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Shanthi Venkataraman

THE markets ended on a flat note on Friday, with most of the action confined to the mid-cap and small-cap space.

The BSE Sensex rose by 19.8 points or 0.3 per cent to close at 7680.20. The Nifty ended the day at 2357.05, up 2.5 points from its previous close. The Sensex has lost 1.3 per cent over the past week, amid mounting expectations of a correction in the markets.

The Sensex opened on a positive note at 7701.1 points, 40 points higher than its previous close. The gains quickly melted during the course of the session, with the index falling into the negative territory for a brief period. Buying in TCS, Satyam and Tata Steel propped up the indices in the last hours of the session.

The breadth of the market was largely positive; 70 per cent of the stocks traded on the BSE advanced. Mid-cap and small-cap stocks were at the heart of the action, however. The BSE MIDCAP and BSE SMLCAP indices each gained 1.5 per cent. On the NSE, the Junior Nifty index was the outperformer, staging a smart gain of 2.1 per cent.

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There was selective buying in the automobile, IT and FMCG sectors, while banking and energy stocks missed out on the action. Ashok Leyland, Maruti Udyog, M&M and TVS Motors gained smartly. Hexaware, HCL Tech, MphasiS BFL and Patni Computers were a few of the technology stocks that found favour with investors.

The stock of Britannia took a large bite of the action in the FMCG beat gaining five per cent to close at Rs 1,141.30. Nirma and Procter & Gamble gained 1 per cent and 1.7 per cent, respectively.

Select engineering and power equipment stocks such as ABB, Siemens, LMW and Honeywell Automation were also among those in favour.

Paint stocks Berger Paints and Goodlass Nerolac also made a splash, gaining about five per cent each. Textile stocks saw a mixed trend, with Bombay Dyeing, S. Kumar's and Alok Industries witnessing an uptrend. Suryalakshmi Cotton, Super Spinning and Indo Rama Textiles cooled off during the session.

Hotel stocks remained in the spotlight as the prospects for the hotel industry continue to look bright. Indian Hotels, Hotel Leela and EIH rose, while that of Taj GVK took a breather. Indian Hotels gained Rs 28 to close at Rs 766.05.

Mid-cap and small-cap stocks that were on fire on Friday include Shreyas Shipping (up 19.8 per cent), McDowell's (up 16.6 per cent), India Glycols (up 13 per cent) and Alok Industries (up 11 per cent). Stocks that lost steam include Pantaloon Retail, Vivimed Labs and Numeric Power Systems.

Pantaloon Retail, which has been a market favourite, declined for the third day in a row. It fell Rs 47.15 to Rs 1,654.25. The company is to offer on a rights basis, one share for every five shares held.

IVRCL Infrastructure gained 2.4 per cent to Rs 832.45, following its announcement that it plans to raise $140 million from overseas markets to fund its expansion plans.

Another stock that gained on plans to raise funds for expansion was that of Eveready Industries; the stock rose 4.7 per cent to close at Rs 100.25.

Graphite India spurted Rs 9.90 to close at Rs 281.40 on the back of its plans to raise FII investment limit to 40 per cent from 24 per cent.

Stocks that were actively traded on Friday include Macmillan, S Kumars Nation, Mc Dowell, Honeywell Automation, Phoenix Lamps, Cyber Media, Alok Industries and India Glycols.

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