On a day of record highs, gainers outshine laggards

On a day when a key benchmark index touched a record high Tuesday, the gainers, by rising more than nine percent on a single day, outshone the laggards.

Among the top gainers Tuesday, Muthoot Finance surged 9.65 percent at Rs.194.95, followed by Berger Paints, up 7.90 percent at Rs.336.15, and Ashok Leyland, up 7.39 percent at Rs.37.80.

Among the top losers, Financial Technologies dropped 4.99 percent at Rs.248.25, Bhusan Steel fell 4.98 percent at Rs.144.90 and Prestige Estates Projects was down 3.32 percent at Rs.229.90.

Among the 30 shares of the sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange, 19 scrips ended in the green and 11 scrips in red.

The top Sensex gainers were led by Mahindra & Mahindra, up 3.67 percent at Rs.1374.55; Tata Motors, up 2.95 percent at Rs.518.75; BHEL, up 2.80 percent at Rs.227.25; Bajaj Auto, up 2.46 percent at Rs.2195.30; and Dr.Reddy's Laboratories, up 1.85 percent at Rs.2,824.45.

The top Sensex losers were: HDFC, down 2.48 percent at Rs.1,085.20; TCS, down 1.93 percent at Rs.2,438.35; and HDFC Bank, down 0.98 percent at Rs.824.10.

The Sensex Tuesday touched a record high of 26,530.67 points, before closing flat at 26,420.67 points -- up barely 29.71 points or 0.11 percent.

The wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) also hit a record high of 7,918.55 points and ended trade at 23.25 points or 0.30 percent up at 7,897.50 points.