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Tuesday, January 02, 2007

How Market Fared


Range bound market likely

The last trading session of the year came to a disappointing end as selling pressure was witnessed in the Technology, Oil & Gas and FMCG stocks. Weak inflation numbers which was 5.43% in week ended Dec 16 against expectation of 5.38% and Indian overseas loan number which rose 3.2% to $136.5bn also aided the down fall marking a subdued end to a whole year of gains. After trading almost flat for most part of the day the key indices lost ground as heavy weights like FMCG major HLL, ICICI Bank, Satyam Computer, RIL and Infosys witnessed profit booking finally closing lower. The benchmark BSE Sensex however, rose 46% in the year 2006 making a journey from 10,000 mark to 14,000 level and Nifty also pierced the 4000 mark during the year. Finally, the BSE benchmark Sensex slipped 59 points to close at 13786. NSE Nifty was down 4 points to close at 3966.

NTPC edged higher 0.5% to Rs136 after the company signed a deal for Sri Lanka project. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs137 and a low of Rs135 and recorded volumes of over 25,00,000 shares on NSE.

Reliance Industries edged lower 0.3% to Rs1270. S&P affirmed BBB rating of the company stating their outlook Stable. The has touched an intra-day high of Rs1287 a low of Rs1265 recorded volumes of over 22,00,000 shares on NSE.

Nissan Copper made an impressive debut on the bourses; the scrip opened at Rs39 and surged by over 200% to Rs123. The company entered the capital market with an initial public offering of around Rs25crore. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs136 and a low of Rs39 and recorded volumes of over 6,00,00,000 shares on NSE.

FMCG stocks witnessed profit booking. Index heavy weight HLL, Tata Tea, ITC and Colgate were among the major losers.

Banking stocks were also on the receiving end on back of selling pressure. ICICI Bank fell by 1.3% to Rs891, HDFC Bank was down 1.2% to Rs1067. While among the Mid-Cap stocks Bank of Baroda, OBC and PNB were the major losers.

The Auto stocks stood firm throughout the day as according to reports India may lower customs taxes on automobile parts to as much as 7% to bring the tariffs in line with those in Southeast Asia. Hero Honda was up 0.5% to Rs763, Maruti gained 0.7% to Rs929 and Eicher Motors surged overt 4% to Rs634.

Cement stocks also recorded smart gains as reports stated that cement prices are likely to rise further due to a tight demand-supply mismatch notwithstanding the massive investments announced by domestic producers on capacity build-up. Prices in Mumbai have risen by Rs5-10 to Rs235-240 per 50 kg bag in the last couple of months and are expected to go up further by Rs15-20 to Rs260 per bag. ACC gained % to Rs1086, Grasim was up 0.2% to Rs2801, Mangalam Cement added 1.6% to Rs201 and Kakatia Cement rose 1% to Rs104.

Mid-Cap Technology stocks recorded smart gains. Mphasis BFL surged over 7% to Rs305, Polaris advanced over 5% to Rs172, Mastek was up 4.3% to Rs370. However, heavy weight Satyam Computer and Infosys were on the receiving end.