Date:02/04/2005 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2005/04/02/stories/2005040202041300.htm

Back Bellwether indices set market on a roll

Alagappan Arunachalam

ON Friday, the first day of the new fiscal's trading session, the bulls were upbeat with the bears resting in the woods. Metal stocks showed signs of mettle, bank and select sugar stocks clocked large volumes of trade. The strength of the rise among the gainers was far in excess of the fall among the losers.

After a spate of declines the bellwether indices gained for the third day. Investors appeared to have bought oil stocks on the perception that they were undervalued, and were good buys at the prevailing prices. The advances-declines ratio was lopsided in favour of the gainers at about 5:1. The advances were evenly spread across sectors and categories, replicating the overall bullish undertone in the market.

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The BSE Sensex opened marginally higher by 14 points, after dipping into the red in the initial hour of trade, the index on sustained buying support in the frontline stocks touched an intra day high of 6,618.08, it closed with a net gain of 112.22 points.

The S&P CNX Nifty opened flat, the index moving on the same lines as the Sensex touched an intra day high of 2,071.2 points towards the close almost immediately it lost value to close with a gain of 1.57 per cent.

Intense activity took place on the counters of steel stocks, the hike in steel prices by Tata Steel which came into effect today helped the stock close with a gain of more than Rs 8. Ispat Industries, SAIL, Essar Steel and Uttam Galva were the other gainers.

A hike in aluminium prices by nearly 4 per cent, by aluminium manufacturers National Aluminium and Hindalco to replicate the global prices, created interest among investors in the aluminium stocks. This comes on the back of sustained demand in China for the metal amid a deficit in global production. The scrips of the two largest manufactures closed with gains.

High trading took place on the counters of banking stocks, most of the recorded gains. 16 out of 17 stocks in the sectoral index on the BSE advanced. Corporation Bank, Vijaya Bank, Canara Bank and Andhra Bank were the major gainers.

Stocks of oil refineries and oil marketing companies shot up, BPCL, HPCL, Kochi Refineries and Mangalore Refineries advanced.

Bharat Heavy Electricals leaped by nearly five per cent after it had announced a jump in fourth quarter profits of 41 per cent, backed by increased orders from energy companies to meet power shortage in the domestic market.

Gateway Distriparks advanced by more than nine per cent, this on the sharp rise of 56 per cent on Thursday on which it opened up for trading its IPO was subscribed 29 times.