The Hindu Business Line : Capital Goods index shines on day of bull domination

The markets opened on a strong note on Thursday, taking a cue from global markets, and remained firm throughout the day. The Sensex saw its biggest intra-day gain in the history of Indian equity markets. It appeared as if the markets were looking beyond the negatives, as the valuations enticed buying interest.

Anxiety on markets breaching the crucial technical support level of 8,800 were temporarily put to rest on the back of optimism witnessed on Thursday's trading session.

Despite sell-off to the tune of Rs 85 crore on June 14 by FIIs, the market opened stronger and bulls started to hug firmly as the day progressed.

The bulls clearly dominated the entire session. The advances-declines ratio, which was lopsided in favour of declines for the last couple of days, turned favourable to advances.

The positive breadth of the market was evident with advances outnumbering the declines by a ratio of 2.3:1.

Mid and small-cap stocks, which were hammered around 60-70 per cent in the past one month, found some buying support.

The BSE mid and small-cap indices closed with a gain of 5.5 per cent and 3.9 per cent respectively.

Most of the BSE sector indices gained considerably and held firmly till close.

It was a refreshing change for the investing community to be back in action after three days of continuous fall.

Sector focus

While most of the sectors moved northward, the top gainer was the BSE Capital Goods index, which gained close to 10 per cent. Others such as software, auto, and metals surged 7-8 per cent. BHEL gained 14 per cent to close at Rs 1,837. BEML added Rs 103 to close at Rs 871.

Another notable gainer was L&T, which has received orders to the tune of Rs 750 crore from the Gujarat Government for road projects. The stock gained Rs 208 to close at Rs 2,041.

Other gainers include

Thermax, Siemens and Voltas. The only prominent stock in this space that went against the market mood and closed in red was Crompton Greaves.

In the software segment, all the frontline stocks soared. Infosys gained Rs 244 to close at Rs 2,728. Wipro added Rs 30 to end the day at Rs 420.

Satyam Computer, which declined considerably in the recent carnage, gained 7.3 per cent.

Other stocks that closed in the green were i-flex Solutions, Polaris Software, and Hexaware Technologies. iGate Global Solutions and Moser Baer reversed the trend to close in the red.

A number of stocks in the auto sector closed higher. Bajaj Auto, Tata Motors, and TVS Motor were prominent gainers.

Metals, which had lost heavily in the last one month, got a much-needed respite from the bears. Leading the pack was steel major Tata Steel, which added Rs 28.75 to close the day at Rs 413.

JSW Steel gained 11 per cent while Jindal Steel & Power gained Rs 97 to end the day at Rs 1,291.Major gainers in the aluminium space included Hindalco and Madras Aluminium.

Losers

Prominent stocks that failed to ride the positive wave and closed the day in red were Unitech, Wyeth, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Adani Exports, and IPCA Lab.