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Anup Menon

IT was a day when both the bulls and the bears seemed to suffer from a hangover after a weekend bash. Neither the bulls nor the bears managed to get a grip over the market. However, the bulls seemed to have a marginal edge in the last few trading sessions and this may persist over the next few trading sessions also.

The Bombay Stock Exchange Sensitive Index closed the day at 3384.35 points, up by around 3.74 points (0.11 per cent) over the previous close. The breadth of the market as measured by the ratio of stocks advancing to declines were tilted in favour of the bulls with 841 stocks advancing in value as against 513 that posted declines. The ratio of stocks touching new highs to new lows indicates that the undercurrent is strongly positive with 172 stocks touching new highs as compared to 28 that touched new lows. Total traded volumes stood at 8.96 crore shares.

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The trend at the National Stock Exchange was in line with that of the BSE. The benchmark S&P CN Nifty closed the day at 1100.95 points, up by around 4 points (0.36 per cent). The market breadth was positive with 474 stocks advancing in values against 266 that posted declines. The ratio of stocks touching new highs to new lows indicated a positive undercurrent with 103 stocks touching new highs as against 8 that hit new lows. Total traded volumes stood at around 13.57 crore shares.

The gainers during the day included some of the prominent State-owned enterprises among others. Major gainers were HPCL, BPCL, Bharat Electronics, IPCL, Crest Communications, Mascon Global, Maars Software, United Phosphorus and BEML among others.

IPCL gained by about 5.24 per cent to close the day at Rs 118.40 compared to its previous close. However, volumes in the counter declined from around 34.40 lakh shares to around 27.29 lakh shares. The stock gained momentum, as the market seems to be expecting information on the sale of a controlling stake in the company.

The stock of Bharat Electronics and BEML were up during the day, logging gains of 3.59 per cent and 5.03 per cent respectively. Volumes, in both counters were lower as compared to Friday.

The supply shock in the world oil market created on account of Iraq deciding to halt oil production last month is on its way to end on May 8. This has led to a fall in global crude prices, which could be positive for refiners' margins. The stock of both HPCL and BPCL gained during the day. The former gained 1.45 per cent to close the day at Rs 287.70 while the latter gained 1.27 per cent to close the day at Rs 291.05. Volumes in HPCL declined to around 4.01 lakh shares as compared to Friday. However, BPCL attracted more market interest with 5.29 lakh shares changing hands.

Among the major losers during the day were stocks from technology sector. Plagued by uncertain conditions in the international markets and fears the slowdown in IT spending may continue seemed to have affected the sentiment for the technology stocks.

Top-rung companies in the sector such as Infosys Technologies and Satyam Computer ended the day on a weaker note. The former closed at Rs 3,727.15, down by around 0.79 per cent over its previous close. The latter closed the day down by around 1.02 per cent at Rs 260.9. Both the counters saw an increase in trading interest. Close to 1.1 lakh shares changed hands in the Infosys counter and about 15.30 lakh shares were traded in Satyam Computer.

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