The Hindu Business Line : Cautious mood

THE markets opened on a flat note as market sentiment continued to remain cautious. The bellwether indices marked by range-bound movement in the early part of the session alternated between positive and negative territories.

Post-lunch market sentiment turned negative dragging the BSE Sensex and S&P CNX Nifty into the red. A smart recovery in the last hour-and-a-half of trade helped the indices close with gains.

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The Sensex registered a gain of 10.5 points while the Nifty gained 0.5 per cent to close above the 2,700-mark. Gains in ONGC, TCS and Bharti Tele-Ventures appeared to have caused the divergence in gains between the two bellwether indices. The evened out advances-declines ratio reflected the cautious sentiment in the market.

Consumer durables and healthcare indices on the BSE posted sharp gains, while metals, FMCG, and banking scrips ended the session on a mixed note.

Fresh buying interest in watchmakers ensured sharp gains in these stocks. Titan Industries was among the top gainers in the consumer durables sector.

Backed by a sharp spurt in volumes the stock continued its northward movement by registering a sharp gain. The stock has gained 40 per cent since a month ago.

Timex Watches was also not far behind, posting a nine per cent gain. Other gainers in the consumer durables space were Hitachi Home, Whirlpool, Bajaj Electricals and Blue Star.

Heightened trading activity took place on the Torrent Pharma counter. The stock opened with a bang after post-market announcements on Wednesday that its board was considering a stock split and bonus.

Early in the day it touched its 52-week high but failed to sustain pace and ended lower, posting a net gain of 14.2 per cent.

Matrix was another prominent gainer in the pharmaceutical space. The stock continuing its northward journey closed with a six per cent gain. Since Tuesday's announcement of the company having acquired the controlling stake in Concord Biotech, the stock has gained 10 per cent. Other gainers in the healthcare space were Elder Pharmaceuticals, Wockhardt, Natco Pharmaceutical, Indoco Remedies, and Themis Medicare.

Madras Aluminium, among the top losers in the metal space, shed five per cent on profit booking following Wednesday's sharp gain. Losers in the ferrous space included Lloyd Steel, Indian Seamless, National Steel & Agro, Ferro Alloys, and Mukand.

Losers in the banking sector included Allahabad Bank, HDFC Bank, Andhra Bank, and Punjab National Bank. Accompanied by a spurt in volumes Kotak Mahindra Bank continued its northward march recording a 10 per cent gain.

Prominent losers among FMCG stocks were Bata, Nestle, Heritage Foods, Shaw Wallace, Liberty Shoes, and Colgate.

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