The Hindu Business Line : Indices end the day with measly gains

After swinging close to 257 points between the high and low for the day, the Sensex closed with a measly gain of about 11 points. The Nifty closed with a 0.25 per cent gain.

Volatility in the bourses could be attributed to expiry of the current month derivative contracts on Thursday, in addition to profit booking and investor trepidation at higher levels.

Mirroring similar sentiments, the market breadth remained weak, with the advance-decline ratio pegged at about 0.7:1.

Buzzing stocks

Steel pipe maker PSL spurted on reports that the company has received orders totalling Rs 1,045 crore in April for onshore and offshore pipeline projects. The stock closed with a gain of about 7.7 per cent.

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Hotel Leela Ventures attracted buying interest after it won a bid for a plot of land in New Delhi for Rs 611 crore.

The stock surged about five per cent during the day before closing on a flat note. Among other midcap stocks that clocked gains during the day were Vijaya Bank, Graphite India, IndusInd Bank and Rajesh Exports.

ABB, Reliance Capital, Aban Offshore, KS Oils and Reliance Industries were among stocks that hit all-time highs during the trading session.

Sector focus

Select large-cap stocks attracted buying interest during the day. Grasim Industries topped the charts with a gain of about 2.3 per cent. The stock gained following an 80 per cent in fourth-quarter profit.

Among other stocks that clocked gains were Bajaj Auto, HLL, TCS and Wipro.

However, stocks such as Tata Steel, ONGC, Satyam Computers and Gujarat Ambuja closed in red. Reliance Industries, which announced its results later in the day, closed in the negative after gaining as much as 1.5 per cent during the day.

Triggered by quarterly results, select stocks in the capital goods space witnessed buying interest.

ABB appreciated by about 1.4 per cent after reporting 68.87 per cent growth in net profit for the quarter ended March 2007.

Astra Microwave and Siemens chipped in gains of about three per cent each.

Among other stocks that moved northwards were L&T, Areva and BHEL.

Jyoti Structures, Gammon India, Carborundum Universal and AIA Engineering ended in the negative.

SKF India lost close to 2.5 per cent following reports that it plans to invest Rs 150 crore in a new plant in Uttarakhand.

Stock-specific action

IDFC shed about five per cent after it announced plans to raise $1 billion by selling stocks and bonds. The funds, which will be raised through a mix of equity and some convertible structure, would be converted into equity in 18 months.

Tata Tea gained 2.2 per cent following reports that its subsidiary, the Tetley Group, has agreed to buy the Vitax and Flosana trademarks in Poland from Premium Foods for an undisclosed sum.

Hindustan Zinc appreciated by about two per cent after it raised zinc prices by 1.62 per cent to Rs 1,75,500 a tonne.

Opto Circuits gained about 1.7 per cent on news that the company has agreed to buy two medical equipment firms - Devon Innovations and Ormed Medical Technology - which make products such as catheters and dilator sets used in urology, gastroenterology and orthopaedics.