B1 Stocks Witness Hectic Trading Interest

Illiquid, low-priced B1 stocks hogged the limelight on the bourses last week. The group witnessed hectic trading activity, mainly on account of speculative purchases by operators.

Overall, the sentiment remained steady with foreign institutional investors(FIIs) continuing to make selective purchases, mainly in fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) and pharmaceutical stocks.

The 30-scrip Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) sensitive index closed last week at 3417.30, up by 43.77 points over the previous weeks close of 3373.53.

News of Sterlite making an open offer of purchasing 10 per cent stake in Indian Aluminium (Indal) without owning a single share dominated the last weeks headlines. Sterlite offered a price the 10 per cent stake at Rs 90. The market regulator asked Sterlite to up the bid to 20 per cent, and the latter has agreed to the condition. Indal closed at Rs 81, a gain of Rs9 while Sterlite ended the week at Rs 173 (+Rs 4).

 

Stocks that moved up were SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals after the company announced a one-for-one bonus issue. The scrip closed last week at Rs 594, up by Rs 27 over the previous weeks close.

Another company that announced good results last week was Gujarat Ambuja Cement. The scrip, however, lost Rs one to close at Rs 243.

Other stocks which witnessed hectic trading activity last week was Hindustan Lever which closed at Rs 1526 (-Rs 35), Sesa Goa at Rs 288 (+Rs35), BPCL at Rs 364 (+Rs 13) and HPCL at Rs 413 (+Rs 14).

Among the stocks that hit the weekly circuit filter mark on the BSE was Merind which hit the upper level at Rs 158 (+Rs27) and Lakme at the lower level at Rs 189 (-Rs37).

From this week, the number of scrips traded in the forward group are to go up by 50. Market sources expect volumes to go up drastically in the coming weeks.

Though the undertone in the market continues to remain bullish, BSE brokers expect the market to remain in a trading zone until the election results are announced .

Another factor that will influence market movement this week will be the outcome of talks between the Iraqi government and the UN negotiator.

Last week, most of the operators squared off their positions fearing an outbreak of war in the Middle East, said a dealer on the BSE.

New Delhi: The bull run at the Delhi Stock Exchange (DSE) continued on frantic buying of Hindustan Lever stocks even though profit-takers brought down the index on two days during the week ended February 20.

The DSE index (base 1983) went up by 7.02 points to touch 738.54 points on February 20 from the previous week's close of 731.52 points.

Market watchers said the four-day week saw mixed trends with mostly dull trading as domestic investors and speculators emerged as major players. Foreign institutional investors stayed on the sidelines. However, on Tuesday, FIIs and speculators indulged in huge short-covering in the scrips of Hindustan Lever Ltd, MNCs and automobiles.

The major gainers were HLL, ITC, MTNL, SmithKline Beecham and Bajaj Auto. HLL shot up by Rs 19.10 to Rs 1516. Bajaj Auto zoomed up by Rs 43.50 to touch Rs 554. ITC moved up to touch Rs 624. (UNI)

SmithKline Beecham moved up Rs 19.30 to touch Rs 375.

The other gainers were Asian Hotels, IPCL, IFCI, JCT Electronics, L&T, LML, Nestle India, OBC and Spic.

Among the major losers were ACC, Escorts and Hero Honda.