Back Markets rebound on F&O settlement
Krishnan Thiagarajan
THE Sensex staged a strong recovery during the day's trading, after remaining in the negative territory for five trading days. The future and options settlement, which closed on Thursday, imparted strength to the indices.
The Sensex closed for the day at 7660.42 points, recording a 48.42-point (0.64 per cent) gain. The Sensex opened at 7651.11, with a substantial gap of 39 points from the previous day's close, touched a high of 7672.18 points and a low of 7595.84 points in the early part of the day's trading. The underlying strength of the 30-share Sensex was evident from 20 stocks advancing in value.
The market breadth remained positive, with 2,110 stocks out of 2,635 stocks traded advancing in value. Among the sectoral indices, the sectors that outperformed the Sensex were metals, healthcare, PSU, automobiles and IT. The laggards were banking, consumer durables and oil and gas.
The S&P CNX Nifty ended the day on a much stronger note at 2354.55 points, 1.38 per cent gain over Wednesday's trading. While the Nifty Junior edged up by 0.63 per cent, the CNX Midcap 200 moved up by 1.15 per cent. Among the Nifty stocks, the prominent gainers during the day were Steel Authority of India, Videsh Sanchar Nigam, BHEL, Bajaj Auto, Dabur and Wipro. The losers were Bharat Petroleum, HDFC, Maruti, Dr. Reddy's Lab and Tata Motors.
Among the Nifty Junior, the significant gainers were Jaiprakash Associates, Syndicate Bank, Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank, Union Bank and Raymond. The laggards were MphasiS BFL, IFCI, Apollo Tyres, Aurobindo Pharma and Nicholas Piramal.
Outside the broad indices, the major gainers were Spanco Telesystems, Apollo Sindhoori Capital Investments, Sukhjit Starch, Flex Industries and VisualSoft Technologies, Lakshmi Precision and PSI Data Systems.
Riding on robust trading volumes, Spanco Telesystems appreciated by Rs 26.7 to close for the day at Rs 160.30. The stock has been on an uptrend for some time, with Reliance Capital deciding to acquire a 14.96 per cent equity stake in Spanco Tele at a price of Rs. 90.90 per share for Rs. 32.2 crore. The trading volumes soared from 4.81 lakh shares on Wednesday's trading to 20.78 lakh shares during the day's trading.
Another stock that has been perking up is Apollo Sindhoori Capital Investments, however, on thin trading volumes. The stock shot up by Rs 43.15 to close for the day at Rs 259.05. The trading volumes in the stock, however, dropped from 2,374 shares on Wednesday to 770 shares during the day.
VisualSoft marched up by Rs 23.45 (or 14.96 per cent) to close at Rs 180.20. The trading volumes moved up smartly from 4.82 lakh shares on Wednesday to 29.60 lakh shares during the day. The uptrend has to be seen in the backdrop of Citigroup Global Markets acquiring a 1.4 per cent equity stake in the VisualSoft stock recently.
Among the losers were Twinstar Software, MphasiS BFL, Geodesic, Pantaloon, Nestle, Colour Chips, Andhra Cements and Aurobindo Pharma.
MphasiS BFL was among the prominent losers, with the stock dipping by Rs 11.95 (or 4.7 per cent) to close at Rs239.05. The trading volumes in the stock more than doubled from 1.02 lakh shares to 2.72 lakh shares. The bearish sentiment may be attributed to Barings India Investments decision not to sell its 35 per cent equity stake that it had put on the selling block in MphasiS BFL.
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