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Cement companies bask in limelight

Anup Menon

ON Monday, the first day of trading in the current settlement on the Bombay Stock Exchange, the 30-stock BSE barometre (Sensex) closed the day at 3544.08 points, down by around 31.92 points or 0.89 per cent over Friday's close.

The advance-decline ration was evenly placed with 481 stocks advancing in value compared to 454 stocks which registered declines. The number of stocks that touched new lows outnumbered those that hit new highs. During the day only 14 stocks touched new h ighs as against 145 stocks which hit new lows. Total traded volumes stood at around 4.85 crore.

Trading trends at the National Stock Exchange on the penultimate day of trading in the current settlement were in line with that at the BSE. The benchmark S&P CNX Nifty closed the day at 1128.35 points, down by around 11.25 points or 0.99 per cent over i ts previous close.

The ratio of advances to declines were balanced with 347 stocks advancing in value as compared to 382 stocks which registered declines. Stocks touching new lows outnumbered those that hit new highs. Only three stocks managed to hit new highs as compared to 83 stocks which hit new lows. Total volumes during the day stood at around 5.88 crore.

Moving in tandem with the broad market indices, the BL-250 composite index lost around 0.7 per cent to close the day at 994.10 points, down by around 6.9 points or 0.7 per cent from its previous close. With the exception of the Capital Goods index and th e PSU index all other sectoral indices treaded in negative territory.

The top gainer during the day was the Capital Goods index which gained close to 1.2 per cent followed by the PSU index which gained around 0.6 per cent. The losers list was headed by the Commodity Sector index which lost around 3.9 per cent. The BL-Techn ology index ended the day down by around 0.6 per cent.

The gainers' list sported some of the big names in the cement sector. The prominent gainers in the sector included Grasim, Madras Cements and Larsen & Toubro. Other major gainers included stocks such as Zee Telefilms, NIIT, Godfrey Philips and Tata Honey well.

Shares in the cement sector witnessed buying interest on news that producers were planning to cut production in order to boost prices. Larsen & Toubro was up 1.87 per cent to close at Rs 230.60. Around 8.33 lakh shares changed hands during the day. The s tock of Grasim gained close to 7.49 per cent to close the day at Rs 291.10. Volumes surged with around 7.24 lakh shares being traded.

The UTI Bank stock was up on reports that it may seek to acquire a private sector bank. The stock closed the day at Rs 31.65, up by around 7.83 per cent from its previous close. Close to 5,600 shares changed hands during the day.

The stock of Tata Steel was up on expectations of a good performance. It gained close to 2.17 per cent to close the day at Rs 126.70. Trading volumes were around 5.97 lakh shares.

The major losers during the day included the technology heavyweight Infosys Technologies. Other major losers included Mico, Reliance Industries, Cipla, Cadbury (India) and Rhone Poulenc.

The stock of Infosys Technologies ended the day on the negative note after J.P Morgan decided to cut the rating assigned to the company to market performer from buy. The stock closed the day at Rs 3961.25, down by around 1.18 per cent from its previous c lose. Transacted volumes stood around 1.88 lakh shares.

The other major loser was the Reliance Industries stock. The stock attracted selling interest on apprehension over the possibility of delay in its telecom initiatives and also on account of the higher import duties on naphtha which would hurt profit. The stock closed at Rs 357.50, down by around 6.45 per cent over its previous close. Close to 50 lakh shares changed hands during the day.