The Hindu Business Line : Markets stretched gains into fifth straight year

With the screens down for the year 2006, the markets stretched their gains into the fifth straight year. At 13,787 points the Sensex closed for the year with a commendable 46 per cent gain.

However, trades on the last day appear to have been subdued with the markets having to contend with little news flows. The markets that closed on a negative note on Thursday slipped into the red further. The BSE Sensex shed 0.5 per cent while the S&P CNX Nifty closed lower by 0.1 per cent.

Buzzing stocks

Recently listed stocks attracted considerable interest. Intense activity was recorded in Nissan Copper. The stock which opened at about Rs 40 ramped up pace within an hour, later it went on to touch an intra-day high of Rs 135.5.

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Ess Dee Aluminium continued to attract trading interest with about 35 lakh shares changing hands on the BSE. The stock closed with a sharp gain of 10 per cent. Select small cap stocks spread across various sectors ramped up stupendous gains.

Radaan Mediaworks, XL Telecom, LML and Strides Arcolab featured in this list.

Sector Watch

Tea stocks, which attracted interest in the markets on Thursday, lost their sheen. Assam Company closed lower by 6 per cent while industry leader, McLeod Russel, lost 3 per cent.

Bombay Burmah Trading declined 1 per cent, while Goodricke Group and Jayshree Tea closed flat. Tata Tea and Tata Coffee were also caught in the muddle. Harrisons Malayalam with interests in rubber plantations and Parry Agro were among the select gainers.

The sugar sector represented a mixed portfolio. Small-cap stocks in this space closed lower, while large caps ended up higher. KCP Sugar Industrial Corporation, Bannari Amman and Sakthi Sugar lost between 3 and 1 per cent. Supported by a surge in volumes, Triveni Engineering broke away from the likes of Bajaj Hindustan and EID Parry.

A mixed trend could be gauged in the metals space with non-ferrous stocks closing lower, while those in the steel space closed in the green. SAIL, Jindal Steel, JSW Steel, Jindal Stainless and Tata Steel gained more than 1 per cent.

Hindalco, Madras Aluminium, NALCO and Hindustan Zinc closed lower by about 1 per cent. Sterlite Industries bucked the trend in the non-ferrous space to close with a 2 per cent gain.

Event-specific action

Micro Inks was among the top gainers in the chemicals space. Though interest remained subdued the stock ramped up gains of about 5 per cent. Thursdays' post market announcement appears to have contributed to the spurt. The company's subsidiary in the US entered into a one-year agreement for the supply of heatset ink with St. Ives of the US valued at about Rs 13.5 crore.

Buoyed by higher volumes Thermax stretched its gains into the second straight day. The stock closed with a 4 per cent gain on the back of a three-fold rise in volumes. On Thursday, the company announced plans of setting up an Rs 36-crore absorption chillers facility in China.

Other gainers/losers

Polaris, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Nicholas Piramal, Cummins India, UTI Bank, Corporation Bank, Patni and JP Associates were among the top gainers on the Junior Nifty.

Bank of Baroda, i-Flex Solutions, ING Vysya Bank, Ashok Leyland, TVS Motor, Vijaya Bank, Andhra Bank and Aventis featured among the major losers.