The Hindu Business Line : All sectoral indices end in green

Markets staged a strong comeback during the day's trading in a roller coaster week so far. Aided by a surge in the Asian bourses, the BSE Sensex appreciated by 469.90 points (or 3.73 per cent) crossing the 13,000-mark.

The Nifty also kept pace with a 3.72 per cent rise to 3761.65. In contrast to the bellwether, the BSE Mid-cap and Small-cap indices moved up by only 2.59 per cent.

The Sensex heavyweights fired the trading session, with all the 30 stocks appreciating in value. All the sectoral indices ended in the green, with metals, capital goods and banking clocking the highest gains during the day.

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The advances to decline ratio at 2.25:1 was also overwhelmingly in favour of the former. Out of 2,581 stocks, 1,748 stocks appreciated while 776 logged declines.

According to the provisional FII data for BSE and NSE combined, FIIs were net buyers only to the tune of Rs 60.18 crore, up from Rs 28.03 crore on Wednesday.

After the trading hours, the European Central Bank has announced that it is raising its key interest rate by 0.25 percentage points to 3.75 per cent. This will influence the market direction when it opens for trading on Friday.

Buzzing Stocks

Among the Nifty constituents, the key gainers during the day were Steel Authority of India (13.01 per cent), IPCL (12.77 per cent), Hindustan Lever (9.86 per cent), Gujarat Ambuja Cement (8.72 per cent) and BHEL (7.99 per cent). The stocks that bucked the overall market trend were GlaxoSmithKline Pharma, GAIL and BPCL.

The Junior Nifty too was stacked in favour of advances, with Jaiprakash Associates (13.03 per cent), IFCI (9.83 per cent), Tata Tele Maharashtra (9.39 per cent), IDFC (8.96 per cent) and Bank of Baroda (8.62 per cent) being the key gainers. The stocks that went against the overall market trend were Punjab Tractors, Cadila Healthcare, Nirma and Patni.

Sectors in Focus

The metals index posted the highest gain among BSE Sectoral indices, with stocks such as Steel Authority of India, Hindustan Zinc, Hindalco, JSW Steel and Sterlite Industries leading the rally. Among capital goods, the second highest gainer, the key stocks that appreciated were ABB, BHEL, Gammon India, Praj Industries, Punj Lloyd and Thermax.

In the banking space, the significant gainers were Bank of India, HDFC Bank, Union Bank of India and Federal Bank.

Stock specific action

Evinix Accessories, which listed on a weak note on Wednesday, bounced back by 20 per cent to close at Rs 88.5. The stock is, however, trading lower than its issue price of Rs 120 per share.

IPCL flared up by 12.15 per cent to close at Rs 259.80. The merger proposal with Reliance Industries has fired up the stock, with the merger ratio likely to be announced by the board on Saturday.

Accompanied by three-fold rise in trading volumes, Hindustan Lever logged an appreciable rise of 9.53 per cent rise to close for the day at Rs 183.80.