The Hindu Business Line : Strong buying in index heavyweights

MARKETS continued to witness volatile trading activity on Friday even as the benchmark BSE Sensex ended the last trading day of the week on a positive note. The 30-stock index rose 65.72 points (1.15 per cent) to 5786.35 points.

The index opened at 5710.13 points, about 10 points lower than the previous closing. It swung back and forth through the course of the day's trading and reached the day's low of 5683.61 points. The last one-hour of trading, however, saw strong buying interest, as the index reached the day's high of 5800.94 points, in the process registering an intra-day swing of about 117 points.

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On the BSE, several indices including BSETECk, BSEPSU, BANKEX ended the day on positive note. On the NSE, the S&P CNX Nifty rose 29.15 points (1.62 per cent) to 1833.65 points.

On the BSE, of the total 2,001 stocks that were traded on Friday, 808 advanced, 1,121 declined while the rest remained unchanged. On the Sensex, 21 stocks appreciated in value, while the remaining slipped into the red.

Barring Hindustan Lever, which fell by 2.6 per cent, index heavyweights registered strong buying interest. The stock of Reliance Industries rose 1.4 per cent to Rs 574.35 on trading volumes of 38.9 lakh shares. The stock of ICICI Bank also appreciated by 4.6 per cent to Rs 322.65.

The stock of Infosys Technologies also rose 2.1 per cent to Rs 5,575.75. The stock witnessed robust buying interest despite being accused by AFL-CIO, America's largest labour federation, of `abusing' the L-1 visa programme to bring in cheap manpower to take over American jobs. The company, however, has refuted the allegations and reaffirmed its full compliance with the regulations.

Other software stocks that gained during the course of the day include Wipro (3.6 per cent), Satyam Computer (2.1 per cent), Polaris Software (2.7 per cent) and Aztec Software (4.1 per cent).

The stock of Bharti Tele Ventures rose sharply by 8.9 per cent to Rs 139.65. Other major gainers among the Sensex constituents include HPCL (4.2 per cent), Gujarat Ambuja (4.4 per cent) and ONGC (2.9 per cent).

The stock of Andrew Yule surged 9.8 per cent to Rs 22.95. The Disinvestment Commission has recommended the Government to sell its entire 93 per cent stake in the PSU to a strategic partner and undertake restructuring of the company in consultation with the prospective bidders.

The stock of Hotel Leela Venture rose by 3.8 per cent to Rs 47.05. Increase in revenue per available room on the back of higher occupancy rates appears to be propelling this stock.

The stock of Kriti Industries rose by 9.9 per cent to Rs 12.2. The company is planning to establish a new division of moulding facilities at Ranjangaon near Pune.

Coupled with huge surge in trading volumes the stock of IDBI rose sharply by 13.6 per cent to Rs 69.65. The stocks of Jupiter Bioscience (9.9 per cent), Falcon Tyres (9.9 per cent), Voltas (9.6 per cent), Premier Auto (8.7 per cent), Indian Oil (7.6 per cent) and Bank of Baroda (7.1 per cent) also registered a sharp spike.

Several steel stocks appreciated in value on expectation of increase in steel prices. Although the prices have not been officially increased, the effective price of the commodity has gone up by 10 per cent, as the primary producers charged more from customers by withdrawing the rebate. Coupled with large volumes the stocks of SAIL, Tata Steel and Jindal Steel appreciated in value.

Other stocks that registered large trading volumes include Maruti Udyog, IFCI, Tata Motors, SBI, Vijaya Bank, GAIL, UCO Bank, Polaris Software, Reliance Capital, IDBI, ACC, Zee Telefilms, Larsen & Toubro and Essar Shipping.