The Hindu Business Line : Range-bound markets end positive

Christmas seems to have lifted the spirits of the bulls as markets closed in the green for the third consecutive session, despite mixed signals from global peers. The Sensex, after being range-bound for most part of the session, surged only in the afternoon, thanks to selective buying across index pivotals.

Friday saw the Sensex close with a gain of 86 points while Nifty closed with about 38 points gain. Among the BSE sectoral indices, all but FMCG closed in the green. Metals and capital goods, however, led the day's gain.

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The market sentiments remained positive, with the advance-decline ratio pegged at 1.4:1.

Buzzing stocks

Jindal Drilling, which re-listed on the bourses after an equity reduction, put up a great performance. The stock hit a high of Rs 702 on the back of high volumes. Tech Mahindra was another stock that continued to grip investors' attention for the second consecutive day. The recent order from British Telecom helped sustain buying interest.

Mahindra & Mahindra struck a new high during the day after it announced its plan to acquire 90 per cent stake in Schoneweiss & Co GmbH, a Germany-based forging company. Sesa Goa notched up gains of about 12.5 per cent on expectations of an open offer from Japan's Mitsui, which holds 51 per cent controlling stake in the company.

Bhushan Steel, IOL Broadband, JBF Industries, Jai Corporation and Jagran Prakashan were some of the scrips that hit their all-time highs on Friday.

Sector focus

JSW Steel, Jindal Stainless, and SAIL were some of the counters that gained as steel prices firmed up. Tata Steel clocked gains of about 2 per cent, the company received approval from EU to buy Corus. The stock touched an intra-day high of Rs 480.

Capital goods caught buyers' attention, with the respective BSE index gaining about 1.2 per cent. Greaves Cotton led the gainers' pack after chipping in gains of 5.7 per cent. Alstom Projects, Carborundum Universal, Crompton Greaves and LT were some of the stocks that moved northwards.

Select midcap IT stocks seem to have caught investors' fancy. Among the stocks that clocked gains were Aztec Software, Mastek, Infotech Enterprises, Polaris and 3i Infotech. Hexaware and I-Flex posted gains of about 2.6 per cent each. Wipro, among large cap IT stocks, appreciated by 2.7 per cent.

Stock-specific action

Gammon India plunged 10 per cent after SEBI barred the company and its chairman, Mr Abhijit Rajan, from accessing the capital markets for one year.

Rajesh Exports gained 5 per cent after it got an order worth Rs 276 crore from Sharjah-based Excel Goldsmiths.

Aurobindo Pharma recorded a gain of about 4 per cent after it received a tentative USFDA approval for an anti-AIDS drug.

Fedders Lloyd surged 6.5 per cent on announcement that the company board will meet on January 2, 2007, to raise FII investment ceiling in the company.

Other gainers and losers

Visual Soft, Sterling Biotech, Sun TV, Great Offshore and Polyplex were some of the counters that gained during the day. Asahi India, NIIT, Rich Knits, Sonata Software and RK Forgings were some of the scrips that closed in the red.