The Hindu Business Line : Steel, media & refinery stocks shine

Sensex remained weak in the morning session trading below the 5,800-mark. Prices, however, recovered twice during the day and on both the occasions the rally fizzled out. Similar trading pattern was evident in mid-cap stocks too. The change in CNX Midcap 200 followed that of Sensex and Nifty. The only difference was that Midcap index ended the day with a loss of 0.3 percentage points.

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In the index, stocks of Zee and ICICI Bank were the major gainers. All the IT majors such as Wipro, Satyam, Infosys and HCL Technologies remained firm although the gains were small. But, steel sector stocks shone. Steel producers such as Essar Steel, Jindal Vijayanagar Steel, Tata Steel and SAIL recorded gains. Secondary steel producers such as Bhushan Steel, MUSCO, Mukand, Kalyani Steel, Uttam Galva, Southern Iron & Steel and Monnet Ispat recorded sharp gains.

Television company stocks also surged ahead during the day. News producers such as TV Today and Television Eighteen attracted buying interest. The public offer of NDTV, another news producer, is set to open this week. The biggest gainer among media stocks was, however, Zee Telefilms, which gained 5 per cent.

Stocks of State sector stand-alone refining companies such as Kochi Refineries, Chennai Petroleum and Bongaigaon Refineries also remained firm.

Financial performance of companies did attract the attention of the markets. Stocks such as Monnet Ispat and Mercator Lines, which had announced impressive rise in net profits, posted gains. The stocks of Kalyani Forge and Jindal Stainless, however, recorded declines despite announcing large growth in profits.

Other stocks to record gains include Greaves Cotton, Cosmo Films, Glenmark Pharma, Madras Cements and Bata India. The stock of Greaves Cotton rose by 10 per cent. Greaves Cotton announced its intention to dispose off its power transmission business. Apart from Greaves Cotton, stocks of other capital goods companies to gain include Thermax, Alfa Laval and Praj Industries.

The stock of Cosmo Films, which has declared a dividend of Rs 4.50 per share, rose 2.4 per cent. Another flexible packaging sector company Polyplex Corporation also registered gains. Other flexible packaging sector companies such as Paper Products and Flex Industries recorded losses.

The stock of Glenmark gained 1.5 per cent. The company announced its discovery of a drug for treating pulmonary disorder and asthma. The stock of Madras Cements remained firm. On Monday, UTI Mutual Fund had announced after trading hours that its stake in Madras Cements, through various schemes, has now gone above 5 per cent. The stock of Bata India, which has been surging ahead in the recent trading sessions, gained 1.2 per cent. Stocks of other consumer goods producers such as Britannia, Rayban and Tata Tea also remained firm.

Another stock to extend its recent upward trend was Corporation Bank. The stock gained 3 per cent. Most other bank stocks encountered stiff resistance after a smart rally over the past month. Stocks of Indian Overseas Bank, Union Bank of India, Bank of India and Canara Bank ended the day with losses.

Other major losers include fertilizer stocks such as Coromandel Fertilisers, Godavari Fertilisers, Nagarjuna Fertilisers, Indo Gulf Fertilisers and Hind Lever Chemicals. The stock of other fertiliser companies such as Tata Chemicals and Gujarat Narmada Valley remained firm though. Power sector stocks such as Reliance Energy and Tata Power were also losers along with other index stocks such as Bajaj Auto, Bharti Televentures and ACC.