Cements stocks rally in lacklustre market

The Sensex is now down 23 points at 8,584.

Cement stocks have firmed up in mid-afternoon trades amid reports of price hike by certain manufacturers.

Grasim has surged 4.5% to Rs 1,384. ACC has gained 1.6% at Rs 532.  Among other stocks, Ambuja Cements has soared nearly 6% to Rs 67, and
India Cements has gained 3.5% at Rs 100.

Among other Sensex gainers. Jaiprakash Associates has rallied over 3% to Rs 65. Reliance Infrastructure has advanced 2.5% to Rs 457, and DLF has added 2% to Rs 152.

ICICI Bank, Ranbaxy and Reliance have moved up around 2% each to Rs 310, Rs 163 and Rs 1,247, respectively.

 

NTPC and Wipro are up around 1.5% each at Rs 182 and Rs 206, respectively.

However, Tata Power has tumbled over 3% to Rs 690. Sun Pharma has dropped over 2% to Rs 972.

Bharti Airtel has shed 1.7% at Rs 607. HDFC, Infosys and ITC are down around 1% each at Rs 1,223, Rs 1,207 and Rs 177, respectively.

The market breadth is negative - out of 2,377 stocks traded so far, 1,326 have declined, 948 have advanced and the rest are unchanged.