The Hindu Business Line : Banking, tech sectors lift Sensex above 13K-mark

The markets eclipsed yet another record with the Sensex closing above the 13,000-mark. Its broader cousin the Nifty, too, created a record by breaching the 3754.25 barrier that it reached in May.

Gains in key banking stocks and tech majors appear to have furthered the cause of the bulls. Monday's rally, however, was not broad-based with small cap index on the BSE shedding 0.6 per cent. The advances-declines ratio also reflected the presence of bears with losers outnumbering the gainers.

Buzzing Stocks

Select stocks in a wide range of sectors shared the limelight. Seshasayee Paper, Jaiprakash Associates, Madhucon Projects, BAL Pharma, Bannari Amman Sugars, Alstom Projects, Jain Irrigations Systems and SRF registered commendable gains. LMW continued its run by registering a fiveper cent gain.

Sector Watch

The oil & gas index on the BSE was among the top gainers. Buoyed by a turnaround in operations, oil-marketing companies were back in the reckoning. HPCL which last week reported a 50 per cent rise in revenues and a turnaround in profits took centrestage with the stock recording a four per cent gain. BPCL was also among the favourites as the stock backed by strong volumes gained about two per cent. The positive sentiment in oil marketing companies crept into standalone refineries with Chennai Petroleum and Bongaigaon Refineries closing in the green. Reliance Natural Resources was another stock in the spotlight with a threeper cent gain, about 33 lakh shares changed hands on the BSE. Other notable gainers in this sector included ONGC, Petronet LNG, IOC and GAIL.

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Banking stocks continued their strong run for the third day in succession with the BSE Bankex recording a two per cent gain. Despite opening in the red, the index marched forward buoyed by gains in major private banks. On the back of a 50 per cent surge in second quarter earnings the stock clocked an eight per cent gain. Other private banks to close with notable gains included Karur Vysya Bank, Kotak Bank, UTI Bank, South Indian Bank and Lakshmi Vilas Bank. Market sentiment on public sector banks were negative fuelled by SBI's drop in earnings for the second quarter. The stock closed flat on strong volumes. Significant losers in this space included Indian Overseas Bank, Dena Bank, Canara Bank, Bank of Baroda and Syndicate Bank. Allahabad Bank and UCO Bank bucked the trend to close with gains of four per cent and two per cent respectively.

Big-ticket results

Buoyed by a sharp rise in second quarter earnings intense activity was recorded on Nalco's counter with volumes rising six-fold. The company reported a two-fold rise in earnings, which appears to have been supported by better realisations. The stock closed with a 4 per cent gain.

The markets appear to have been disappointed by SAIL's earnings announcements as the stock dipped 4 per cent on higher volumes. The steel major's 30 per cent earnings growth appeared to have triggered of selling pressure.

Other Gainers/Losers

IDFC, Cadila Healthcare, LIC Housing Finance, GE Shipping, Reliance Capital, Raymond and Aurobindo Pharma were among the top gainers on the Junior Nifty. Major losers in this list included Patni Computer Systems, Nirma, Ingersoll Rand, Apollo Tyres, Cummins, IFCI and Nicholas Piramal.