Bajaj Auto Stock Leads Late Surge On Bourses

Bajaj Auto's corporate results, which were declared yesterday, sparked off a buying interest at the major bourses. Within minutes of the announcement, most of the pivotals firmed up on hectic buying activity by speculators and FIIs.

While the Sensex gained 38.57 points over the previous close to end the day at 3740.53, the NSE-50 index ended the day at 1041.65, up 11.30 points over the previous close.

According to leading brokers, the net profits of Bajaj Auto were in line with market expectations but the proposed bonus issue took everyone by surprise.

The scrip, which had touched the lower end of the circuit filter at Rs 825 on the BSE in the morning, ended the day at Rs 915.25 on the BSE and Rs 901.30 on the NSE. Rumours of a 1:1 bonus saw the scrip hitting the upper end of the filter circuit at Rs 934 on the BSE and Rs 901 on the NSE.

 

However, towards the fag end of the day, Rahul Bajaj's statement that he was not in favour of a 1:1 bonus resulted in the scrip marginally shedding some of its gains.Marketmen said that many players had gone short on the Bajaj Auto scrip in anticipation of poor results.

The sudden flare-up in the price of the scrip was due to hectic short covering towards the end.

Thermax in the limelight: Contrary to market predictions of a very dismal performance, Thermax managed to post a net profit of Rs 43 crore. At the BSE, the scrip touched an intra-day low of Rs 271 in the morning after opening the day at Rs 278. Following announcement of results, the scrip shot up to an intra-day high of Rs 299 before losing ground to Rs 287 at close.

Tata Tea, Lakme move up: The scrips of Tata Tea and Lakme were steadily on the rise since morning even as pivotals were losing ground rapidly. Marketmen said these scrips have been attracting heavy investment buying for the past few days.

At the NSE, the Lakme scrip ended the day at Rs 330.45, up Rs 21.50 over the previous close while Tata Tea gained Rs 17.20 to end at Rs 262.30.

FII interest continues in B1 scrips: In the B1 group, Satyam Computers and Exide continued to move up on sustained FII interest.

Satyam Computers ended the day at Rs 88.25 (+Rs 3.60) on the NSE while Exide gained Rs 11.45 to close at Rs 179.45 on the NSE.

Freeze continues: Among the bank stocks ,trading in Bank of Rajasthan was frozen for the third successive time after the scrip hit its settlement ceiling at the upper end at Rs 103.25 on the BSE. Many players had gone short on the Bajaj Auto scrip in anticipation of poor results. The flare-up was due to hectic short-covering towards the end