 and Grasim fell 1.59 per cent to Rs 1,063.20.

Auto scrips witnessed buying in a subdued market. Maruti Udyog gained 3.45 per cent to Rs 397.85, Tata Motors was up 2.82 per cent to Rs 406.70 and Hero Honda was up 2.55 per cent to Rs 480.90, being among the top gainers in the Sensex basket.