Rare Field-Day For Oldies

Old economy ruled the day on the bourses. For a change technology stocks remained in a very narrow range and did not exhibit the kind of volatility generally demonstrated by them.

In fact, old economy stocks across-the-board put up a better performance and wound up on a positive note.

A whole lot of stocks from the telecom, cement, steel , automobiles and refinery sectors was in demand and these stocks which were being ignored once again emerged in the forefront of market activity.

That in a way is a heartening aspect of the current rally which would give the market a more sustainable bottom.

However, one would still require to be cautious and discerning in determining as to whether this is just a temporary fad or a longer term approach.

Ringing with a vengeance

MTNL finally showed its mettle. The stock ended the day almost per cent up on the back of aggressive buying by a foreign fund. About two-and-a-half million shares were purchased through the P N brokerage, Co-Tech Securities and Cross Bee.

The stock has moved up spectacularly in the past few settlements moving up from a low of about Rs 110 a few weeks back from the time the Golden Fund started buying aggressively into the stock.

In the previous trading session as well about two million shares were picked up by the Cross Bee brokerage and Co - Tech Securities. The sharp run up is finally providing some respite and something to cheer about to those players who have been bullish on the stock since ages but without any tangible outcome.

State Bank - old wine?

SBI is once again attempting to make a comeback on the bourses. Once a speculators delight, the stock has started clocking some good volumes. The stock has also moved up considerably after the announcement of its quarterly results.

While the exact buyer could not be located it is rumoured that some big ticket operators sensing institutional interest in the counter after the better than expected results have started covering their long term hedge positions.

In fact, in today's trading session banking stocks, which included ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank, seemed to be in the limelight and posted substantial gains.

But the star performer for the day was Global Trust Bank which closed 14 per cent higher after being frozen at the 16 per cent limit.

It is rumoured that the One Man Army has taken a fancy for the stock and could be responsible for the current burst of activity.

Blazing a trail

ITC spurted on the bourses on news that it had increased the selling prices of its products. About 6-7 lakh shares were picked up by some foreign funds though the identity could not be confirmed. Uncle Jam is reported to have picked up about 5 lakh shares and the Big Bull brokerage another couple of lakh shares. The stock moved to its recent high and renewed hopes of its resurgence from the ashes once again.

A healthy dose

Ranbaxy which had caught the bourses fancy some time back once again stole the limelight with the Dutch brokerage picking up about 5 lakh shares. The stock spurted about 6 per cent to close the day at a recent high. It appears that a few players are caught short on the counter with the outstanding published figures revealing a net short quantity.