The Hindu Business Line : Last-hour selling cuts Sensex gains

On Thursday, the markets failed to hold onto their strong opening. The BSE Sensex, which opened about 40 points higher than Wednesday's close, moved flat until the last hour. However, selling pressure in the last hour chopped the gains to a meagre 20 points.

The S&P CNX Nifty moving in sync with the Sensex closing with a gain of 0.37 per cent. The negative sentiment that prevailed towards the close was reflected in the 1:2 advances-declines ratio in favour of the losers.

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The markets appeared to have dumped tea stocks for steel and fertliser stocks. Buying activity was recorded on the counters of frontline stocks in the steel and fertliser industry.

After a slew of gains in the recent past, selling pressure appears to have set into the tea sector. Major tea stocks such as Bombay Burmah, Dhunseri, Jayshree, Parry Agro, Warren Tea and Duncans (NSE) shed more than two per cent. Williamson Tea Assam and Goodricke were among the prominent stocks to stave off the pressure. Selling pressure appears to have set in after reports that the a decline in tea production in Kenya would be 15 per cent against earlier estimates of 25 per cent.

Steel stocks, which were among the few commodity stocks that were left out in the rally to the 5-digit mark of 10,000, attracted considerable interest on Thursday. Backed by price hikes, Uttam Galva (up 12 per cent), JSW Steel (up 3 per cent) and other steel stocks caught onto the frenzy. Reports that a large steel player in China would hike prices by about 18 per cent for the forthcoming quarter supported the buying frenzy in steel stocks. SAIL, Llyod Steel, National Steel Agro, Kalyani Steel, Southern Iron & Steel, Essar Steel and Jindal Stainless gained more than 4 per cent.

Fertiliser stocks were also in the limelight. Frontline stocks such as Gujarat Narmada, Deepak Fertilizers and Chambal Fertilisers gained more than one per cent.

The Government's approval for container traffic movement on the Indian Railways network lifted market sentiment on Gateway Distriparks. The stock attracted significant market interest as about 32 lakh shares changed hands on the BSE. The stock closed with a gain of 5 per cent.

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Intense activity on Inox Leisures' counter, the stock closed with a 46-percent gain. About 1.65 crore shares changed hands on the BSE.``

Dynamic Products made a poor debut despite significant activity on its counter. The stock closed at Rs 28.2 against the offer price of Rs 35.

Prominent gainers were Venky's India, Micro Inks, Simplex Mills and Zenith Computers. Those in the losers list included Geometric software, Crompton Greaves, HCL Infosys and UTI Bank.