Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Friday, Apr 01, 2005
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Friday, Apr 01, 2005 |
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Markets
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Commentary Columns - Sensor Reliance, IT, steel stocks lead recovery Alagappan Arunachalam
INVESTORS appeared to have thrown caution to the winds on Thursday, after a spate of losses over the last few trading sessions. The bulls had a hey day as the bears disappeared into the woods, they ruled the market for the entire day. The sharp upward rally took place across sectors and categories. The bellwether indices opened marginally higher, within minutes the indices sky rocketed. From then on they moved with intermittent gains. They managed to get to Monday's levels aided by the marginal gains recorded on Wednesday. The bullish undertone was reflected in the high advances-declines ratio of 6:1, the ratio was higher in the mid-cap category. The sharp upward rally in the major global indices helped to prop up the domestic market. Steel and bank stocks clocked high volumes of trade. IT and other technology stocks were the major gainers. Helped by sharp gains in the scrips of Tata Steel, Reliance and Satyam Computer, the market closed higher. The BSE Sensex opened 23 points higher, which also happened the intra day low, within minutes it leaped nearly 70 points. From then on moved in a band of 60 points. With alternating bouts of gains and falls, the index managed to close with a net gain of 111.42 points. The S&P CNX Nifty reflected a nearly similar pattern, except for the sharp rise towards the end. After the smart initial gains that were recorded, the index moved within a band of nearly 24 points, it closed at 2035.65 points, translating to a 2.1 per cent gain. Steel stocks recorded large trade volumes; contrary to the declines recorded over the past few trading sessions they clocked sharp gains. Media reports of Essar Steel and other leading steel makers having asked the Government to curb iron ore exports along with expected hike in steel prices appeared to have spiralled the scrips upwards. SAIL, Ispat Industries, Essar Steel, Tata Steel and Uttam Galva were the major gainers. A mixed trend prevailed in the banking sector, intense activity was recorded on the counters of banking scrips. Correction appears to have set the mode for the mixed trend consequent to sharp rise in these scrips on Wednesday. Allahabad Bank, and United Bank of India advanced, those that shed values were State Bank of India, IndusInd Bank, Kotak Mahindra and Punjab National Bank. ICICI Bank was up, after trading hours the RBI announced that the overseas investment in the bank had hit the trigger limit of 72 per cent. Oil and gas stocks recorded sharp gains, all major stocks in the sector closed with gains. Hindustan Petroleum and Indian Oil Corporation recorded smart gains; the Petroleum Minister, Mr Mani Shankar Aiyar, stated the two companies were to divest a part of the stake in their refineries to Saudi Arabian oil companies. Amidst a strengthening dollar, which is expected to translate into higher earnings for IT companies, the stocks of these companies recorded sharp gains. Major gainers among the mid-cap stocks were Pentasoft, Patni Computers, Aztec Software and NIIT. The stock of Hindalco closed with a gain of Rs 10.25 after the company had announced that it had plans to set up a 3.25 lakh m.t. aluminium smelter plant in Jharkhand at a cost of Rs 7,800 crore. The scrip of Bharat Forge closed with a gain of more than Rs 9 ; the company had announced plans of raising $ 300 million by offering GDRs. Prominent among the Nifty gainers were Wipro, ITC, HCL Technolgies, Tata Chemicals and ONGC. Significant losers among the Nifty constituents were Sun Pharma, Ranbaxy, IPCL, Reliance Energy and Dr. Reddy's Laboratories.
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