The Hindu Business Line : Bulls maintain tempo; propel Sensex to record high

IT was yet another day of record close as the benchmark Sensex was propelled to new heights by the bulls. The buoyancy experienced in the final trading session of last week was carried forward on Monday.

The morning session saw a cautious opening at 9263.3. Buying interest soon set in and continued unabated, pushing the 30-stock index to the 9400 levels before settling at 9394.3 - a record close nevertheless.

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Buying activity was not restricted to the large caps as was evident from the 1 per cent gain in the CNX Midcap. The market breadth was positive with the gainers outnumbering losers by a ratio of 1.4:1.

The S&P CNX Nifty gained 32.5 points or 1.2 per cent to 2845.6 points.

Easing crude prices added to the positive sentiment in the domestic and Asian markets. Persistent buying by FIIs may have also boosted the domestic market. FIIs were net buyers to the tune of Rs 542 crore on December 15.

In the basket of BSE 30 (Sensex) Hindalco was the largest gainer. The stock surged 4 per cent to Rs 146.8 after the company had earlier raised aluminium prices by Rs 6,000 per tonne. It also restarted of one of its smelters.

Associated Cement Company, Hindustan Lever, Tata Steel and Wipro were other stocks that propelled the index.

Ranbaxy was the worst hit among the heavyweight stocks. The stock declined by nearly 6 per cent to Rs 367.4, its biggest fall in a single day, in the last two months. The decline comes on the back of the company losing the Lipitor case in the US.

Reliance Energy, Bajaj Auto and ICICI Bank were other losers.

Mid cap stocks witnessed renewed buying interest. Cholamandalam Investment and Finance jumped 12.7 per cent to Rs 202.5. Tube Investment, Tata Investment Corporation and Bajaj Hindusthan were other stocks that had a field day in the mid cap space.

Stocks such as Videocon International, Madhucon Projects and Sintex Industries however failed to evince buying interest and ended in the red.

Engineering sector ruled firm with heavyweights such as ABB, Siemens and Larsen & Toubro making handsome gains. Larsen & Toubro added Rs 22.7 to Rs 1,731.4. The engineering major won an order worth Rs 1,300 crore to build a platform for ONGC.

TIL, Jyoti Structure and Usha Martin were other prominent gainers in the segment.

BSE Metal Index was the biggest gainer for the day. Hindustan Zinc, Bhushan Steel, Monnet Ispat and Nalco moved northwards. Sesa Goa and Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation failed to weather challenges from the bears and closed on a weak note.

Cement stocks made solid gains on Monday. Even as front line stock Associated Cement gained over 3 per cent India Cements and Shree Cements also closed in the green.

Pharma stocks were a mixed bag. While Ranbaxy declined, its competitor Pfizer rose 2.5 per cent to Rs 920. Glenmark Pharma, Nicholas Piramal and Cipla closed in the positive territory.

Lincoln Pharmaceuticals, after a smart rally last week, cooled off and declined 1 per cent to Rs 50.3. The company's board approved a plan to split each share into five.

Wockhardt, Dishman Pharma and Torrent Pharmaceuticals closed with declines.

Stock specific action

Tata Consultancy Services added Rs 14.4 to Rs 1,732.9 after it won an order to manage clinical trial for insulin manufacturer Novo Nordisk A/S.

Towards close of trading session, Infomedia India announced its plan to acquire UK-based Keyword Group and Bangalore-based Cepha Imaging Systems to expand it business in Europe and local market. The stock closed flat.

MICO, ITC, Jaiprakash Associates and Renuka Sugars were significant gainers among the Nifty constituents. MTNL, Sun Pharmaceuticals, Tata Chemicals and Ashok Leyland were conspicuous losers.