Market may turn lackluster
The markets closed with marginal gains after witnessing choppy trades, Bulls were back on the bourses at start following strong Asian Markets. Further better than expected Industrial Growth figures lifted the benchmark Sensex to hit a high of 13056.67. However, selling pressure in the Cement, FMCG and Consumer Durable index dragged the key indices to close almost from where it started. ACC, Gujarat Ambuja, ITC and Grasim were the major loser among the 50-scrip’s of NSE Nifty. Finally, the 30-share benchmark Sensex gained 17 points to close at 12902. NSE Nifty rose 16 points to close at 3734.
Most Asian markets closed on a firm note. The Nikkei was up 128 points at 17,292 while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong rose 308 points to 19,442 and the Kospi in Seoul added 18 points to 1441.
Bharti Airtel surged 2.5% to Rs769 as the company announced its plans to invest $8bn by 2010 on expansion. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs779 and a low of Rs751 and recorded volumes of over 15,00,000 shares on NSE.
IVRCL Infrastructure pared its intra-day gains on back of profit booking. The scrip marginally fell by 0.3% to Rs276. The company secured orders worth Rs3.13bn. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs286 and a low of Rs274 and recorded volumes of over 31,00,000 shares on NSE.
BHEL has edged higher by 0.5% to Rs2104 after the company announced that they would consider bonus issue. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs2197 and a low of Rs2100 and recorded volumes of over 5,00,000 shares on NSE.
FMCG major Dabur lost 1.5% to Rs88. The Company announced its plans to enter into country's $12bn organized retail sector. In the next few years the company has planned to set up a chain of 300-400 retail outlets, based on the health and beauty platform, across the country. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs92 and a low of Rs88 and recorded volumes of over 8,00,000 shares on NSE.
Recent listings hogged the limelight. Mind Tree was locked at 20% upper circuit to Rs783, C&C Construction rallied by over 16% to Rs220, Idea Cellular gained 3% to Rs87 and Cinemax was up 4.5% to Rs118.
Capital Good stocks were the major gainers. The index gained by 1.67%. L&T gained 1% to Rs1498, BHEL was up by 0.5% to Rs2104, Punj Lloyd advanced 3.8% to Rs783 and Siemens added 0.5% to Rs1042.
Sugar stocks were also among the major gainers. Reports stated that government may spend Rs7.5bn to help sugar companies arrest narrowing profit margins due to a drop in prices. Renuka Sugar surged by over 7.5% to Rs377, Bajaj hindusthan advanced 6% to Rs180, Dhampur Sugar gained 6% to Rs77 and Balrampur Chini added 4% to Rs61.
Cement stocks were the major losers on back of selling pressure. Gujarat Ambuja slipped 5.2% to Rs104, ACC declined 4.5% to Rs743 and Grasim lost 2.8% to Rs2013.