The Hindu Business Line : Cement stocks gain on back of June sales

THE markets continued their northward march and landed on a new orbit on Monday. The Sensex has surged by 3.4 per cent in the last five trading sessions. Uninterrupted buying by FIIs, expectations of better June quarter results and impressive cement sales figures may have contributed to the bullish activity.

There was broad based buying in the front line and mid-cap stocks with tech, cement, bank, sugar and media stocks stealing the limelight.

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The Sensex started 14 points lower than the previous close but quickly climbed to an intra-day high of 7,284. It later closed at a record of 7277.3 up by 66.5 points or 0.9 per cent. The mid-cap stocks put up a smart rally with the BSE Midcap outperforming the benchmark index.

The S&P CNX Nifty was no exception and joined the bandwagon to close at a record of 2230.7 up by 18.8 points or 0.8 per cent. Nifty Junior raced ahead with a leap of 1.6 per cent.

Among the basket of BSE-30 (Sensex) Cipla, Hindalco, Tata Power, Gujarat Ambuja, Infosys and NTPC were notable gainers. Larsen & Toubro, Maruti Udyog, HLL, Tata Motors and Wipro were conspicuous losers.

Media stocks gained in the light of fresh buying activity. TV Today, UTV Software, NDTV, Deccan Chronicle and Zee Tele started the week in style and ended on positive grounds.

In tech stocks, Tata Teleservices surged 15 per cent to Rs 30.8. The company is in preliminary stages of discussion for a venture in India with a South Korean-based telecom company.

Cement stocks were on a roll in the back of impressive June sales. Madras Cements and Prism Cements gained over five per cent. ACC, Dalmia Cements and India Cements also closed in the green. UltraTech Cement, however, ended in the red with marginal losses.

It was a sweet day for the sugar stocks, which witnessed heightened buying activity. Expectations of hike in sugar prices added to the positive sentiment. Oudh Sugar Mills, Bajaj Hindusthan and Balrampur Chini gained about four per cent.

Banking stocks put up a stellar performance with the Jammu and Kashmir Bank making a smart gain of 8.5 per cent. HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Allahabad Bank and Bank of Baroda also witnessed intense buying activity. Andhra Bank, UTI Bank and Bank of India succumbed to the pressure from the bears.

Pharma counters traded with a bullish undertone. Aurobindo Pharma surged by seven per cent to close at Rs 336. The company has received approval from USFDA for an AIDS drug. Dr. Reddy's, Suven Life and Orchid Chemicals also made respectable gains, while Merck and Ranbaxy closed in the red.

In the oil and gas counter, Reliance made a marginal gain of 0.7 per cent to close at Rs.643.8 after it raised prices of some chemicals used to make synthetic fibre. Gujarat Fluoro, Mangalore Refineries and Aban Loyd made smart gains, while BPCL and Petronet LNG stayed out of rally.

Wimco attracted much attention in the bourses after ITC's unit bought 74 per cent stake in the stock from Sweden's Match AB. The stock surged by over six per cent to close at Rs 56.2.

Jaiprakash Hydro Power surged by three per cent to close at Rs 29 after it announced its plans to build a 1,000-MW coal-fired plant in Madhya Pradesh.

Jindal South West Holding rose by 3.7 per cent to close at Rs 216. The company plans to build an aluminium plant in Andhra Pradesh for Rs 9,000 crore.

Mahindra & Mahindra made a gain of Rs 10.4 to Rs 582.7 after its last week deal with Amforge to buy its crankshaft machining unit. Amforge, however, registered a decline of Rs 1.9 to Rs 163.6.

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