The Hindu Business Line : Sustained buying lifts Sensex to 14,000-mark

The bulls extended their party for the second consecutive trading session of the year amid firm Asian markets and on expectations of strong third-quarter results. Sustained buying by funds and retail investors helped Sensex post a gain of 72 points. It was the first closing above the 14,000-mark for the benchmark index as it settled at 14,014.9. The Nifty too ended with a gain of 16.6 points.

Markets opened on a strong note on Wednesday and kept the momentum high. Bears who made an effort to come back, banking on disappointing despatch numbers by the cement major ACC did not succeed as bulls took charge of the overall market. The breadth of the market remained largely positive, as advancing stocks outnumbered declines by almost a factor of two. Though the rally was widespread, stocks from mid-cap and small-cap space ended with sharper gains.

Sectors in focus

Automobiles, IT and pharma were among the few sectors that attracted widespread market interest. Stocks from automobile sector recorded smart gains on the back of impressive monthly sales numbers. Tata Motors, Bajaj Auto and Maruti Udyog were among notable gainers. Hindustan Motors, Asahi India and Exide Industries also ended on a positive note.

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IT stocks hogged the limelight on expectations that a slowdown in US would increase the outsourcing needs of global companies. Infosys, Wipro, TCS and Satyam added respectable gains. Mid-cap technology stocks witnessed a sharp rally. Polaris Software Labs was a significant gainer, whose stock spurted by 12.3 per cent. MphasiS BFL, Moser Baer and i-flex Solutions were other conspicuous gainers.

Pharmaceutical sector also witnessed investor fancy as most of the stocks managed to close with strong doses of gains. Pfizer, Matrix Labs, Ranbaxy, Cipla and Aurobindo Pharma netted off handsome gains. Aventis Pharma, Divi's Lab and Torrent Pharma also sported a bullish outlook.

Mid-cap and small-caps on fire

Stocks from mid-cap and small-cap space had a good outing. Renewed buying interest across the counters of select mid-cap and small-cap stocks helped them put up a smart show. Leading the pack was Indusind Bank, whose stock rallied by 14.8 per cent. Mercator Lines, Sasken Communication Technologies, NDTV, India Infoline, Hindustan Construction and Allcargo Logistics also attracted heightened buying interest.

Among small-cap stocks, Venus Remedies, Kernex Microsystems, TV Today and Bayer Crop saw a sharp surge in their stock prices.

Buzzing stocks

Amid strong buying support, a good number of stocks from across the sectors hit their upper circuit limits. Aegis Logistics, Vivimed Labs, JMC Projects and Shaw Wallace were few of them whose stock prices hit the upper circuit limits.

FMCG and Capital Goods disappoint

Stocks from FMCG space lost ground on the back of selling pressure. Index heavyweights HLL and ITC were down by about two per cent and one per cent respectively. Among mid-cap stocks, Marico, Nirma, Britannia and Tata Tea were notable losers. Dabur and Colgate were among the few which managed to buck the trend.

Capital goods also appeared to be out of flavour in the day's trading session. ABB, Areva, Siemens, Dredging Corporation, Thermax, Astra Microwave and Crompton Greaves exhibited weakness. SKF India, Praj Industries, L&T, Jyoti Structures and BHEL, however, managed to end with moderate gains.