Post Market Commentary - Apr 26 2010

Benchmark indices closed with modest gains after a seesaw trade. Sensex gained 51 points to close at 17745 while Nifty finished at 5322, up 18 points. BSE Mid-cap and small-cap indices gained 0.6% and 0.5% respectively. Strelite Industries surged nearly 6% as the company announced 1:1 bonus and 2:1 stock split along with results which were above market expectation. Sun Pharma plunged 4.4% on the back of reports that the US district court has asked the company to stop selling its generic version of Eloxatin from June 30. In another case New Jersey jury ruled that Wyeth’s patent on Protonix is valid and Sun and Teva Pharma has infringed the patnet by launching the drug at risk. European markets as well as US stock indices futures were up about a percent.

BSE Metal index surged 2.3%, becoming the top gainer among the sectoral indices, followed by PSU index, up 0.6%. Realty and Oil & Gas indices lost 1.6% and 1% respectively. Sterliete Industries and HDFC were the top gainers among the Nifty stocks, putting on 5.8% and 3.9% respectively while Sun Pharma and DLF lost the most, down 4.4% and 3% respectively. BSE advance-decline ratio stood at 1.2:1.