Thursday March 21, 03:30 PM
The 'red' returns... |
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By Equitymaster.com
Though markets remained listless for most part of the day, selling intensified in the closing hours, notably in cement, auto and financial stocks. Media stocks also witnessed profit booking. Buying was scattered and was largely concentrated in old economy stocks. Software pivotals were lacklustre.
The BSE Sensex closed at 3,538 (down 47 points) and the NSE Nifty closed at 1,144 (down 12 points). The rupee was trading at Rs 48.75 per US dollar.
One of the prominent gainers was Indian Hotels. The stock has moved up notably in the last one month after remaining sluggish in light of a sharp fall in in-bound tourist movements. At the current juncture, valuations also seem to be compelling. With economic recovery in sight combined with the governments thrust on tourism, the company is expected to benefit in the coming fiscal. The stock was up nearly 3%.
Commercial vehicle majors like Telco and Ashok Leyland (ASOK.BO, news) closed in the red. On the other hand, Escorts (ESCO.BO, news) , LML, Punjab Tractors and TVS Motors were up. TVS Motors was up 7%.
Software stocks had a mixed day. Digital, which was down yesterday on account of the proposed merger with HP and Compaq, recovered today. Tata Infotech (TTIN.BO, news) and CMC, for the second day in succession, fared well.
Private banking stocks were up selectively. The RBI today liberalized the norms for the issue and pricing of shares by these banks. According to the new norms, both listed and unlisted banks will no longer need to seek the central bank's permission for raising capital, except for initial public offering (IPO) and preferential issues. Private banks are also allowed to issue bonus and rights without seeking RBI's permission.
Cement and media stocks were some of the top losers. While media stocks fell on account of profit booking, after moving up notably in the last few days. Cement stocks were weak probably due to weak cement prices especially in south India. But it needs to be mentioned that cement demand is set to grow at 8% per annum and the top four majors are well positioned to reap the benefit of any upturn in demand.
Pharma stocks also witnessed mixed activity with domestic majors like Cipla (CIPL.BO, news) , Sun Pharma (SUN.BO, news) and Dr. Reddy (REDY.BO, news) 's edging upwards. Ranbaxy, on the other hand, was down. Polaris, India Cements, ACC, BHEL (BHEL.BO, news) , Ashok Leyland, ICICI (ICIC.BO, news) , Zee, Mastek (MAST.BO, news) , MRF (MRF.BO, news) , Hero Honda (HROH.BO, news) , VSNL, Infosys, Satyam and MTNL (MTNL.BO, news) were down.
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