The Hindu Business Line : Buying in Reliance, Infosys lifts the day

THE markets witnessed a bit of a seesaw motion on Tuesday as it swung between the positive and negative territory to finally end on a higher note. The announcement of the Credit policy and a stream of corporate results were greeted with mixed reactions from investors. The BSE Sensex gained 70 points or 1.25 per cent, recouping the losses it had suffered on Monday. The benchmark index ended at 5651.09 points, up from its previous close of about 5581 points. The S&P CNX Nifty rose by about 39 points or 1.35 per cent to close at 1781.05.

The Sensex opened upbeat at 5591 points, but fell to a low of 5558 points following the RBI's announcement of a hike in the repo rate to 4.75 per cent. The central bank also revised its estimated GDP growth rate downwards to 6 per cent from 6.5 per cent. The market, however, recovered in the later hours of trading on strong buying in index heavyweights — Reliance and Infosys.

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The stock of Reliance gained Rs 15.45 to close at Rs 551.75 on the back of its strong earnings for the quarter. The stock of Infosys also rose by Rs 43.30 to close at Rs 1862.65.

As much as 19 stocks in the 30-strong Sensex advanced on the Tuesday.

The strongest gain was witnessed by the stock of Satyam Computers, which put on 4.6 per cent to close at Rs 370.20. The stocks of Tata Steel, Hindalco, Tata Motors and SBI were the other gainers.

The stocks of Gujarat Ambuja Cement and L&T were prominent losers. The stock of L&T declined more than 3 per cent to close at Rs 803.90. The company had reported a fall in its new order-book position.

Banking stocks attracted subdued buying interest. The stock of SBI, however, managed to notch up 2.85 per cent to close at Rs 451.80. A host of pharmaceutical stocks finished higher on Tuesday. Prominent gainers were AstraZeneca Pharma, Nicholas Piramal, Aventis Pharma, Cadila Healthcare, Matrix Laboratories and Aurobindo Pharma.

The stock of Aurobindo Pharma gained Rs 10.55 to close at Rs 363.75 on the back of news that it had received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market mirtazapine tablets.

Earnings announcements: Declaration of earnings results continued to hold sway over the markets. The stocks of Titan, Britannia, GlaxoSmithkline Healthcare and HCL Technologies gained on the back of strong results that were declared after trading hours on Monday. Companies that declared results on Tuesday also saw immediate reaction in the markets.

The stock of Tata Power fell by Rs 2.8 to close at Rs 298.05. The company reported a 19 per cent dip in profits for the quarter ended September.

The stock of Century Textiles fell Rs 2 to Rs 146.3, even as it reported a profit in the second quarter as against a loss in the previous year.

The stock of Gujarat Alkali soared nearly 10 per cent to close at Rs 74.7 on the back of its announcement of earnings numbers for the quarter ended September.

The stock of Jindal Iron appreciated by Rs 13.4 to close at Rs 257.3 after it reported a 33 per cent increase in net profit for the quarter.

The stock of CESC gained Rs 2.1 to close at Rs 123.5. The company saw a 126 per cent growth in profits despite a fall in revenues.

The stock of Bharat Forge soared by nearly Rs 20 to close at Rs 839.45 after it reported a 29 per cent growth in profit during the quarter ended September.

Other prominent stocks that saw an upmove on Tuesday include Gujarat Alkali, Mid-day Multimedia, Mirza Tanners, Alembic, Lloyds Steel, Pearl Global, Alps Industries, Sintex, Gujarat NRE Coke and Nucleus Software.

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Buying in Reliance, Infosys lifts the day

Rakesh Mohan is Secretary, DEA