Mid-caps shine

STOCK REPORT

On a day marked by high volatility, the Sensex swung between an intra-day high of 7338.01 and a low of 7236.78, to finally close 56.04 points down at 7247.91. The Nifty lost 16.75 points to close at 2204.05. Most counters witnessed profit booking, brokers said.

"There was a lot of selling pressure on Wednesday. The banking and PSU sector were the major sufferers. But mid-caps did well inspite of the index closing lower. This shows that the market interest has not gone down."

The breadth of the market turned positive as 1,368 stocks declined against 1,117 stocks advancing. Of the 30 shares in the BSE basket, only nine ended positive. Turnover on the BSE was lower compared with yesterday at Rs 3,354.01 crore. NSE turnover stood at Rs 6,909.69 crore.

Among the few gainers in frontline stocks, Hero Honda was up 4.68 per cent to Rs 636, Tata Power was up 3.12 per cent to Rs 407.95, SBI was up 1.21 per cent to Rs 726.35, Larsen & Toubro gained 1.07 per cent to Rs 1,262.30, Wipro ended 1.03 per cent higher to close at Rs 709.05, BHEL ended 0.43 per cent high at Rs 878.20 and Bajaj Auto went up 0.34 per cent at Rs 1,389.10.

The major losers in the Sensex basket were""Ranbaxy, down 2.82 per cent to Rs 1,022. 25, Satyam Computer, down 2.25 per cent at Rs 485.10, HDFC Bank, down 2.01 per cent to Rs 644.35, Bharti Tele-Ventures, down 1.80 per cent to Rs 254.25 and ONGC, down 1.75 per cent to Rs 924.60.

Most of the indices were in the red on Wednesday, the BSE Oil & Gas index was the biggest loser. The index lost 1.30 per cent. BSE IT index was down 0.82 per cent while the BSE Metal index was down 0.73 per cent. The major gainer among the indices, the BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.65 per cent and the BSE Mid-Cap index added 0.56 per cent.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of Indian shares worth Rs 377 crore on Tuesday, while domestic mutual funds were net sellers of Rs 126 crore.

Among the top gainers in the information technology sector, CyberTech Systems (9.99 per cent), Atcom Technology (9.67 per cent)and Geodesic Inform (9.17 per cent), Tata Elxsi (7.73 per cent) and Aptech (7.67 per cent).

Among the top losers in the sector were""Blue Star Info, down 3.66 per cent to Rs 136.75, Kaashyap Rad, down 3.10 per cent to Rs 4.06, Axis IT, down 2.41 per cent to Rs 20.25, Moschip Semi Tech, down 2.25 per cent to Rs 41.20 and Satyam Computer, down 2.25 per cent to Rs 485.10.

The top gainers in the banking sector were""Dhanlaxmi Bank, up 20 per cent to Rs 35.70, Bank of Baroda, up 3.42 per cent to Rs 222.35, Allahabad Bank, up 3.31 per cent to Rs 89.05, Karnataka Bank, up 2.93 per cent to Rs 119.60 and State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur, up 2.89 per cent at Rs 2,274.75.

Among the top losers in this sector were""Yes Bank, down 3.78 per cent to Rs 58.50, Kotak Mahindra Bank, down 2.52 per cent to Rs 412.80, HDFC Bank, down 2.01 per cent to Rs 644.35, State Bank of Mysore, down 1.92 per cent to Rs 2,501 and Canara Bank, down 1.69 per cent to Rs 233.15.

Among the top gainers in the automobile sector, HMT was up 14.90 per cent to Rs 57.85, Hero Honda was up 4.68 per cent to Rs 636, Escorts was up 3.63 per cent to Rs 105.60, Premier Ltd, was up 2.55 per cent to Rs 40.20 and Punjab Tractors was up 2.09 per cent at Rs 183.20.

Among the top losers in this sector were Maruti Udyog, down 1.45 per cent to Rs 449.85, LML, down 1.31 per cent to Rs 41.40, Tata Motors, down 1.31 per cent to Rs 460.50, Hindustan Motors, down 1.12 per cent at Rs 35.20 and Ashok Leyland, down 0.99 per cent to Rs 24.95.