The scrip of Steel Authority of India (SAIL) on Wednesday witnessed a combined volume of more than seven crore changing hands. On the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), the stock hit a new 52-week high at Rs 13.30 in mid-trades session but settled at Rs 11.95, up 7.60 over Tuesday's close.
On the National Stock Exchange, more than 5.71 crore changed hands on retail and institutional support. With this, SAIL has jumped a massive 140 percent from Rs 5.50 on since May 23. In the same period, volumes reached a high of 1.36 crore shares on 4 June 2002 and a low of 2.13 lakh of 23 May 2002.
According to analysts, "SAIL has become a bargain pick following hopes that the government will divest its stake in the company and hike steel product prices." Meanwhile a dealer with a domestic brokerage house said, "The stock is attracting interest on probable disinvestment as well as reports that the company's sales in the last two months (April-May 2002) climbed 36 per cent." However, a big domestic mutual fund was rumoured to be seller on the counter.
According to analysts, the rise in steel demand in other parts of the world is also having a positive impact on Indian steel companies. They opine that the decline in exports from Russia, Korea and Japan owing to a rise in demand in their domestic markets should decrease competition for Indian steel makers globally. They added that they hope to see a turnaround in the steel sector within the six to seven months.
