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Sensex gains 13 points on buying in defensive sector stocks

The market rose further today following a recovery in Old Economy stocks.

Despite a further fall in New Economy stocks, the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) 30-share Sensitive Index (Sensex) settled with a modest gain of 13.48 points at 3,509.32.

Old Economy stocks led the recovery. Buying was also seen in defensive sector stocks in the pharmaceutical and fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) segments. Tech stocks slipped on selling pressure following a fall on tech-laden Nasdaq on Friday. Buying was seen in select fundamentally sound B1 group stocks, especially media scrips, which are not in the list of scrips coming under the rolling settlement.

The market had showed signs of recovery last week, just towards its close. It had remained subdued for a major part of the week, despite sustained buying by foreign institutional investors (FIIs), wary of the 2 July 2001 deadline banning carry-forward facility.

The BSE Sensex opened in the positive zone with a gap of 12 points at 3,507.32. After a steady start, the Sensex declined on selling pressure in select heavyweights and dived into the red. It touched an intra-day low of 3,482.80 in mid-morning trades. However, renewed buying in Old Economy stocks at lower levels resulted in the Sensex bouncing back once again. It touched the day's high of 3,525.04 before settling at 3,509.32, gaining 13.48 points over its previous close.

The National Stock Exchange's S & P CNX Nifty Index gained 4.50 points to close at 1,131.10.

The turnover on BSE rose to Rs 1,097.10 crore (Rs 1,351.97 crore on 8 June 2001) from 6.51 crore shares traded. Of the 1,711 issues traded, advances outnumbered declines with 860 gainers and 703 losers. 148 issues remained unchanged.

Pivotal stocks

Pivotals displayed mixed trends.

Pharmaceutical majors like Cipla (up 3.58% to Rs 1,119), Ranbaxy Laboratories (up 2.29% to Rs 484.90), Dr Reddy's Laboratories (up 0.64% to Rs 132.90 and Glaxo (up 0.81% to Rs 329.85) recovered on renewed institutional buying at lower levels.

Institutional bargain hunting was also seen in FMCG pivotals like ITC (up 2.21% to Rs 750), Hindustan Lever (up 2.01% to Rs 190.40), Nestle (up 1.04% to Rs 526.10) and Colgate (up 1.18% to Rs 167.50).

Selective buying was seen in cement pivotals like Gujarat Ambuja Cements (up 2.16% to Rs 182.50), ACC (up 1.15% to Rs 141.10), L & T (up 1.28% to Rs 241.35) and Grasim (up 1% to Rs 333.45).

PSU pivotals like HPCL (up 1.44% to Rs 161.50) and MTNL (up 1.81% to Rs 132) rose further on bargain hunting at lower levels.

Buying was also seen in other pivotals like Bajaj Auto, M & M, Tata Steel and Castrol.

Reliance Industries recovered from an intra-day low of Rs 366.35 to Rs 372.90 before settling at Rs 370.35, gaining 0.01% over its previous close.

Meanwhile, tech pivotals declined.

Infosys Technologies came off from Rs 3,939 to Rs 3,788 before settling at Rs 3,812, losing 3.59% from its previous close.

Satyam Computer also slipped from a high of Rs 216.95 to Rs 207.50 before recovering to settle at Rs 211, losing 1.24% from its previous close. Satyam topped volumes on BSE with over 57 lakh shares being traded.

NIIT declined from Rs 448 to Rs 433 before settling at Rs 439, losing 0.77% from its previous close.

Media major Zee Telefilms (down 1.40% to Rs 123) also shed further ground. Only 14 lakh Zee shares were traded on BSE.

Bhel (down 0.66% to Rs 181.85) recovered from a low of Rs 222.85 after the government denied reports that it was considering making an offer for sale of shares of the electrical equipment major.

Other pivotals like Reliance Petroleum, Telco, State Bank of India and ICICI settled in the red.

Tech stocks

Among non-Sensex tech stocks, Kale Consultants (up 8.40% to Rs 61.95) crossed 8% upper limit of the circuit breaker.

Tata Infotech (up 5.38% to Rs 184.15) rose further despite reports last week about the incidence of insider trading in the stock ahead of the announcement of its FY 2001 results. For the year ended 31 March 2001, the company posted a 117.54% rise in net profit to Rs 26.54 crore (Rs 12.20 crore) on sales of Rs 523.62 crore (Rs 432.31 crore).

Buying was seen in Infotech Enterprises, Mascot Systems, Ramco Systems, Nucleus Software, Pentasoft Technologies, Mphasis BFL, Aztec Software, Citicorp Securities, Wipro and Fujitsu ICIM.

Meanwhile, Aptech (down 4.29% to Rs 110.50) slipped on profit-booking after a sharp spurt on Friday, when the company announced restructuring of its operations. As per the restructuring exercise, the company will de-merge its IT education business into a separate subsidiary and Hexaware Technologies, an unlisted company, will be merged with the company.

Selling was also seen in other tech stocks like HCL Technologies, PSI Data Systems, VisualSoft, Sierra Optima, Information Technologies, Rolta India, DSQ Software, Polaris Software, Aftek Infosys, Hughes Software, Trigyn Technologies, Mastek, Sonata Software and Mascon Global.

Telecom stocks

Among telecom stocks, optical fibre makers like Aksh Optifibre (down 0.93% to Rs 139.10) and Sterlite Optical (down 1.02% to Rs 417.45) declined on profit-booking.

Convergence majors Global Tele-Systems (down 1.87% to Rs 207) and HFCL (down 2.84% to Rs 133.20) also lost ground on profit- booking.

Surana Telecom, Mobile Telecom, Birla Ericsson and VSNL settled in the negative zone.

On the other hand, Punjab Communications (up 10.34% to Rs 44.30) crossed 8% upper limit of the circuit breaker. Buying was seen in other telecom-related stocks like Krone Communications, Goldstone Technologies, Framatome Connectors, Nelco, Tata Telecom, Sterlite Industries, Vindhya Telelink, Finolex Cables and Shyam Telecom.

Media stocks

Media stocks were in the limelight on renewed buying support. Players informed that the media sector has some of the fundamentally sound companies which have not been included in the rolling settlement list.

Tips Industries (Rs 97.20), Balaji Telefilms (Rs 158.80), Cinevista Communications (Rs 52.30), Pritish Nandy Communications (Rs 39.05), Creative Eye (Rs 19.15) and Vision Tech (Rs 18.70) hit 8% upper limit of the circuit breaker.

Buying was seen in other media stocks like Adlabs Films, Mukta Arts, Crest Communications, Padmalaya Telefilms, TV 18, Sri Adhikari Brothers, Jain Studios and Saregama India.

On the other hand, Mid-Day Multimedia (Rs 27.10) hit 8% lower limit of the circuit breaker.

Pharmaceutical stocks

Among non-Sensex pharmaceutical stocks, Parke-Davis (up 9.70% to Rs 183.70) crossed 8% upper limit of the circuit breaker after the company announced its FY 2001 results on Saturday. For the year ended 31 March 2001, the MNC pharmaceuticals major posted a net profit of Rs 62.45 crore (Rs 16.61 crore) on sales of Rs 211.67 crore (Rs 200.39 crore). While the company received Rs 47.92 crore (nil) from sale of property, it spent Rs 7.45 crore (Rs 6.36 crore) towards a voluntary retirement scheme (VRS).

J. B. Chemicals (Rs 90.45) hit 8% upper limit of the circuit breaker.

Buying was seen in Neuland Laboratories, Panacea Biotech, Suven Pharma, E.Merck, Cadila Healthcare, Wyeth Lederle, Burroughs Wellcome, Wockhardt, Fulford, KDL Biotech, Pfizer, Aurobindo Pharma, Abbott Laboratories, German Remedies, FDC, SmithKline Beecham Pharma and Novartis.

On the other hand, stocks like Rhone Poulenc, Duphar, Knoll Pharma, Nicholas Piramal, Sun Pharma, Hoechst Marion Roussel, Torrent Pharma, Ipca Laboratories, Astra-IDL and Lupin Laboratories settled in the red.

FMCG stocks

Buying was seen in FMCG stocks like Bata India, Dabur India, Gillette India, Reckitt Benckiser, Tata Tea, Cadbury India, Nirma, United Breweries, VST Industries and Kodak India.

On the other hand, McDowell, Archies Greetings, Bausch & Lomb, Procter & Gamble, Britannia Industries and SmithKline Beecham Consumer Healthcare settled in the red.

Banking and finance stocks

Among banking and finance sector stocks, Bank of India (Rs 16.40) hit 8% upper limit of the circuit breaker on renewed buying support.

Buying was also seen in other banking stocks like UTI Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, South Indian Bank, Corporation Bank, ICICI Bank, IDBI Bank and Bank of Baroda.

On the other hand, Nedungadi Bank, Vysya Bank, Global Trust Bank, Bank of Rajastan, HDFC Bank, HDFC, Bank of Punjab, Oriental Bank of Commerce and Federal Bank settled in the red.

Side counters

Among side counters, Videocon International (up 8.97% to Rs 29.75) exceeded 8% upper limit of the circuit breaker after the company's claim of a 25% market share in the colour TV segment.

Titan Industries (up 8.37% to Rs 51.80) crossed 8% upper limit of the circuit breaker following the reports of the company's negotiations with a US group to popularise its jewellery brand there.

Elbee Services (Rs 124.25), Khandwala Securities (Rs 58.45) and Modi Rubber (Rs 70.50) were frozen at 8% upper limit of the circuit breaker.

Cummins India (up 6.84% to Rs 60.90) ruled firm ahead of the announcement of its quarterly results.

Voltas (up 3.64% to Rs 39.85) rose further after the company announced a joint venture with Fedders Corporation for the manufacture of a range of room air-conditioners in India. This is a significant development as it is for the first time that such a 'manufacturing only' alliance has been formed in the air-conditioning industry in India.

Asian Paints (up 1.63% to Rs 249.70) gained ground after the company received the necessary approval from the Board of Investment, Bangladesh, for its proposed industrial project to manufacture paints, enamels and varnishes in Bangladesh.

Madura Coats, Century, BPL, Bombay Dyeing, Thermax, BPCL, Foseco India, Monsanto India, IBP, Philips India, Ingersoll Rand, Blue Dart Express, Hero Honda Motors, Exide Industries, Western Hatcheries, Siemens, Esab India, Ashok Leyland, Amara Raja Batteries, TVS Suzuki, EIH, Crompton Greaves and G. E. Shipping posted gains.

On the other hand, Tata Chemicals (down 12.70% to Rs 61.75) crossed 8% lower limit of the circuit breaker. Flex Chemicals (Rs 55.65), Bhagyanagar Metals (Rs 58.45) and Rallis India (Rs 31.90) hit 8% lower limit.

Selling was also seen on other side counters like Alstom, Shree Rama Multitech, Coates of India, Aventis Cropscience, Tata Infomedia, ITW Signode, Kotak Mahindra Finance, Saw Pipes, Thomas Cook, Navneet Publications, Tata Power, Vikas WSP, Bharat Forge, Adani Exports, Gati Corporation, Atlas Copco, Essel Packaging and ABB.

Source: www.capitalmarket.com

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