The Hindu Business Line : Markets reverse direction with handsome gains

AFTER the breather over the last few days, the benchmark indices continued its upward trend on Thursday. Soaring oil prices does not appear to have dampened the positive sentiment as the 30-stock index BSE Sensex rose 59.91 points (1.05 per cent).

The S&P CNX Nifty also rose by 20.8 points (1.16 per cent) to 1815.7 points. Trading volumes remained lacklustre on the NSE as 26.6 crore shares were traded as against 32.2 crore shares traded on Wednesday.

The Sensex opened the day on a firm note at 5718.64 points, about five points higher than Wednesday's closing. It remained in the positive ground through out the day and reached the day's high of 5793.08 points, before closing at 5733.66 points.

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Most of the indices on the BSE closed the day on a positive note. The gains were higher on the BSE TECk, as it gained 1.1 per cent.

Of the total 2,246 stocks that were traded on the BSE, 1,225 stocks gained in value, 919 stocks lost ground and the rest remained unchanged. On the Sensex, about 24 stocks appreciated and the rest declined.

Index heavyweights witnessed a mixed trend. The stock of Reliance Industries rose 2.1 per cent to Rs 558.45. Infosys Technologies rose 1.1 per cent to Rs 1.704.85. The stocks of ICICI Bank and ITC, however, closed the day on a negative note.

Among the Sensex constituents, the stocks that witnessed strong buying interest include Bharti Tele-Ventures (3.9 per cent), Tata Steel (3.5 per cent) and Tata Power (4.8 per cent).

Other stocks that appreciated include Jindal Strips (10 per cent), Tasc Pharma (10 per cent), Kalyani Steel (8.5 per cent), Allahabad Bank (7.9 per cent), Ultra Tech Cemco (7.1 per cent) and Indiabulls (6.7 per cent).

Construction stocks firm: Several construction companies were among the gainers. The stocks of Hindustan Construction (6.9 per cent), Era Construction (3.5 per cent), Nagarjuna Construction (2.8 per cent), Madhucon Projects (2 per cent) and IVRCL Infrastructures (1.9 per cent) closed the day on a positive note.

Sugar stocks decline: Stocks of several sugar manufacturers including Balrampur Chini Mills (3.5 per cent), Dhampur Sugar (5.1 per cent) and Bajaj Hindustan (3.8 per cent) closed the day on a negative note.

Other stocks that registered declines include Amtek Auto (8.6 per cent), TTK Healthcare (6.8 per cent), Bhushan Steel (5.9 per cent), Lyka Labs (5.2 per cent) and Nicholas Piramal (3.9 per cent).

Stocks and news

Gujarat NRE Coke is to acquire a coal mine in Australia. The company will establish a subsidiary in Australia - Gujarat NRE Australia - for this purpose and will hold a majority stake in it. The stock was up 9.9 per cent to Rs 98.95.

NEPC India has bagged new orders for executing wind power installations. The company has executed orders worth Rs 125 crore during the first half of FY'05. The company has also plans to execute orders worth Rs 200 crore during the second half of FY'05. The stock was up 20 per cent to Rs 10.27.

Maharashtra Seamless has bagged an order worth Rs 95 crore for supplying pipes from IOCL. It has also secured an export order worth Rs 25 crore from Titas Gas Transmission & Distribution, Bangladesh. The stock was up 1.7 per cent to Rs 242.

After the close of the day's trading, Bilcare announced that it plans to raise funds to the tune of Rs 75 crore through the preferential route. The stock was up two per cent to Rs 296.25.

Steel stocks including SAIL, Tata Steel, Ispat Industries and Jindal Stainless witnessed robust trading volumes. Other stocks that recorded robust trading volumes include GV Films, Ashok Leyland, Alka India, Tata Teleservices and Petronet LNG.

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