The old economy buoy

STOCKS REPORT

Auto, cement and steel scrips were among the biggest gainers on Tuesday. The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Auto index was the biggest gainer on Tuesday, up 1.62 per cent.

The BSE Sensex gained 0.67 per cent (33.70 points) to close at 5067.39 as relief buying helped the market close in positive territory.

Brokers said that relief buying at lower levels is expected even though rising international oil prices and high domestic inflation are capping gains.

Blue chips witnessed select buying with 24 out of the 30 scrips in the Sensex basket closing in the positive territory. Gainers edged out losers 10:7 on the BSE. Brokers said that inflation fears are a major drag on the market despite international oil prices easing a bit.

"The lack of a strong positive trigger is hampering the market, though most funds and institutions still believe in the India growth story," Said a dealer from a local brokerage.

HDFC Bank was the biggest gainer in the Sensex basket, up 2.98 per cent to close at Rs 374.75, followed by the Reliance Energy, up 2.89 per cent to Rs 621.10 and Grasim, up 2.74 per cent to close at Rs 1096.60.

Bharti Tele-Ventures was the biggest loser in the Sensex basket, down 2.87 per cent to Rs 135.50, followed by the Dr Reddy's Labs, down 2.43 per cent to Rs 654.35 and Zee Telefilms, down 1.45 per cent to Rs 149.50.

Index heavyweights, ITC was up 1.38 per cent to Rs 1,029.10, Reliance Industries, gained 0.51 per cent to Rs 453.50 and SBI was up 0.41 per cent to Rs 420.10. But HLL fell 0.45 per cent to Rs 109.85.

Tata Motors was up 2.33 per cent to Rs 381.65 and Bajaj Auto gained 1.35 per cent to Rs 873.70.

Gujarat Ambuja Cements was up 2.27 per cent to Rs 320.15 and ACC was up 0.62 per cent to Rs 261.20.

Tata Steel was up 1.31 per cent to Rs 248.35 and Hindalco gained 1.78 per cent to Rs 1148.65.

Cash segment volumes were marginally lower than on Monday, with the BSE reporting a turnover of Rs 1,454.13 crore and the NSE reporting a turnover of Rs 3,461.30 crore.