Media Shares Beam Northward

Media counters hogged the limelight on the Bombay Stock Exchange today. Balaji Telefilms and Tips Industries were frozen at the eight per cent upper circuit limit at Rs 220.30 and Rs 63.15, respectively.

Mukta Arts, TV18 and Sri Adhikari Brothers also registered gains. Zee Telefilms, however, declined by Rs 1.25 at Rs 97.70.

According to analysts, stock specific news, too, helped boost sentiment at the counters. Earlier this week, Balaji Telefilms had announced a net profit of Rs 4.9 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2001, higher than the bottomline the firm had posted for the entire 2000-01 at Rs 4.4 crore. With new serials in the offing, analysts expect the numbers to improve in the coming quarters too.

Balaji's shares were locked at the upper circuit throughout the day, with volumes halving to 15 lakh today from 36 lakh yesterday.

On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), volumes were down to 28 lakh from 36 lakh yesterday.

Tips advanced by 7.95 per cent or Rs 4.65 to close at Rs 63.15. Meanwhile, volumes dipped from 8 lakh to 7 lakh shares. Sri Adhikari, which moved up 3.17 per cent or Rs 1.85 to touch Rs 60.30, saw a ten-fold increase in volumes on the BSE to around 6000 from 699 shares yesterday.

Zee Telefilms, however, lost ground on profit booking. The stock had seen a sharp rally this week, advancing from a 48-month low of Rs 68 to above Rs 100 levels yesterday.

It ended Rs 1.25 lower today. Volumes halved to 36 lakh from 66 lakh yesterday, indicating that a sell-off may not be on large scale.