The Hindu Business Line : Sensex ends positive in sluggish trade

In a relatively sluggish trading session, the BSE Sensex ended in the positive territory with a 26.53 point (0.19 per cent) gain. The S & P CNX Nifty also ended with marginally higher appreciation of 0.30 per cent at 4102.45 . But the clear laggards during the day's trading were the BSE-Mid cap and Small Cap index that inched up by only 0.14 per cent and 0.06 per cent respectively. It may be recalled that the BSE Midcap Index had hit an all time high late last week. According to the provisional figures furnished by BSE and NSE, the FIIs recorded net inflows of Rs 217.76 crore for the day.

SECTOR FOCUS

The sectors that were in the spotlight were FMCG, IT and Consumer Durables, with the auto pack aided by the earnings announcement from Maruti Udyog. The laggards were Banking, capital goods, metals and oil and gas. In the FMCG pack, the significant gainers for the day were Hindustan Lever, ITC, and Britannia stocks, which have been significant underperformers in the latest market rally. United Spirits and United Breweries were the other stocks that perked up in the pack.

Among IT stocks, the major gainers were Infosys Technologies, TCS and Wipro. Satyam Computers, which turned in a relatively lacklustre earnings card for the third quarter dipped by 3.19 per cent in the day's trading. The other stocks that declined marginally were Tech Mahindra, HCL Technologies and i-flex Solutions.

Click here for table

In the oil and gas space, the major losers were Essar Oil, GAIL India, Reliance Petroleum and Reliance Natural Resources. Among the banking stocks, the prominent losers were Federal Bank, Oriental Bank and HDFC Bank. The exception in this pack was Kotak Mahindra Bank, which surged by 7.98 per cent to close at Rs 481.90.

STOCKS IN FOCUS

The earnings season continued to attract heightened attention from the market. Jet Airways that announced its earnings card late last week and Maruti Udyog that announced its results today were in the limelight. The Jet Airways stock appreciated by Rs 50.55 (or 6.98 per cent) to close for the day at Rs 774.20, as the stock recorded post tax earnings after remaining in the red in the last two quarters. The company logged post tax earnings of Rs 40 crore in the third quarter ended December 31, 2006.

The stock seesawed in the run-up to Maruti Udyog's earnings performance, but finally closed in the green at Rs 938.6, with 3.04 per cent gain. The trading volumes in the stock were robust, with the auto major clocking a 11 per cent rise in its post tax earnings to Rs 376.40 crore on revenues of Rs 3,807 crore. The reasonably good show from Maruti perked up the entire auto pack, with Tata Motors and Bajaj Auto also ending in the positive territory.

Among the significant gainers during the day's trading were Nilkamal, Deep Industries, Ceat, R Systems, Pyramid Saimira, Crisil, Megasoft and Avaya Global. The prominent losers during the day were PSI Data Systems, Bharat Forge, Lumax Autos and ABG Shipyard.