As the markets came down like nine pins, pulling the Sensex down by more than 350 points and the Nifty by over 100 points, the investors were sent hurrying for cover, dumping stocks along the way.

There were more than 60 stocks on the NSE that hit a fresh 52-week low and some of these stocks were blue-chips. But for panic stricken investors that was hardly a consideration.

Even in a gloomy market, though, there were winners, 17 to be precise, on the NSE that hit a fresh 52-week high.

That investors saw value in them was probably the main reason as to why they stood out when the market was tumbling.

But more importantly, that most of them were non-index stocks lent credence to the view that they were not being propped by institutions to hold the index up to minimise the impact of the fall in index.

Some of these stocks were high-priced — two of them were actually over Rs 3,500 — and hence investors should have seen value in them to put their money in at a time of extreme volatility in the market.

Leading the pack of 52-week high stocks was Asian Paints that surged to a 52-week high of Rs 3,650 before easing down to Rs 3,639.85, a gain of Rs 36.25. The trading volume was 95,857 shares.

Divis Labs touched Rs 900, a 52-week high, before slipping to Rs 858 and here too, the volume of trading crossed one lakh shares.

Godrej Consumer Products touched Rs 585, its 52-week high, before coming down to Rs 567 with nearly three lakh shares being traded.

Its fellow FMCG major Hindustan Unilever also touched a 52-week high of Rs 437.75 with a huge volume of trading of 13.14 lakh shares.

Strides Arcolabs continued with its dream run, surging to a year’s high of Rs 692 before giving up some of its gains to Rs 678.60 with a relatively modest volume of 50,350 shares.

TCS, which had become a hot IT pick post-results, almost breached the Rs 1,300 levels, touching a 52-week high of Rs 1,295.25, before settling lower at Rs 1,269.60. The trading volume was a high 15.20 lakh shares.

That high price was not a deterrent was proved when TTK Prestige hit a 52-week high of Rs 3,658.90, before seeking lower levels at Rs 3,542.95.

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