The Hindu Business Line : Banking, oil stocks lift markets to new high

HELPED by the euphoria in banking and oil refinery stocks, the Sensex closed at new historic high on Thursday. The index ended the day at 6328.43, up 100.6 points over the previous day's close of 6227.83.

A similar trend was evident in the S&P CNX Nifty. After edging past the psychological 2000-point mark, the Nifty closed at 1999. This represents a gain of about 36.95 points or 1.9 per cent.

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The rally in the indices was accompanied by robust business volume. The total turnover at the BSE increased to about Rs 2,693 crore as against Rs 2,305 crore recorded on Wednesday.

Along with the buying spree across banking stocks, the recovery in the price of Reliance Industries and HDFC helped the Sensex scale a new high.

HDFC ended the day at Rs 803.95, up Rs 34.6 over Wednesday's close.

Despite the overall bullish undertone, technology heavyweights Infosys, Satyam and Wipro remained subdued. The share price of Infosys dropped Rs 26.1 to Rs 2081.9. Unlike Infosys, Satyam and Wipro recorded a relatively modest drop in value.

The heightened buying interest in banking stocks was the highlight of the day's trading. Led by State Bank of India, quite a few banking stocks logged sharp gains during the day. The gainers list includes prominent banks such as Corporation Bank, Andhra Bank and Allahabad Bank.

The share price of State Bank of India increased by Rs 41.1 to close at Rs 581.7. Trading volumes zipped to 33.9 lakh shares from 18.87 lakh shares recorded the previous day. The Corporation Bank stock surged by Rs 51.8 or about 17 per cent to Rs 356.2. Trading volumes zipped ahead to 2.57 lakh shares from 23,620 shares.

Along with the banking stocks, buying activity was also evident in the stocks from the oil refinery sector. Top companies such as Hindustan Petroleum, Bharat Petroleum and Indian Oil Corporation were the prominent gainers. The softening of crude oil price in the futures market appears to have had a positive impact on domestic oil refinery stocks.

From Wednesday's close of Rs 342.9, the share price of Hindustan Petroleum rose by Rs 27.25 to settle at Rs 370.15. The rise in share price was on the back of increased trading volumes. Compared to about 2.95 lakh shares recorded on Wednesday, trading volume zipped to 11.8 lakh shares on Thursday.

Buying interest was also evident in counters such as ACC, Amrutanjan, Neyveli Lignite and Crompton Greaves. The share price of these companies also settled at higher levels. In the case of Amrutanjan, trading volume increased to 1.6 lakh shares from 11,640 shares recorded the previous day.

The share buy-back imparted positive sentiment towards the GlaxoSmithKline Beecham Healthcare stock. The share price of the company registered a 13-per cent rise to Rs 323.30. Trading volumes increased to 1.17 lakh shares from 5,749 shares logged the previous day.

Trading volumes in the Neyveli Lignite counter increased from 5.24 lakh shares to 14.9 lakh shares. The share price logged a 7-per cent rise to Rs.63.75.

Encouraged by increased cement despatches, the share price of ACC increased to Rs 294.25 from Rs 284.85. Trading volumes increased to 8.6 lakh shares from 2.56 lakh shares. During November, the company's cement despatch increased to 1.375 million tonnes from 1.217 million tonnes recorded in November 2003.

Apart from Infosys, the lists of losers include Hexware Technologies, McDowell and Shasun Chemicals.

The share price of Hexaware Technologies declined by 3.1 per cent or Rs 16.9 to Rs 525.55. Trading volumes more than doubled to 14,442 shares from 5.299 shares.

The McDowell stock dropped Rs 5.85 or 4.7 per cent to Rs 118.8. From about 6.9 lakh shares, trading volumes declined to 4.2 lakh shares on Thursday.