The Hindu Business Line : Heavy buying interest in large-cap stocks

MARKETS zoomed on Friday, building on the gains of the previous two trading sessions. The robust GDP growth rates registered in the April-June quarter, coupled with expectations of strong earnings numbers from corporates, appears to have perked up investors' sentiment.

An across the board rally was witnessed, with heavy buying interest in large-cap stocks buoying the narrow indices. The BSE Sensex surged a whopping 92 points or 1.65 per cent to close at 5675. 54 points. The bellwether index has gained nearly 9 per cent over the past month. The S& P CNX Nifty also gained about 30 points to close at 1775.15 points.

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Except for a small blip, when the Sensex fell to its low of 5573 points, the index traded in the positive territory. Only two stocks of the 30 share-index- that of Bharti Tele-Ventures and ITC- registered a decline in price. The stocks of ONGC, Tata Motors and ACC led the rally; the prices of these stocks appreciated by more than 3 per cent. About 18.64 crore shares were traded on the BSE.

Stocks of auto companies gained following the announcement of September sales numbers. The stock of Bajaj Auto gained a smart Rs 12.65 to close at Rs 1037. The stocks of Hero Honda and Maruti Udyog also gained.

There was a stream of announcements of acquisitions, which had the stocks of the companies concerned on an upmove. Four Soft gained Rs 2.05 to close at Rs 32.05. The gain comes on the back of the company having signed a stock purchase agreement for acquisition of the entire stake of a Netherlands- based software development company. The number of shares traded jumped from 1.9 lakh to 7.69 lakh.

Hinduja TMT gained Rs 8 to close at Rs 264 on the back of its decision to acquire a 100 per cent stake in Source one Communications of USA, for $ 8.5 million.

Kalpataru Power put on nearly Rs 6 to close at Rs 109. The company is to buy a 40.5 per cent stake in JMC Projects, at a price of Rs 40 per share. Its holding in the company post acquisition is expected to be at least 51 per cent. JMC Projects also gained Rs 3.55 to close at Rs 46.35.

Nucleus Software Exports ended the trading session higher by Rs 2.65 to close at Rs 83.3. The company is to buy out a 25.1 per cent stake in GMAC Financial Services, the Indian automotive arm of General Motors Acceptance Corporation. The value of the deal is to be about Rs 13.65 crore.

Other stocks that gained include Tasc Pharmaceutical, Mukand and Opto Circuits. Tasc Pharmaceuticals gained following its announcement to invest Rs 50 crore to set up a new facility. Mukand closed Rs 7 higher at Rs 41.85. The interest costs of the company are expected to be less by Rs 30 crore, on account of prepayment of a substantial part of a Rs 100-crore loan. Opto Circuits gained Rs 3.7 to close at Rs 105. The company has gained more than 50 per cent since Monday. The company announced after trading hours the issue of three bonus shares for every ten held.

Among the stocks that ended in the negative territory, the stock of Glenmark Pharmaceuticals was a prominent one. The stock slumped by Rs 21 to Rs 298.65, on the back of profit booking. The stock had witnessed a sharp uptrend in the past two weeks, gaining about 60 per cent.

A good number of pharma and textile stocks ended in the losers list. These stocks include Sun Pharma, Torrent Pharma, Malwa Cotton, GTN Textiles, Gangotri Textiles, Zodiac Clothing, Himatsingka Seide, to name a few.