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Alagappan Arunachalam

THE bull-run on the markets continued into Monday's trade, backed by strong earnings performance and buying interest. The markets closed with gains for the third day in a row. Mid-cap stocks were the major gainers, frontline stocks — Infosys, Bharti, Baja Auto and Wipro — propelled the bellwether indices to close in the positive territory. The bullish undertone that prevailed in the market could be gauged from the advances-decline ratio, which stood at 5:2.

The BSE Sensex after opening on a firm note at 6456.97 points notched up sharp gains in the afternoon to touch a high of 6532.17 points. The index closed a tad lower than the day's high at 6528.03 points registering a gain of 76.49 points.

The S&P CNX Nifty moving on similar lines, crossed the 2,000-mark to touch a high of 2014.95 points, it closed for the day at 2012.6 points. The index has gained more than five per cent since April.

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The US clampdown on import of garments from China appears to have created buying interest in the leading garment manufacturers. Gokaldas Exports, Raymond, Arvind Mills and Zodiac Clothing surged ahead by more than three per cent.

Auto stocks led the market from the front, Baja Auto gained 4.67 per cent, Maruti gained 4.41 per cent, Escorts gained 2.64 per cent and Hindustan Motors gained 2.58 per cent. Buying interest in Tata Motors mounted on expectations of strong quarterly results, the stock gained Rs 15.35 to close at Rs 447.95. Shanti Gears shot down by 11 per cent, after it declared poor results, its fourth quarter profit stood at Rs 4.17 crore lower by 15 per cent.

IVRCL Infrastructure put on sharp gains after the company had announced of having bagged orders worth Rs 393 crore from NHAI. Accompanied by a three-fold jump in volumes, the stock closed 3.3 per cent higher at Rs 493.8. Other gainers in the infrastructure sector were Ingersoll Rand, Gammon India and Hindustan Construction.

Pivotals in the engineering sector registered sharp gains; BHEL, Gammon India, Esab India, Kirloskar Brothers and ABB gained more than three per cent. Usha Martin, Alfa Laval and Alstom lost value.

Mid-cap stocks were the major gainers among the FMCG stocks. Agro Tech Foods, Ruchi Soya, VST Industries and Rei Agro gained more than four per cent.

Mid-cap stocks in the metals sector put on smart gains, Southern Iron & Steel, Nav Bharat Ferro Alloys, Uttam Galva, Ispat Industries and Jindal Saw.

Rallis India plunged 11 per cent to close at Rs 261.35; the company announced a sharp fall of 73 per cent in the fourth quarter profits. Volumes were abysmally low compared to Friday's trade.

Buying interest was evident in the stock of Balrampur Chini, volume trebled to 3.75 lakh shares. The company had a spate of good news for the market, a 106 per cent jump in fourth quarter profits, a dividend of 160 per cent and plans of setting up a 10-MW Cogen power plant. Balrampur closed with a gain of 2.39 per cent at Rs 60.1.

Wipro flared by Rs 23 to close at Rs 659.2 after the company had announced plans of offering new ADRs in the American market for funding its acquisitions. Other IT stocks that closed with gains were Datamtaics Technologies, Tata Infotech, Satyam, MphasiS BFL and i-flex Solutions.

Century Enka's proposal to buyback of shares from its foreign investor appears to have propelled the stock. Backed by steady volumes the stock put on a gain of 5.68 per cent to close at Rs 193.5. The stock has gained Rs 23 ever since the announcement on May 9.

Significant gainers among the Nifty constituents were Tata Chemicals, Punjab National Bank and M&M.

Prominent losers on the Nifty were Ranbaxy, Zee Telefilms, Grasim, Cipla, Gujarat Ambuja and Glaxo.

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