The Hindu Business Line : Across-the-board buying lifts Sensex

THE benchmark BSE Sensex arrested its three-day losing streak in style, gaining 118.32 points to close at 6221.06 points, propelled by across-the-board buying. The Nifty put on 40.95 points to settle at 1954.55 points.

Tech bellwether Infosys Technologies led the charge from the forefront. Other stocks that remained firmly on the investor's radar were those belonging to the cement and banking sectors.

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After having declared strong set of numbers on Wednesday, Infosys moved up Rs 62.05 to end at Rs 1965.40 on the back of trading volumes of 5.7-lakh shares. The rise in Infosys contributed 23 points to the gain in the Sensex. The firmness in Infosys also rubbed off on the other technology stocks within the Sensex - Satyam Computer and Wipro. Both stocks recorded sharp gains in the run-up to their earnings announcement; Satyam rose Rs 14.2 to finish at Rs 370.25, even as Wipro gained Rs 12.65 to end at Rs 669.50.

Satyam announces its quarterly numbers on January 20 and Wipro follows suit on the next day. The other technology heavyweight Tata Consultancy Services declared its quarterly earnings on Thursday, and the markets did not appear to be too impressed with them. The stock shed Rs 4.15 to close at 1,293.05. About 17-lakh shares were traded on the counter.

CMC, too, was a prominent loser even as Mastek's performance was recognised a day after it reported impressive numbers.

Cement sector stocks, which have taken a breather in recent trading days, were back in the limelight. Large-cap pure cement plays such as ACC and Gujarat Ambuja Cement as well as the diversified-yet-cement-driven Grasim rose sharply.

Focused regional plays such as Dalmia Cement and Shree Cement continued to attract investor fancy. Potential candidates to predicate in the consolidation process in the industry such as Prism Cement, Gujarat Sidhee Cement and Mysore Cement witnessed heavy trading volumes accompanied by a modest increase in price.

Banking sector stocks had a field day retracing a substantial proportion of their losses earlier in the week and dominated the list of gainers in several indices. The BSE Bankex rose by about 4 per cent on a day when the Sensex and Nifty had gains of about 2 per cent.

Large-cap stocks such as Oriental Bank, HDFC Bank, Punjab National Bank and ICICI Bank led the rally. A host of public sector banks as well as associate banks of SBI also sported sizeable gains.

Stocks of old-private sector banks such as Karur Vysya Bank, United Western Bank, South Indian Bank, Karnataka Bank and Bank of Rajasthan were among the prominent gainers. Lakshmi Vilas Bank and Bank of Punjab were the star movers as prices rose by about 20 per cent. The only loser in the private sector space was UTI Bank.

Cutting across sectors, Monsanto, Elder Pharma and Punjab Tractors were stocks that ended the day with hefty gains. Punjab Tractors' move to sell a part of its stake in Swaraj Mazda to Sumitomo Corporation of Japan appears to have driven the upward trend. Expectation of a sizeable dividend if the deal fructifies appears to have been a key factor driving the stock.

ITC was significant loser among the Nifty stocks on a day when a bullish sentiment pervaded stocks across sectors.

Stocks such as Max India, Mercator Lines, National Mineral Development Corporation, Glenmark Pharma and Shyam Telecom, which have enjoyed an upbeat momentum except for the past few trading days, witnessed an upswing. A few stocks of similar ilk that shed value were Ind Swift, Amtek Auto, Vardhman Spinning and Avaya Global.

One sector that missed the bus in Thursday's trading was the oil-refining sector. Refinery stocks such as HPCL, BPCL, Indian Oil and IBP ruled weak.

Other prominent gainers were Hinduja TMT, Hi-Tech Gears (which plans to announced an interim dividend), Kaveri Telecom, Media Video, Shreyas Shipping, Atul, Garden Silk, Sangam India, Krone Communication and LMW.

Notable losers were Novartis, Philips Carbon Black, Moser Baer, Shaw Wallace, Cosmo Films, Walchandnagar Industries, Swaraj Mazda, Lupin Labs, Elgi Equipment and BHEL.

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