The Hindu Business Line : Textile stocks up and swinging

THE bellwether indices began the day on a robust note on Thursday, only to fizzle out towards the close of trading as profit-booking dragged down both the indices.

The BSE Sensex closed the day at 6035.03 points, barely changed from the previous close of 6036 points. However, the Sensex did manage to touch 6081 points during the morning session as frenetic buying engulfed many index stocks, soon after the opening bell. The Nifty too ended the day flat, at 1901 points, 3 points lower than the previous day's close. Advances and declines were evenly balanced within the index basket, as 13 Sensex stocks rose, to 17 that declined.

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Reliance at centre-stage in index: The Reliance group stocks continued to occupy the limelight during the day's trading with both Reliance Industries and Reliance Energy shedding value. At 2.30 pm, Reliance Energy notified the stock exchanges about the resignation of six of the directors on its board. The stock led the list of index losers on Thursday, shedding Rs 34 to close at Rs 549.1. The Reliance Industries stock followed suit, losing Rs 11.5 to close at Rs 503.4.

ONGC (lower by Rs 14 at Rs 796), Grasim (down by Rs 21 at Rs 1,112) also added to the downward pressure on the Sensex. After market hours, ONGC indicated that it could be interested in bidding for selected assets of Yukos, an oil company put on the block by the Russian Government. The ICICI Bank stock also lost Rs 6.6, in contrast to the trends in other banking stocks, which gained in value.

Losses in the Sensex were contained mainly by ITC, which put on Rs 21, HDFC (up Rs 16) and HDFC Bank (up Rs 16.6). Hero Honda added Rs 26.6 to close at Rs 473 on the back of expectations of robust growth in two-wheeler sales. The Larsen & Toubro stock also gained Rs 16 during the day.

Select tech stocks shine: The BSE Teck index was the only sectoral index which closed the day with gains. Gains in the index were led by HCL Infosystems, which rose by Rs 60, to close at 748 and E-Serve which rose Rs 21. Wipro, VSNL and Patni Computer were other stocks to notch up gains during the day.

Textile mid-caps shine: While index stocks were pulled in both directions, several mid-cap stocks displayed strong traction during the day's trading. Textile and textile machinery stocks were the favoured plays, with a range of stocks from these sectors surging in value. Textile machinery maker-LMW, added Rs 279 to close at Rs 8,000 on the BSE. Stock of retailer- Trent continued its winning streak, putting on Rs 54.9 to close at Rs 513.7. DCM Shriram Consolidated (up Rs 34.5), Shri Dinesh Mills (up Rs 21.7) and Himmatsingka Siede (up by Rs 17) were stocks that witnessed considerable buying interest.

Outside of the textile sector, United Phosphorus was a strong gainer, adding Rs 24.7 to close at Rs 731. Kothari Products, maker of pan masalas, also surged by Rs 31.7 to close at Rs 284.

Some of the mid-caps, which have seen a sharp upsurge over the past few trading days also corrected sharply on Thursday. Mercator Lines lost Rs 39, ending a seven-day winning streak, and closed at Rs 855.5. The stock had gained six per cent on Wednesday after the company announced the acquisition of a Suezmax tanker. Pharma companies continued to be caught up in bearish sentiment, as AstraZeneca Pharma and Aventis figured on the losers list. The former lost Rs 78 during the day to close at Rs 1,406. Atlas Copco (down by Rs 26), Ondeo Nalco (down Rs 20) and Apollo Hospitals were among the key losers. The Lotte India (formerly Parry Confectionery) stock lost some of the gains made the previous day, shedding Rs 12.4 to close at Rs 175.7.