The Hindu Business Line : PSU stocks shine on a lacklustre day

CAUTIOUS undertone prevailed in the secondary markets as it witnessed lacklustre trading activity on Wednesday. The benchmark BSE Sensex remained range bound and closed the day on a positive note, albeit marginally. The 30-stock index rose by 1.12 points (0.02 per cent) to 4963.75 points.

The index opened on a firm note at 4972.34 points, about 10 points higher than the previous day's closing. The buying interest during the early trading sessions saw the index to reach the day's high of 5000.59 points.

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Post-noon trading sessions saw the index to drop sharply to reach the day's low 4945.24 points in the process registering an intra-day swing of about 55 points. The buying interest during the last hour of the trading enabled the index to crawl back in to the positive zone.

On the BSE, most of the indices including BSE TECk, BSEPSU and BANKEX closed the day on the positive territory.

On the NSE, however, the S&P CNX Nifty fell by 2.25 points (0.15 per cent) to 1548.3 points.

Other indices such as Nifty Junior, CNX IT and CNX Midcap, however, closed on a positive note. On the NSE, about 18.1 crore shares were traded, as against 19.1 crore shares traded on Tuesday.

On the BSE, of the total 1,809 stocks that were traded, 989 gained, 734 declined and the rest remained unchanged. Among the Sensex constituents, 17 stocks advanced and the rest declined. Index heavyweights remained a mixed bag. The stocks of Reliance Industries and Hindustan Lever fell by one per cent each. The stocks of Infosys Technologies, ICICI Bank and ITC, however, edged up.

Among the index constituents, stocks that registered gains include Maruti Udyog (5.1 per cent), MTNL (4.3 per cent) and HPCL (3.5 per cent).

The stock of Reliance Energy fell by 3.7 per cent to Rs 540.05. The company plans to buy back its equity shares up to an extent of Rs 350 crore (10 per cent of the equity capital and free reserves), at a price not exceeding Rs 525 per share, through the open market route. Other key losers include Zee Telefilms (5.1 per cent) and ONGC (2.2 per cent).

The stock of Bharti Tele-Ventures rose by 1.8 per cent to Rs 148.9. The company plans to raise funds to the tune of $100 million through an international equity offering or through the foreign currency convertible bonds. The offering is also expected to have a green shoe option of up to $15 million.

The stock of Mirza Tanners rose 10 per cent to Rs 61.85. The company has announced a final dividend of 25 per cent for the year 2003-04.

The stock of SKS Ship rose by 2.1 per cent to Rs 32.15. The company has announced a second interim dividend of 10 per cent for its equity shareholders.

Other key gainers include Saw Pipes (15.6 per cent), BEML (10.1 per cent), Trent (9.8 per cent), Bhushan Steel (8.5 per cent), Indian Overseas Bank (7.9 per cent) Mastek (7.3 per cent) and Biocon (6.3 per cent).

The Stock of GIC Housing Finance rose by 2.5 per cent to Rs 27. After the close of the day's trading, the company announced that it plans to issue shares through a rights offer.

The stock of Amex Information Technologies fell by 1.6 per cent to Rs 13.11. The company plans to issue 40 lakh equity shares of Rs 10 each at Rs 17.5 per share through the preferential route.

Large trading volumes were seen in the stock of Tata Power, Satyam Computer, Tata Steel, Reliance Industries, SAIL, Tata Motors, State Bank of India, Zee Telefilms and Arvind Mills.