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STOCKS of ONGC and GAIL were suddenly back in the action on Friday. The prices of these two PSUs gained on strong institutional support.

According to dealers, the sudden interest in these two counters came on market talk that the Government might do away with the subsidy these PSUs bear along with oil majors such as IOC, BPCL and HPCL.

The talk is that the subsidy might go in fiscal 2006. The financial performances of these two PSUs have been affected due to the subsidy borne by them.

On Friday, GAIL gained 3.26 per cent at Rs 242.05 on the BSE, while ONGC closed at Rs 842.35, up 3.1 per cent.

Betting on Budget

AFTER the interest they have been showing in various auto-ancillary companies, market players are now taking position in companies manufacturing tyres.

Dealers said the interest was mainly on expectation that some positive announcements will be made for the industry in the Union Budget.

The talk is that once VAT is implemented from next fiscal, tyre companies would benefit. Another reason for the interest in tyre stocks is strong demand from both the OEMs and replacement market, especially with the automobiles sector registering good growth.

On Friday, the stock prices of all the tyres companies gained. These include MRF (up 1.5 per cent at Rs 2,589.30 on BSE), Apollo Tyres (up 1.49 per cent at Rs 280.10), Goodyear (up 1.91 per cent at Rs 64.10), JK Industries (up 3.25 per cent at Rs 85.30) and Ceat (up 6.11 per cent at Rs 72.95).

Gains on infrastructure thrust

THE counter of Reliance Industrial Infrastructure Ltd has been witnessing heavy buying in the last couple of days.

Dealers said the sudden interest in the counter came on the talk that the company would be a major beneficiary of various infrastructure projects that are being planned by the Government. This was despite the fact that the company had not done much of the infrastructure projects till now, they said.

There is also talk that the company might venture into manufacturing of steel pipes, which are used in oil and gas industry. Dealers said this was one company that has not participated in the rally of infrastructure stocks till now.

On Friday, the stock price of the company gained 9.63 per cent at Rs 101.35 on the BSE with a volume of 6.04 lakh shares and up 9.43 per cent at Rs 101.55, with a volume of 19.93 lakh shares on the NSE.

Virendra Verma

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