The Hindu Business Line : Market sustains buoyancy for third consecutive day

The markets sustained its buoyancy for the third consecutive day, with the Sensex closing 201.66 points (or 1.94 per cent) higher at 10,617.27 points.

The Nifty also ended on a bullish note, up 2.29 per cent to close at 3,110.15 points. With the RBI Credit Policy throwing up no major surprises, healthy earnings score card and a slew of corporate acquisition and expansion announcements have kept the markets buoyant.

The overall bullishness was also evident from the BSE Mid-Cap and Small Cap Index that marched up by 2.10 and 2.35 per cent respectively during the trading session.

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The overall market breadth remained positive, with the advances to declines ratio at 2.4:1. Out of 2,467 stocks traded, 1,686 stocks advanced in value compared to 705 stocks that logged declines.

For the second successive day, the FII turnover (combined BSE and NSE) on a provisional basis remained positive, with net buying of Rs 61.03 crore during the day, though down marginally from Rs 93.41 crore on Tuesday.

Sector focus

Among the key sectoral gainers during the day were FMCG, oil and gas, software, capital goods and auto. Among FMCG stocks, the prominent gainers were Colgate Palmolive, Marico, Nestle India and Bata India. In the oil pack, the key gainers were Gail India, Hindustan Petroleum, Indian Oil Corporation and ONGC.

The auto pack, which has been rather subdued on interest hike expectations in the credit policy, also surged during the day. Stocks such as Tata Motors, TVS Motors, Cummins India and Escorts firmed up during the day's trading.

The sectors that bucked the overall market trend were consumer durables and banking. The banking sector stocks that had rallied over the past two days did not participate fully in the rally in this trading session.

Buzzing stocks

Among the stocks that shot into prominence during the day's trading were:

MphasiS BFL stock surged by 17.03 per cent to close for the day at Rs 157.30. The uptrend in the stock has to be seen in the light of the proposal by the company to amalgamate the entire business of EDS India Pvt. Ltd with itself. The stock swap ratio has been fixed at 5:4 based on the valuation done by external valuers. The trading volumes also soared from 1.04 lakh shares on Tuesday's trading to 26.9 lakh shares during the day.

The Esab India stock moved up by 10.7 per cent to close at Rs 321.7. The uptrend has to be seen in the light of the recent order of Rs 19.6 crore bagged by ESAB AB Sweden from Indian Space Research Organisation. Esab India will be serving as the agent for the order and getting a commission on this project.

The Kirloskar Brothers stock appreciated by 6.2 per cent to close at Rs 366.20. The uptrend has to be viewed in the context of the approval granted by the Board to dispose off the company's entire shareholding in its subsidiary, Kirloskar Copeland to Copeland Corporation for a total consideration of $40 million.

The Crompton Greaves stock appreciated by 4.3 per cent to settle at Rs 929.75. The rise has to be seen in the backdrop of the company's acquisition of the Transformers, Gas Insulated Switchgear, Rotating Machines and Contracting businesses of Ganz Transelektro Vilamossagi Zrt and Transverticul kft, located in Hungary for an enterprise value of 35 million.