The Hindu Business Line : Metal stocks hog limelight on volatile day

In a day filled with wild swings, the Sensex witnessed volatility of over 140 points. After opening firm, the Sensex surged to a new high of 9,680.92 points in intra-day trade.

During the mid-session, markets slipped into the red and reached a low of 9535.7. However, buying action in the last hour of trading helped recoup their losses.

The Sensex finished at 9,640.3 points, a net gain of 0.3 per cent. On the NSE, the S&P CNX Nifty closed at 2914.

On a day marked by sharp swings, it was the metals stocks that hogged the limelight. Bhushan Steel, Hindalco, SAIL, Maharashtra Seamless, Tata Steel, Tata Metaliks and GMDC recorded handsome gains. With a gain of 1.6 per cent, the BSE METAL index outperformed the sectoral indices.

There was buying action across the counters of mid-cap stocks, which enabled them sport smart gains. Hindustan Motors was a significant gainer, whose stock flared up by 12.7 per cent. Voltas, BEML, Escorts, Bajaj Hindustan, Prism Cements, Videocon Industries and Godfrey Philips also flared up.

There were a good number of stocks in the capital goods space that attracted market interest. Buoyed by the announcement that it had won an order worth Rs 208 crore from Bokaro Power Supply Company, the stock of Alstom Projects shot up by 6.3 per cent. Other notable gainers included the likes of HEG, SKF India, Usha Martin, Gammon India and Crompton Greaves.

Information technology sector stocks ended on a disappointing note. TCS, Wipro, Infosys, Allsec Technologies, Kale Consultants and NIIT exhibited weakness. While Satyam ended marginally higher, Sonata Software, Mastek, Polaris, Cranes Software and HCL Technologies were among the few which managed to end with respectable gains.

Oil and energy stocks also failed to fuel market sentiment. Petronet LNG, HPCL, Reliance and Gujarat Gas came in for selling pressure. However, buying interest in Essar Oil, ONGC, GAIL, BPCL and Hindustan Oil Exploration propelled the stocks.

Banking sector stocks were characterised by lacklustre trading. Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Allahabad Bank, Canara Bank, Kotak Bank and Punjab National Bank were notable losers.

There was a mixed bag of response among auto and auto ancillary sector stocks. While Bajaj Auto, TVS Motors, LML, Munjal Auto and Apollo Tyres advanced; Jay Bharat Maruti, Pricol, Maruti Udyog and Amara Raja Batteries remained subdued.

On the back of impressive growth in subscriber base for December, the stocks of Bharti Tele-ventures and MTNL added 1.3 and 3.3 per cent respectively.

Stock-specific action

Micro Inks added 2.9 per cent to close at Rs 632.3. Earlier, the maker of printing inks and adhesives said it won a $29.57 million order from Perry Judd's Inc to supply ink.

Ranbaxy Laboratories moved up by 1.2 per cent after the nation's biggest drugmaker received approval from the Food and Drug Administration to sell its version of Novartis AG's Exelon drug in the US.

Valecha Engineering rose by five per cent at its close of Rs 287.3. The construction company won an order worth Rs 226 crore from the National Highways Authority of India to widen roads in Assam.

Punj Lloyd, which made its trading debut, ended the day with a gain of 51.1 per cent. The stock finished at Rs 1057.8 against the offer price of Rs 700.

Other notable gainers on the Nifty included the likes of Alok Industries, Arvind Mills, Indian Hotels, IVRCL, UTI Bank and Arvind Mills among others.

The losers' pack included Container Corp, Titan, Era Constructions, Sesa Goa and EIH among others.