Tuesday April 30, 03:30 PM
PSU dominance... |
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By Equitymaster.com
Markets seem to have shrugged off the recent political saga, which is threatening the very base of the ruling NDA government. On the contrary, disinvestment and encouraging numbers from pharma majors sparked buying interest on the bourses today.
The BSE Sensex closed at 3,338 (up 37 points) and the NSE Nifty closed at 1,084 (up 10 points). The rupee was trading at Rs 48.95 per US dollar.
Expectations of divestment news from the government continue to drive PSU stocks on the bourses. IPCL, for which three players have submitted bids, was up 6%. Engineers India, HPCL and ONGC were the other key movers. Apart from listed companies, the government is making progress on divestment of Maruti for which talks with Suzuki are reportedly in advanced stages.
There was considerable level of activity in second rung stocks. Indian Rayon (IRYN.BO, news) is trading close to its 52-week high levels (up 7%) and the reasons for this are multifold. The company is expected to post improved performance in the future on the back of its leadership in businesses like carbon black, insulators, viscose staple fibre and garments. Besides, it has investment in MRPL (MRPL.BO, news) , from which the Aditya Birla Group is planning to exit. If the group manages to find a buyer, Indian Rayon will benefit. But there is a caveat. The company has been on a diversifying spree with interest in unrelated areas like insurance and software. So one has to be cautious on this front. The group has used the company as a vehicle for diversification. Thermax (THMX.BO, news) , MRF (MRF.BO, news) , Indo Rama, GE Shipping and Moser Baer were the other movers amongst mid cap stocks. GE Shipping was up ahead of its FY02 results today.
It was a mixed day for pharma majors. Cipla (CIPL.BO, news) , which surprised the markets with a sharp rise in margins, was the top gainer on the NSE. However, Ranbaxy was down as a result of its poor performance in the domestic markets. Except for Cipla and Lupin, all other domestic pharma majors closed lower.
FMCG stocks had a good day. Godrej Consumer and Trent (TREN.BO, news) were the prominent gainers. Nirma (NRMA.BO, news) , P&G, Pidilite, Reckitt, Dabur, Henkel, Cadbury, ITC (ITCd.BO, news) and Tata Tea (TTTE.BO, news) all were up. However, HLL, after a brief recovery in the last few days, witnessed selling pressure and at one point the stock went below Rs 200 mark.
There was selective buying interest in auto, software, cement and media stocks. Aluminium stocks were also back in demand today. Hindalco (HALC.BO, news) , Nalco and Indal faired well.
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