The Hindu Business Line : Auto, FMCG stocks shine on choppy day for markets

Though the Sensex closed 29.1 points higher at 11,477.48, it declined sharply from the intra-day high of 11,551.59. The Nifty ended in the red, shedding 2.15 points to close at 3,353.90.

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The market sentiment was evident from the advances-to-declines ratio, with declines outnumbering advances by 2:1.

After the smart run-up, even the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices took a breather, declining by 0.89 per cent and 1.27 per cent respectively.

SECTOR FOCUS

Among the BSE Sectoral indices, the prominent gainers were auto, capital goods, FMCG and healthcare. The significant losers were metals, consumer durables and banking.

Among the auto stocks, the main gainers were Tata Motors, Ashok Leyland, Bharat Forge, M&M and Maruti Udyog. These stocks gained 1-5 per cent during the course of the day.

Among FMCG stocks, the key gainers were HLL, Godrej Consumer and Dabur India. The capital goods stocks continued to rock, with significant gainers being Ingersoll Rand, Siemens and ABB.

The stocks that bucked the overall trend were Areva T&D, Alstom Projects, Alfa Laval and Esab India.

Stocks from the oil and gas that have been on a roll for the past few trading sessions shed some of their gains.

IOC and HPCL declined by one per cent and 2.8 per cent respectively. BPCL was the lone stock that ended with marginal gains (0.78 per cent).

The metals sectors was the hardest hit, with stocks such as Hindalco, Tata Steel, Hindustan Zinc, National Aluminium and Sterlite Industries shedding 1-4 per cent during the day's trading.

BUZZING STOCK

Kernex Microsystems was the buzzing stock of the day, appreciating by 14.8 per cent to close at Rs 198.80. The rise in price was matched by trading volumes, which soared six-fold to 1.50 lakh shares.

EVENT-SPECIFIC STOCKS

Punj Lloyd shed Rs 5.3 to close at Rs 732.70, despite announcing that it had bagged an Rs 823-crore order from Rajasthan Vidyut Utapadan Nigam, Jaipur on an EPC basis.

The contract entails building 2x250 MW Chabbra Thermal Power Station on a fast track basis. The trading volumes, however, shot up sharply in the stock.

Bharati Shipyard was another scrip that declined; it lost Rs 1.60 to close at Rs 324 notwithstanding the company bagging a contract from Reliance Industries for construction of six vessels. The value of the contract is estimated at Rs 120 crore.

Several sugar stocks such as Bajaj Hindusthan, Dhampur Sugar and Thiru Arooran Sugars shed value on expectation of sugar mill margins coming under pressure on account of lower realisation and higher cane prices payable to growers.

GAINERS AND LOSERS

Among the other prominent gainers were Ingersoll Rand, Gujarat Mineral Development, Ashok Leyland, Lupin, Glenmark Pharma, Kochi Refineries, Rolta India, IPCL, Castrol India, Micro Inks and Reliance Communications.

The losers were iGate Global, Adani Exports, Raymond, Sterlite Optical, Finolex Industries and Thermax.