Global trend tango

STOCKS REPORT

Bargain-buying and short-covering on the last day of the financial year helped the benchmark Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex close strongly in the positive territory on Thursday in line with major world markets.

Investors bought consumer durables, technology, fast moving consumer goods and public sector unit stocks, which were among the biggest gainers during the day.

Opening in the positive territory, the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex hit a high of 6,509.02 in intra-day trades before closing at 6,492.82, up 111.42 points (1.75 per cent) from Wednesday's close.

Among the 30 Sensex stocks, 25 closed higher. The breadth of the market was also positive, with gainers outpacing losers in the 6:1 ratio. A smooth rollover of monthly derivative contracts added to the positive sentiment, brokers said.

A dealer from IL&FS Investsmart said, "There was some bargain-buying and short-covering on Thursday. After the steep fall, investors turned fresh buyers in recently battered scrips with some major buying seen in mid-cap stocks."

Brokers added that investors bought technology and blue chip stocks on hopes of some robust quarterly earnings from companies next month.

Technology firms are among the first few to declare their results, analysts added.

Volumes were higher than on Wednesday in the cash segment of the bourses. The BSE reported a turnover of Rs 2,201.69 crore and the National Stock Exchange posted a turnover of Rs 5,753.86 crore. There was also short-covering in the futures and options segment, they said.

There were talks in the market early in the day that fund managers were expected to pick up battered blue chips to boost their net asset values ahead of the new financial year, market sources said.

Wipro was the biggest gainer in the Sensex basket, rising 6.49 per cent to close at Rs 671.10, followed by ITC, up 4.92 per cent to Rs 1,343.75, Bajaj Auto up 4.60 per cent to Rs 1,081.35, Infosys Technologies up 3.84 per cent to Rs 2,252.55 and Satyam Computer up 3.01 per cent to Rs 408.50.

Ranbaxy Labs was top among losers with a fall of 1.98 per cent to Rs 1,003.85, Reliance Energy down 1.82 per cent to Rs 529.95, HDFC down 1.16 per cent to Rs 726.60, Dr Reddy's Labs down 0.89 per cent to Rs 739.10 and State Bank of India down 0.61 per cent to Rs 656.95.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers to the tune of Rs 9.40 crore on Wednesday, while mutual funds have been net buyers to the tune of Rs 94.97 crore, according to figures on the Securities and Exchange Board of India website.