Late sales pare gains

STOCKS REPORT

Selling pressure by domestic funds during the fag-end of the trading session curbed the gains seen by equities during the early part of the day.

Shares in automobile, power, metal and technology companies were under the spotlight on hopes of strong financial results, which are expected late this month.

The Bombay Stock Exchange's 30-share Sensex, which rose over 117 points till the mid-day session, ended with a gain of 49.94 points at 5,838.02. After opening strong at 5,809.74, the bellwether index hit a high at 5905.35 and a low 5,798.37 during the day. The National Stock Exchange's S&P CNX Nifty rose by 15.50 points to close at 1,856.60.

Trading volumes were brisk on both the exchanges with gainers outnumbering losers by three-to-one.

"The momentum is back, with the corporate earnings season coming up and the global indices trending upward," said a dealer with a local brokerage.

"Though the buying interest is high, volumes are very low because of the uncertainty over the elections. There was little selling pressure today, so the index was able to sustain its early gains."

Shares in Tata Motor surged 2.60 per cent to Rs 508.90, off from day's low of Rs 583 on sustained buying interest on reports that the company plans to foray into the South Korean markets with its own vehicles following its acquisition of Daewoo Commercial Vehicle. Ashok Leyland added 2.60 per cent to Rs 266.10.

Hindalco rose 2.44 per cent to Rs 1,347.40 while state-run Steel Authority of India gained nearly two per cent to Rs 36.35 on expectations of higher prices.

Energy and power sector shares notched strong gains, with state-run Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL), the state-run power equipment, rising 5.10 per cent to settle at Rs 654.45. The stock rose from Rs 628 to its lifetime high of Rs 686 in intraday trades on provisional quarterly earnings on Friday.

Tata Power jumped 5.09 per cent to Rs 413.05 on sustained buying interest in the power sector stock.