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Sowmya Sundar

THE markets witnessed a secular bull run across sectors for the sixth straight day. The BSE Sensex closed 1.72 per cent up at 4631.39 points.

Stocks of tractor manufacturing companies, automobile stocks and PSU stocks were the day's favourite. Stocks in the construction sector too were upbeat.

Tata Motors witnessed frantic buying on the back of reports that the Tata Group has been short listed to bid for Daewoo.

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Stocks of tractor manufacturing companies such as Eicher, Mahindra & Mahindra, Punjab Tractors and Escorts rose sharply. The traded volumes too increased in tandem. M&M announced a 48 per cent jump in vehicle sales in September. Its tractor sales too improved. Escorts gained Rs 10 or 20 per cent and traded volumes rose 10-fold. Eicher and Eicher Motors too moved up smartly backed up a pick up in traded volumes.

Power stocks such as Tata Power, CESC and Ahmedabad Electricity were quite active. Tata Power gained 5 per cent . The stock has been on an upward trend for the last few days. Recently Tata Power has bid for a 300 MW project in Sri Lanka. Hopes of bagging the order could have spurred interest in the stock.

Titan was another stock that moved up smartly as traded volumes increased substantially from four lakh to 22 lakh. The company, which turned around a year ago, has aggressive plans for future growth. Fresh infusion of capital by the promoters would bring down the debt burden and the interest costs. These positive developments have sustained interest in the stock. The stock gained 15 per cent to close at Rs 96.

Stocks in the construction sector such as IVRCL Infrastructure, Madhucon Projects, Gammon, Nagarjuna Construction and Larsen & Toubro rallied ahead.

IOC settled 3.2 per cent higher after the Government decided to put IOC for sale. The Divestment Ministry added six more companies to the divestment list on Friday. Though the mode of sale is not yet known, the move buoyed investor interest in the stock. A few other stocks such as Engineers India, Balmer Lawrie and State Trading Corporation too rose after the decision to sell their shares. Engineer's India gained 11 per cent or Rs 39 during the day. The stock hovered in the Rs 250-290 band for a very long time and gained momentum in the last few trading sessions.

On the other hand the share price of HPCL, whose divestment has been pending for almost two years due to numerous issues, fell 2.2 per cent.

Indian Hotels gained 2.8 per cent on the back of news that it is planning to buy a hotel in New York.

Tata Steel moved up sharply after the company announced that it produced a record two million tonnes of steel in the six months ended September 30. The production was 10 per cent higher than the corresponding previous year due to higher demand from China and automobile manufacturers.

Neyveli Lignite continued its uptrend and closed 7 per cent higher at Rs 50. The stock has gained close to 50 per cent in the last two weeks.

A few mid cap and small cap stocks such as Shaw Wallace, Panyam Cements, Goodyear, DCW, Sakthi Sugars, NRB Bearings, Shah Alloys and Motherson Sumi gained in excess of 10 per cent.

In a rather sunny day stocks such as Ion Exchange, Bharat Seats, Jaiprakash Industries, Aban Loyd, Fulford, J&K Bank, Birla Yamaha, Shasun Chemicals, Emico Elecon, Grindwell Norton, Shipping Corporation, Jindal Iron, and Ucal Fuel dipped.

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