Steel Drives 17% Of Ses Volumes

Soaring volumes amid renewed trading interest and a quantum jump in stock prices during the last three months indicate that operators are active on the steel counters.

The aggregate traded volumes of steel stocks currently account for 17.31 per cent of the total traded volumes on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange compared with a meagre 1.6 per cent in March 2002.

The rise in volumes was most pronounced in the daily traded volumes in the first eight trading days of June 2002, when steel stock volumes soared 20 times their level in March 2002.

The jump in volumes was accompanied by a sharp uptick in prices: 41 stocks touched their 52-week highs since June 1. Twenty-eight stocks appreciated by over 100 per cent in these three months, while 17 others gained between 10 per cent and 88 per cent, each.

 

Around 50 stocks, which were not traded for a single day in March, resumed trading in June on sustained buying interest across the sector.

Jindal Iron & Steel was in the limelight with a 357 per cent jump in market value since March. The stock, which had fallen to a 52-week low of Rs 4.05 on January 29, climbed to Rs 24.45 on June 12. Traded volumes soared to 2.28 million shares in the first eight trading days of June, up from a monthly volume of around 1.4 million shares each in March, April and May.

The buzz on the steel counters seems to be around penny (low-value) stocks. Bellary Steel, Ispat Profiles, National Steel, Ispat Industries, Southern Iron, Uttam Steel, Rathi Ispat, Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL), Lloyds Steel and Essar Steel are the toppers in this category, each registering gains between 150 per cent and 300 per cent.

Indeed, there were no takers for Bellary Steel when the stock touched a 52-week low of 70 paise on April 5. Traded volumes increased from around 15,000 in March to around 150,000 in June. The stock soared 322.7 per cent between March and June to close at Rs 4.65 on June 12.

Ispat Profile has come back from 35 paise on March 31 to Rs 1.90 on June 12, gaining 322.2 per cent in the melee, while volumes have jumped from 19,000 shares in May to around 800,000 shares in the first eight trading days of June.

SAIL, which has appreciated by 140 per cent, was the top volume gainer. Traded volumes in SAIL soared to 378 million shares in June from 13.7 million shares in March.

The volume on the Essar Steel counter increased from 6.6 million shares in March to 30 million shares in June. The Essar stock price has appreciated 125 per cent during this period.