A group stocks back to the fore

The frontline stocks are back in action on the bourses. The daily turnover of specified 'A' group stocks on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) zoomed to 64 per cent mark on Friday from 38 per cent mark last week. The aggregate turnover of these stocks also increased 52 per cent to Rs 2,336 crore from Rs 1,540 crore last week.

The volume of trade led by B1, B, S, T, TS and Z group stocks has declined drastically after the Security and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) put fresh circuit filters. The aggregate market share of non-A group stocks declined to 36 per cent on Friday from 62 per cent last week.

The stocks traded under S, T, TS and Z category have faced the worst. The daily aggregate turnover of stocks traded under these groups declined by 47 per cent "" from Rs 563 crore to Rs 299 crore.

The collective market share of these stocks declined from 14 per cent to 8 per cent. The market share of B1 group stocks declined from 40 per cent to 34 per cent and that of B group stocks from 8 per cent to 5 per cent.

The daily turnover of B1 group stocks dropped by 23 per cent to Rs 1,267 crore (Rs 1,636 crore) and that of B group 39 per cent to Rs 202 crore (Rs 330 crore).

Trading volumes in speculative grade stocks have been hit badly as a majority of these stocks have been getting locked at the lower end of the circuit filter, providing little chance for investors to exit.

Of the 2,400 traded scrips, 337 non-A group stocks' daily turnover declined by more than 90 per cent while 553 stocks witnessed a decline in turover in the range of 75-90 per cent and 572 stocks between 50-75 per cent.

Ind Tra Deco, Karuna Cables, IT People, SGN Telecoms (all from Z group); Transcon Research (T group), Kovilatti Laksmi,Austin Engineering, Magma Leasing and JMT Auto (B2 group); and Kesar Enterprises (TS group) have seen their turnover declining by 95 per cent "" from over Rs 1 crore daily turnover to less than Rs 5 lakh.

Amtek India (S group) too faced the same fate. Its daily turnover has declined by 95 per cent "" from Rs 11.52 crore in last week to Rs 52 lakh in current week.

Greenply Industries' (B2) turnover dropped by 94 per cent (from Rs 4.9 crore to Rs 29 lakh); Zicom Electronic Security 's (S) by 92 per cent (from Rs 8.09 crore to Rs 64 lakh); and Era Constructions' (S) by 84 per cent (from Rs 32 crore to Rs 5 crore).