The Hindu Business Line : Sugar, capital goods move up in buying wave

Frenzied buying was evident in several frontline stocks, with stocks from the capital goods and FMCG sectors leading the rally. The Nifty closed at 2664 points, up by 29 points against the previous close; while the Sensex closed the day with a 109-point gain.

Hindustan Lever, Infosys and HDFC proved to the key index movers. Hindustan Lever put on 5.6 per cent during the day's trading, to close at a new 52-week high of Rs 186.7. Volumes in the stock have risen sharply over the past two trading sessions. Mid-cap stocks stayed out of the limelight as the index heavyweights stole the show. The BSE mid-cap index with gains of 0.8 per cent notched up lower gains than the Sensex.

Among the sectoral indices, BSE Capital goods and FMCG were the key gainers, with gains of 3.4 per cent and 2.3 per cent respectively. Oil and gas and metal stocks remained passive spectators to the rally, as the sector indices made barely any gains.

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Capital goods front-runners

Frontline engineering stocks were the front-runners outside of the index. Siemens, ABB and BHEL recorded unusually big moves during the day. The Siemens stock recorded an 11 per cent gain during the day's trading. Investors made a beeline for the stock after the company reported extremely strong numbers for the financial year, which it closes in September. The company also hinted at the possibility of entering new businesses and making acquisitions in the capital goods space.

Sugar sweetens up

Sugar was the other key sector to attract considerable attention. After lying low for weeks, both frontline and second-rung sugar stocks registered sharp price gains during the day's trading. Upper Ganges Sugars, Oudh Sugars, Bajaj Hindusthan and the newly listed Shree Renuka Sugars were the key gainers, appreciating by between 6 and 10 per cent for the day. Few sugar stocks kept out of the gainers list, as Sakthi Sugars, KCP Sugars and Andhra Sugars also made gains.

Some of the companies who have listed their stock over the past year came in for renewed buying interest. Provogue India, a gainer over the past couple of trading sessions, rose by 18 per cent during the day. Shringar Cinema, PBA Infrastructure and KM Sugar attracted significant trading volumes.

Laggards

There weren't too many stocks that missed out on the day's rally. However, MICO, Max India, Sundaram Clayton and Gujarat Gas were the few stocks that lost ground during the trading session.

Pointers to the next session:

* Market breadth for the day was positive, with 331 stocks in the BSE 500 basket registering gains, against 160 that declined.

* Apollo Hospitals unveiled its numbers for the latest quarter, after close of trading hours. Net profits for the quarter rose by 11 per cent.

* Indian Oil Corporation indicated that jet fuel prices could be marked down further this month. This could be viewed as positive for airline stocks.

* Data from SEBI showed that FIIs made net purchases of over Rs 400 crore on November 24.

* Barely at the close of trading, Videocon Industries received the Mumbai High Court approval for the merger of Videocon International.

* Dishman Pharma, Provogue India, Dwarikesh Sugars, Balrampur Chini and Shopper's Stop were a few stocks that registered a substantial increase in trading volumes on Thursday, when compared to the previous sessions.

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