EXPANSION plans of Suryajyoti Spinning Mills have led to high interest in the scrip. The company has announced production expansion in a phased manner. Phase I would involve an investment of Rs 45 crore for adding 25,000 spindles in its Andhra Pradesh plant. The company is setting up a new unit in the State and this is expected to start production in 2006.

For its second phase, the company is understood to be considering setting up of a fully integrated weaving, processing and garmenting unit. An investment outlay of Rs 150 crore is expected for Phase II.

The stock hit an intra-day high of Rs 53.40 on Wednesday, before shedding to profit booking. The scrip closed trade at Rs 51.60. The 52-week high level for the scrip was Rs 59.50, which it touched in February, earlier this year.

Dealers say that volumes in the counter have been picking up, on the back of the company's expected expansion. Investors seeking an early entry in the counter are picking up stake now, they added.

FMCG back in focus

WITH the Sensex soaring and regulators' cautioning about unusual movements in certain stocks, the focus of big investments have predictably shifted to defensive counters.

FMCG is back in buying vogue and the scrip that has investors re-focussing in this sector is that of Colgate-Palmolive (India) Ltd. Dealers say that the Colgate story has been ignored for sometime now, and analysts are expecting some room for rise in the stock at its current level.

The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs 257 on Wednesday, before closing at Rs 250.40. Though the price has not spiked significantly in the last month of trade, dealers say that volumes are picking up.

Investor interest perks up

MANALI Petrochemicals Ltd is beginning to catch investors' fancy, with the company seeking to set off its losses. The company is seeking shareholders' approval, and, subsequently, court approval in order to reduce its share capital. It expects that accumulated losses of over Rs 35 crore will be set off completely by 25 per cent reduction of the paid-up capital.

More than the cleaning up of the accounts, analysts say that the long-term business prospects of the company are adding to investor interest in this counter. Investors in this scrip should have an outlook at least for a year in order to reap benefits, according to analysts.

The scrip, which touched its 52-week high of Rs 29.30 last week, touched an intra-day high of Rs 27.40, before closing trade at Rs 25.65. Over 5.5 lakh shares were traded, on the BSE, on Wednesday.

Veena Venugopal

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