Friday February 15, 03:30 PM
Looking beyond 3,600... |
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By Equitymaster.com
The flurry of news on the economy front has resulted in sustained buying interest in the markets. While banking and PSU scrips continue to race ahead, commodity stocks also witnessed buying interest. Software and select pharma stocks however, were weak.
The BSE Sensex closed at 3,602 (up 45 points) and the NSE Nifty closed at 1,159 (up 9 points). The rupee was trading at Rs 48.69 per US dollar.
Select auto stocks were once again in demand today. The key gainers were M&M, Escorts (ESCO.BO, news) and Bajaj Auto (BJAT.BO, news) . M&M is to launch three new variants of its utility vehicles in the next three to four months. The company hopes to increase its market share in the semi-urban areas. The stock was up 1%. Ashok Leyland (ASOK.BO, news) , Telco and TVS were the key losers.
Consumer durable stocks have also been gaining ground over the last few days. BPL (BPLd.BO, news) and MIRC, the market leaders in the domestic markets, were up 4% each respectively. Videocon was also up today. But Philips was down marginally. The reasons for this buying interest are two fold. One is the rise in rural demand on the back of better agricultural output and secondly, the government is expected to lower customs duty on colour picture tube in the budget. This could improve margins of CTV manufacturers.
EIH was up by 2%. The promoters have plans to raise stake in the company from 41% to 51% through creeping acquisition. As per SEBI regulations promoters can raise their stake annually by 15% without having to make an open offer (the promoters have to intimate SEBI after acquiring 5% through open offer).
Barring ONGC, all other PSU stocks moved up significantly. Software stocks, after moving up sharply over the last few days, closed lower on account of profit booking. Nalco, Indal, Tata Steel (TISC.BO, news) , Gujarat Ambuja, ACC, India Cements and Madras Cements were the prominent movers amongst commodity stocks.
The key losers were Thermax (THMX.BO, news) , Titan, HCL Infosys (HCLId.BO, news) , Siemens (SIEM.BO, news) , Shipping Corporation, HDFC, HCL (HCLL.BO, news) Tech, TV 18, Cummins (CUMM.BO, news) , Glaxo and Raymond.
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