No hang over for bulls
Think about it all the time
Never let it out of my mind
cause I love you
I've got the sweetest hangover
I dont wanna get over
Sweetest hangover
The bulls started the New Year from where they had left in 2006, pushing the Sensex past the 14k mark yet again. No hangover effect was visible on the bulls, as the New Year party continued on Dalal Street. The bulls continued their shopping spree with market players putting aside all concerns like hardening interest rates, uncertainty over FII flows, slowdown in the US, etc.
The main indices turned volatile in the middle of the week after crossing key levels. In choppy trading, the bulls managed marginal gains on the back of sustained buying in IT, Auto and Mid-Cap stocks. The benchmark BSE Sensex closed above 14k, but profit booking in heavyweights brought it below 13900 by the end of the week. Finally, it added 0.5% or 74 points to close at 13861 and the NSE Nifty gained 0.43% or 17 points to end at 3983.
Bajaj Auto, L&T, Satyam, Tata Motors and ONGC were the major gainers in the Sensex. Refinery stocks rose after a steep fall in crude oil prices. Crude in New York trading fell under US $56 per barrel due to mild weather in the US and rising stockpiles. HPCL surged by over 6.5% to Rs297, BPCL was up 4.4% to Rs351 and IOC added 5.7% to Rs476. Auto stocks advanced after yet another month of strong volume growth in December. Bajaj Auto gained 5.5% to Rs2783, Maruti was up 1.3% to Rs935 and Tata Motors rose 3% to Rs933.
IT stocks were in action ahead of the quarterly results to be announced next week. Infosys rose 1.2% to Rs2274, TCS put on over 4% to Rs1262 and Satyam added 2.4% to Rs501. Among the Mid-Caps Sasken jumped over 10% to Rs584, Polaris climbed over 11% to Rs192 and Moser Baer rose 10% to Rs338.
ONGC was in the news following reports that it may announce details of the new discovery in the Krishna Godavari Basin in two weeks. Reports also said that ONGC was close to buying up to 33% in two Caspian sea blocks offshore of Turkmenistan. The scrip added over 2.1% to Rs895. Reliance Industries rose 1% to Rs1288.
Buying was also seen in select banking stocks. ICICI bank was up 1.2% to Rs910 and SBI gained 1% to Rs1244. Among the Mid-Caps Canara Bank was up 2.4% to Rs283 and Kotak Mahindra Bank added 2.9% to Rs411.
Cement stocks lost ground after heavy weights like ACC and Gujarat Ambuja announced disappointing dispatch numbers for December, ACC lost over 1.7% to Rs1055, Gujarat Ambuja slipped by over 4% to Rs138 and Birla Corp was down 1% to Rs331. However, Grasim, Prism Cement and Mangalam Cement were among the major gainersSugar stocks continued to be in the news after Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said the Government may end a ban on export of sugar in three weeks. Also, reports that Ethiopia will open a tender for 40,000 metric tons of sugar on Jan. 6, for delivery between April and June boosted sugar stocks. Renuka Sugars rose by over 6% to Rs463. Bajaj Hindusthan fell by over 6.5% to Rs203, Balrampur Chini slipped 4.1% to Rs81, Sakhti Sugar was down 3.5% to Rs98 and Dhampur Sugar edged lower by 0.9% to Rs93.
Nissan Copper had a dream debut on Dalal Street as the stock surpassed everyone's expectations and touched a peak of Rs135.70 after making a debut at Rs42.80. However, the scrip came under pressure following news that market regulator SEBI was all set to probe its unprecedented rise. The scrip was later shifted to the Trade-to-Trade category. The scrip closed at Rs 98.85 on Friday.
Sesa Goa skyrocketed by over 22% to Rs1727 on speculation that Japan's Mitsui & Co. is set to sell its controlling stake in the company. Reports said that Arcelor Mittal, Tata Steel and OP Jindal Group were eyeing a controlling stake in the iron ore producer.