Frontliners, banks deliver

STOCKS REPORT

Bulls continue to dominate the markets as the Sensex gained another 27.50 points in a rather lacklustre trading session. Buying in select frontline and bank stocks helped the Sensex end at 6860.18, up 0.4 per cent. The Nifty ended 9.6 points higher at 2112.3.

Brokers said, "There is enough liquidity in the system that is driving the markets up. However, monsoons are a big concern as any delay would adversely affect stocks in the auto and FMCG sectors."

Banking sector stocks continue to hog the limelight as the Bankex ended 1.34 per cent higher at 4063.45. Among the gainers in the Bankex index, IndusInd Bank was up 7.69 per cent to Rs 72.85, Bank of Punjab was up 4.29 per cent to Rs 31.60, City Union Bank was up 2.98 per cent to Rs 93.40 and Federal Bank was up by 2.62 per cent at Rs 172.35. State Bank of Mysore was up 2.29 per cent at Rs 2,675.

However, a few bank stocks ended negative on profit booking. Corporation Bank was down 2.39 per cent at Rs 364.10, Indian Overseas Bank was down 0.42 per cent to close at Rs 82.10, Vijaya Bank ended at Rs 65.00 and UTI Bank closed at Rs 229.15, down by 0.31 per cent and 0.22 per cent, respectively.

The breadth of the market turned positive with 1,338 stocks advancing as against 1,214 stocks declining. Among the 30 share BSE basket, 17 ended positive on Tuesday. The volumes were moderate and accounted for Rs 2,213.6 crore on BSE and Rs 4,187.72 crore on the National Stock Exchange (NSE).

In the Sensex basket, the big gainers were Bharti Tele-Ventures, up 2.36 per cent at Rs 227.35, ICICI Bank was up 2.03 per cent to Rs 432.50, Reliance Energy was up 2.03 per cent at Rs 583.40, HDFC Bank was up 1.91 per cent at Rs 593.85, ONGC was up 1.26 per cent at Rs 929.85, Bajaj Auto was up 1.13 per cent at Rs 1,236.50, Dr Reddy's was up 1.01 per cent at Rs 722.90 and Tata Steel was up 1.01 per cent at Rs 334.15.

Though the market fared well, backed by strong gains from Bharti, Reliance Energy and ICICI Bank on Tuesday, the undertone in the market is cautious with a negative bias in the short term, said a head of research with a domestic broking firm.

Select oil & gas stocks continue to rally on renewed buying interest. Bongaigaon Refineries was up 1.42 per cent to Rs 99.90, ONGC was up 1.26 per cent to Rs 929.85, Petronet LNG was up 0.12 per cent to Rs 42.40.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of Indian shares worth Rs 2,131 crore on Monday (this is inclusive of FIIs participating in the Infosys ADR). Domestic mutual funds were net buyers to the tune of Rs 4.7 crore.

Investors continue to lap up FMCG stocks inspite of delays in monsoons. J L Morison was up 4.80 per cent to Rs 204.05, Dabur India was up 2.83 per cent to Rs 131.00, Rayban Sun Opticals was up 1.81 per cent to Rs 81.75 and Procter & Gamble gained 0.40 per cent to close at Rs 632.50.

However, in the past few days, Gillette India, HLL, Nirma and Colgate ended negative on profit booking. Gillette India was down 2.49 per cent to Rs 757.85, Nirma was down 2.06 per cent to Rs 419.80, HLL was down 1.1 per cent to Rs 147.95 and Colgate was down 1.08 per cent to Rs 234.50.

Among index losers, HDFC was down 1.58 per cent to Rs 830.4, Tata Steel was down 1.08 per cent to Rs 330.80, NTPC was down 0.64 per cent to Rs 85, ACC was down 0.47 per cent to Rs 381.90 and Grasim Industries was down 0.26 per cent to Rs 1,093.90.