The Hindu Business Line : Banks shine on day of surges

The markets continued on the way up on Wednesday, buoyed by solid buying in banking stocks for the second straight day. The uptrend was supported by action in oil and auto stocks too.

Bigwigs such as SBI, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank led the banking rally. Syndicate Bank was the star performer, hitting the upper circuit filter.

Corporate Bank, Punjab National Bank, IOB, Union Bank, Bank of India, Federal Bank and Bank of Baroda supported the trend.

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Ranbaxy and Dr Reddy's cooled off after a solid upsurgeon Tuesday. After a strong across the board rally, pharma stocks remained stable for the day.

Stocks in the telecom space such as Himachal Futuristic, Reliance Communication, GTC and VSNL surged. Himachal Futuristic surged almost 20 per cent for the day.

Breather for realty

Realty plays such as Bombay Dyeing, Mahindra Gesco, Bata, Indiabulls, DS Kulkarni and Morarjee Realty paused after a breathtaking rally over the past few days. Unitech, however, bucked the trend and continued its strong upward momentum. The stock has gained sixfold in the past couple of months and gained close to five per cent during the day.

Stock-specific action

The stock of Apollo Sindhoori slid six per cent after almost doubling in the last two weeks. The company today announced a 1:1 bonus issue and a 1:1 rights issue along with a dividend of Rs 6 per share. The news appears to have been factored in.

Gujarat Ambuja has announced the ratio for the merger of Ambuja Cement with itself. The stock was up three per cent when most other cement stocks slid.

Prism Cement, India Cement, Century Textiles and Kakatiya Cements dipped. Cement stocks continued to be depressed for the second day after the Government expressed concern on rising cement prices and called for a meeting to look into the issue.

Aegis Logistics, LG Balakrishna Brothers and Jindal Drilling were some stocks that witnessed renewed buying interest after a long period of consolidation.

Aegis has been stuck in the Rs 240-260 range for more than two months. Jindal Drilling had announced rig acquisition plans earlier. The new rig will be delivered only in 2008. The stock paused for a while before a solid 20 per cent surge on Wednesday supported by huge increase in traded volumes.

Despite more than doubling its net profit, the stock of the recently listed broking outfit Emkay Share dipped. The stock received a modest premium on listing but has been on an uptrend since listing.

Maharashtra Seamless surged on news that it has bagged an order worth Rs 178 crore. Good earnings numbers triggered interest in Finolex Cables.

Prominent losers and gainers

Henkel India, GMR India, NRB Bearings, Videocon, Phoenix Lamps, Elgi Tread, Sujana Metals, GMM Pfaudler, Garware Offshore, Mid-Day Multimedia, Mirc Electronics and Granules India were some stocks that surged substantially supported by huge rise in volumes.

Among prominent losers were stocks such as Tantia Constructions, FCS Software, SIEL, Alstom Power, Titanor Components, Birla Corporation, ETC Networks, Godawari Power and NEPC.