The Hindu Business Line : 5,500-level crossed on strong buying

MARKETS continued to remain in the positive ground on the last trading day of the week. Propelled by the strong buying interest in key index heavyweights namely Reliance Industries and Infosys Technologies, the benchmark BSE Sensex crossed the 5,500 levels.

On Friday, the 30-stock index rose by 86.35 points (1.58 per cent). The index opened firm at 5,486.63 points, about 32 points higher than the previous day's closing. Sensex never looked back after that and registered gains throughout the day. It also reached an intra-day high of 5,555.68 points and closed at 5,541.35 points.

In the National Stock Exchange, a slightly broad-based S&P CNX Nifty rose by 22.45 points (1.28 per cent) to 1,778.55 points.

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Of the 2,232 stocks traded in the BSE, 1,207 logged gains, 958 declined and the rest remained unchanged. In the Sensex, 23 stocks appreciated, while the rest declined.

Index heavyweights remained a mixed bag on Friday. The stocks of Reliance Industries, Infosys Technologies and Hindustan Lever witnessed strong buying interest. Reliance Industries rose by 2.8 per cent to Rs 520.40 on accompanying trade volumes of 59.7 lakh shares.

Infosys Technologies was up 2.6 per cent to Rs 5,255.85. Hindustan Lever also rose by 1.1 per cent to Rs 200.85. ICICI Bank and ITC, on the other hand, ended the day on a negative note.

The stock of Larsen & Toubro rose by a whopping 8.3 per cent to Rs 498.25 on accompanying trading volumes of 18.8 lakh shares. ONGC rose by 5 per cent to Rs 748.

Other major gainers of the index include State Bank of India, Larsen & Toubro, Hindalco, Wipro, Grasim Industries, Cipla, Hero Honda, ACC, MTNL, BSES and Zee Telefilms. Major losers of the index include HPCL, BHEL and Bharti Tele-Ventures.

Select pharma stocks witnessed strong buying interest. The stock of Cipla rose by 5.4 per cent to Rs 1,278.70. Novartis surged 5.7 per cent to Rs 436.15. GlaxoSmithKline Pharma also appreciated by a whopping 8.2 per cent to Rs 614.95. The stock of Ranbaxy Labs also rose by 1.7 per cent to Rs 1,124.30. Dr. Reddy's Labs, on the other hand, ended the day on a negative note.

The stock of MRF fell by 6.9 per cent to Rs 2,297.25. This has to be seen in the backdrop of sharp drop in the earnings registered by the company in the recently concluded quarter. MRF posted a net profit of Rs 13.6 crore for the quarter ended September, as against Rs 26.4 crore registered in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. However, the total income of the company rose by 25 per cent to Rs 603.4 crore, during the same period.

Steel stocks continued to register huge trading volumes. The stock of SAIL rose by 2.6 per cent to Rs 46.95 on trading volumes of 2.5 crore shares. Tata Steel edged up marginally on trading volumes of 30.1 lakh shares. Ispat Industries, on the other hand, fell by 1.7 per cent to Rs 15.35 on trading volumes of 31.9 lakh shares. Essar Steel also ended the day on a negative note accompanying trading volumes of 24.9 lakh shares.

Cement manufacturer Jaiprakash Industries edged up marginally by 1.4 per cent to Rs 112.6 on accompanying trading volumes of 22.2 lakh shares up from the previous day's 15.5 lakh shares. The company has announced that it is considering a dividend, for the year ended March 2003.

Paper manufacturer Ballarpur Industries also registered a sharp jump in trading volumes as it rose by 3 per cent to Rs 81.35.

Other stocks that witnessed a strong surge in trading volumes include IFCI, Satyam Computers, Alka Spinners, Ballarpur Industries, IDBI and Chambal Fertilisers.

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