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Aarati Krishnan

ON Tuesday, the stock markets shook off their pre-Budget jitters to post strong gains. After starting the day on uncertain territory, the BSE Sensitive Index closed the day with a 54-point gain at 6589.4 points. The S&P CNX Nifty too followed suit, putting on 15 points before closing at 2058 levels.

Banking stocks, propelled by expectations of greater autonomy to PSU banks, outperformed the rest of the market, while capital goods stocks ended lower on selling pressure.

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The BSE Bankex was the best performing sectoral index for the day, gaining 1.6 per cent against the Sensex's gain of 0.84 per cent.

On the NSE, the Junior Nifty comfortably outpaced the Nifty with a 1.5 per cent gain, compared to the 0.7 per cent move in the Nifty.

Index movers

Larsen & Toubro was the star performer in the index basket, with a gain of Rs 48 on the BSE. This represents a 4.6 per cent move in the stock before closing at Rs 1,067.

SBI stock followed close behind with a 3 per cent gain at Rs 680.7. Reports of a possible ADS offering from SBI propelled the stock.

Bajaj Auto stock also figured on the gainers list with a Rs 22 gain. Hindustan Lever stock also recovered lost ground, adding Rs 2.8 to close at Rs 145. Among the losers in the index basket were Ranbaxy, HPCL, Dr Reddy's Labs and Hindalco.

PSU banks shine

Banking stocks, especially the public sector banks, saw considerable buying interest during the day.

Indications that the Government could grant greater operational freedom to banks to expand overseas operations helped a range of banking stocks.

Recent reports also suggested that the Government is contemplating the dilution of its stake in PSU banks to 51 per cent, so that banks would have greater operational autonomy.

Apart from SBI, State Banks of Mysore, Bikaner and Travancore notched up significant gains during the day.

Mid-cap gainers

Other strong gainers for the day included Sesa Goa (up Rs 89 at Rs 805), NMDC (up Rs 49 at Rs 1,149), Ramco Systems (up Rs 41 at Rs 463) and Igarashi Motors (up Rs 25 at Rs 153).

Capital goods drubbed

Capital goods stocks were drubbed during the day, with stocks such as Siemens India, Kirloskar Brothers, Alfa Laval India and ABB losing ground during the day's trading.

Siemens India stock lost Rs 27 to close at Rs 1,584. The company has recently announced its intention to acquire two other Siemens arms in India at a consideration of $47 million. The company also quashed rumours of a possible bonus offer.

Kirloskar Brothers stock lost Rs 25 at Rs 874 and Alfa Laval stock lost Rs 15 at Rs 731, amid thin trading volumes.

Active counters

Relatively low profile stocks that attracted substantial trading activity on Tuesday were SWIL, Hindustan Motors, Pentamedia Graphics and Bank of Rajasthan. These stocks attracted trading volumes of between 55 and 89 lakh shares.

News moves

The following stock moves appear to be linked to news developments:

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