Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Tuesday, Dec 30, 2003
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Tuesday, Dec 30, 2003 |
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Markets
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Commentary Columns - Sensor Bulls take charge on opening day G. Madhan
MARKETS remained buoyant on Monday as the benchmark BSE Sensex ended the first trading day of the week on a positive note. Bullish undertone prevailed right through the trading sessions as the 30-stock index rose 98.09 points (1.7 per cent). The index opened firm at 5,725.44 points, about 26 points higher than last week's closing. Key index heavyweights witnessed strong buying interest as the Sensex reached an intra-day high of 5,814.26 points. However, profit booking in the last half-hour of trading saw the index closing at 5,797.33 points. In the BSE, other indices such as the BSE TECk, BSE PSU and Bankex also ended the day on a positive note. The NSE's 50-stock S&P CNX Nifty hit an all-time high on Monday, rising 37 points (two per cent) to close at 1,874.05 points. Of the total of 2,301 stocks that were traded in the BSE, as many as 1,603 stocks gained, 632 declined and 66 remained unchanged. Among the Sensex constituents, 24 stocks appreciated in value. The remaining stocks logged declines. Among the heavyweights, Reliance Industries gained 1.2 per cent to close at Rs 536.40 with trade volumes of 14.5 lakh shares. Infosys Technologies gained 2.2 per cent to close at Rs 5,509. ICICI Bank rose 5.6 per cent to Rs 301.45. The stocks of Hindustan Lever (1.7 per cent) and ITC (2.4 per cent) also ended the day on a positive note. The stock price of Larsen & Toubro rose 1.6 per cent to Rs 535.5. The company announced, after trading ended, that it has secured a Rs 700-crore contract for engineering, procurement and construction of a 250 MW power plant. The gas turbine-based power plant will be set up near Rajahmundry in Andhra Pradesh for Vemagiri Power Generation, part of the GMR group. Other major gainers include Tata Steel (3.3 per cent), HDFC Bank (4.4 per cent), Dr Reddy's Labs (2.7 per cent), HPCL (two per cent) and BHEL (2.1 per cent). Several IT stocks gained, such as Satyam Computer (3.6 per cent), Wipro (2.6 per cent), Aftek Infosys (15.3 per cent), Mastek (6.9 per cent), Polaris Software (4.6 per cent), NIIT (3.7 per cent) and HCL Infosys (3.2 per cent). The stock price of Siemens rose by 4.7 per cent to Rs 1,022.45. This has to be seen in light of the Rs 483-crore order bagged by the company from the Railways Ministry. The order involves the supply of energy saving traction equipment for Mumbai suburban trains. It comprises supply of traction motors, invertors, and control systems, among others. The supplies against this order are required to be completed over a period of three years. The stock price of Indraprastha Gas, which made its debut last week, continued to witness strong buying interest. The stock gained 19.6 per cent to close at Rs 142.50 with trading volumes of 61.5 lakh shares. The stock of Li Taka Pharma rose by 7.6 per cent to close at Rs 7.6. The company announced, after trading ended, that it has bagged Rs 20-crore an anti-TB contract under the World Bank tender from Novartis India. Steel stocks continue to witness robust trading volumes. The stocks of SAIL, Jindal Vijayanagar, Essar Steel and Ispat Industries registered huge trading volumes.
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