Tata Tea may perk up further

Sanjiv Shankaran

THE average badla rate dropped by about 1.5 percentage points to about 12.25 per cent per annum.

The aggregate badla/carry forward turnover was around Rs 2,651 crore, in line with the previous week's level.

Equities declined last week on the heels of traders' sell-off. Top-end technology companies that unveiled third quarter results -- generally in line with market expectations -- met with a mixed reception. After the indiscriminate buying in 1999, a high degree of scepticism appears to have set in. A few fund managers may be in a spot of bother over the heavy weightage that technology stocks have in most portfolios.

While the medium-term outlook for technology stocks does not appear bright, a few of them may display a firm trend in the near-term. Digital Equipment and Satyam Computers may notch gains next week. Pentamedia Graphics, Zee Telefilms and Himachal Futuristic that have been beaten down recently, show signs of bottoming out.

Oil sector stocks saw frenzied buying towards the end of the settlement on the heels of an announcement by the Finance Minister that the sector's proposed reforms ought to be in place in a little over two years. Friday's buying seemed indiscriminate, and therefore may not last. One stock in the sector that seems set for better days is Reliance Petroleum. In today's badla session, there was a 11 per cent increase in volume over the previous week.

Among the other stocks, that may see an uptrend in the near-term are Crisil and Cummins India. Hindustan Lever, on the other hand, may see a bit of weakness in the near-term.

Tata Tea has seen a marked uptrend over the last few weeks. The share price charts suggest that the current uptrend hasn't lost steam yet. There may be one more spurt in the current trend.

Other notable developments in today's session was the sharp increase in volume in ITC and Global TeleSystems. In terms of turnover, Global Tele topped the table. Punjab Tractors was another stock that saw an appreciable rise in volume.