Back Winning streak extends on sustained buying
Radhika Kamath
SUSTAINED buying support from domestic funds along with continued inflow of foreign capital helped markets extend their winning streak. While Sensex climbed higher to post its second straight record close at 10173.3, the Nifty too added 13.6 points to finish at 3041.2.
On Monday, markets opened on a promising note at 10,117.5 from Friday's close of 10,110.9 and later firmed up to an all-time intra-trade high of 10,182.8 before closing at 10,173.3, showing a gain of 62.28 points against previous close. On the NSE, the 50-stock nifty also opened on a positive note and kept the momentum as it finished at 3041.2.
Well supported by robust corporate earnings and the country's strong economic fundamentals, the market appears to be driven by a pre-budget bull run as FIIs continue to pump in heavy funds into the Indian equity.
Although bullish sentiment was widespread, markets moved in a very range-bound manner. A weak trend across the global market also restricted the gains in the indices. The markets faced stiff resistance at higher levels.
There was hectic activity across the counters of capital goods, auto, tea, pharma and banking stocks that propped up the indices to higher levels.
Mid-cap counters were buzzing with activity on the back of strong buying support. McDowell was a significant gainer whose stock shot up by 13.8 per cent. Simplex Infrastructure, Century Enka, Tamil Nadu Newsprint, Kalpataru Power, Coromandel Fertilizers, GTL and Hindustan Oil Exploration were few others that rallied sharply.
A large number of small-cap stocks also were on fire and were instrumental in boosting the overall market sentiment. Notable gainers included the likes of Bombay Burmah Trading, Polaris, Nirma, Magma Leasing, Nahar Exports, Sangam India and Helios and Matheson among others.
L&T, Tata Motors, Grasim, BHEL, Ranbaxy, Maruti and Tata Power were prominent gainers in the basket of frontline stocks. HLL, HDFC, SBI and Satyam ended with marginal gains.
There appears no respite for bullish activity in tea stocks. Stocks of Williamson Tea, Warren Tea were up sharply by 20 per cent on an average. McLeod Russel, Tata Tea, Jayshree Tea and Harrison Malayalam also perked up on unabated buying interest.
Auto stocks were in top gear paced by gains in Tata Motors whose scrip rose five per cent to Rs 791. Maruti, Amtek Auto and M&M also netted off handsome gains. The stock of LML was locked 10 per cent upper circuit at Rs 49.8.
In the capital goods space, Alstom Projects, KEC International, BEML and TRF recorded smart gains.
Renewed buying in banking sector stocks helped them end in positive territory. Canara Bank led the pack with a gain of 8.4 per cent. The stock has moved up by over 15 per cent in the last two sessions. IndusInd Bank, Karnataka Bank, Vijaya Bank, UTI Bank, ICICI Bank, Oriental Bank and Allahabad Bank advanced in value.
Stock-specific action:
Cipla was up by 0.7 per cent following announcement that the drugmaker has approved a bonus issue in the ratio of three shares for every two held.
ICICI Bank climbed by about a per cent after the nation's second biggest lender raised interest rates on home loans effective February 13.
Television Eighteen India rose by or 2.5 per cent, to Rs 527.3. The company on February 11 said that its unit Global Broadcast News plans to buy a stake in Channel 7, a Hindi general news broadcaster owned by Jagran TV.
Usha Martin gained 1.2 per cent, to Rs164.1. The Indian wire-rope maker said on Feb. 11 that it signed an agreement with Australia's BHP Minerals Holdings Pty for exploring mines in the eastern state of Jharkhand.
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