Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Tuesday, Nov 21, 2006
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Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Tuesday, Nov 21, 2006 ePaper |
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Markets
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Commentary Columns - Sensor Nath Balakrishnan
Pointers Advance-decline ratio in favour of latter Infosys, the key mover Jain Irrigation up on acquisition news
When the Sensex ends the day with a measly gain of just one point, it might be in order to presume that trading activity was by and large listless. But that certainly would not have captured the nature of trading seen on Monday, as the Sensex yo-yoed to register an intra-day swing of about 260 points to finally end at 13,430. The Nifty settled at 3,856, a gain of three points. Select stocks from the information technology and sugar sectors were in the limelight. Barring the Sensex, all the other indices (Midcap, Smallcap, BSE-100, 200 and 500) ended the day in the red. The Sensex opened with a 40-point gap on the lower side and then slid rapidly to its day's low of 13,200 points within the first hour and half of the day's trade. It appeared to have taken cues from markets in Japan and Hong Kong, both of which ended the day with losses. The recovery commenced thereafter, led from the front by Infosys, and saw the Sensex recouping all its losses entirely. Declines outpaced advances by a ratio of 17 to 10, suggesting underlying bearishness.
Index movers
Infosys was clearly the scene-stealer, as the stock ruled firm to end the day at Rs 2,253. Markets would have ended well in the red if not for its performance. Other stocks that came to the party on Monday include Bharti Airtel, which put on close to 4 per cent to breach the Rs 600-mark and continue on its sterling run in recent times. HDFC was the other smart gainer on the Sensex. On the loser's side, ICICI Bank was responsible for pulling the Sensex back the most, as it shed close to 2 per cent. This move came on the heels of the Government deciding to permit Temasek Holdings and GIC (both of Singapore) to double their holdings in the bank. Tata Steel, predictably, lost ground after the Brazil-based CSN made a counter-offer for UK's Corus, an outfit the first-named had earlier announced it would buy out. HDFC Bank, L&T and ITC were other key stocks that ended the day in negative territory.
Sector focus
Several stocks from the IT space had a good outing on Monday. Outside of Infosys, stocks such as TCS, Satyam Computer and HCL Technologies from the large-cap space, and the likes of MphasiS, Hexaware and Rolta from the mid-cap arena ended the day posting gains. Sugar stocks that gained included KM Sugar Mills, Ponni Sugars, Uttam Sugar and Dharani Sugars.
Stock-specific action
Yes Bank put on 3 per cent after it approved a proposal to allot shares to Swiss Re at Rs 120 per share. The stock ended at Rs 118.65. Jain Irrigation was another stock that firmed up on the back of acquisition-related news. The stock moved up smartly by 4 per cent to end at Rs 357.8, on the news of its proposed acquisition of a majority stake in US-based Cascade Specialties.
Other gainers and losers
Other stocks that posted gains included MRF, BF Utilities, AIA Engineering, Mahindra Gesco , HT Media, Atlanta and Sanghvi Movers. Stocks ending lower included LMW, Jindal Steel and Power, Zandu Pharma, Honeywell Automation, Hindustan Zinc, Concor and Bharat Bijlee.
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