Friday, July 18, 2008

Sensex stays in cautious mood - July 18, 2008

With several blue chip stocks struggling to find support at higher levels, the market has pared a significant portion of its morning gains now.

Though global markets have rallied and crude oil prices have drifted down sharply from historic highs, political concerns appear to be weighing down the sentiment to a significant extent now.

The Sensex, which rose to a high of 13,274.72 this morning, is up with a modest gain of 61.06 points or 0.47% at 13,172.91 at present. At 3954.80, the Nifty is up by 0.19% or 7.60 points over its previous closing mark.

Bank and realty stocks remain firm with most of their gains intact. Select PSU and power stocks are also seen holding on to their gains.

Auto and pharma stocks display a mixed trend. FMCG, capital goods and oil stocks have turned subdued. Metal and information technology stocks have declined sharply on selling pressure.

Due to heavy selling at higher levels, a number of midcap and smallcap stocks too have given up their gains now.

The market breadth remains a bit positive. Out of 2135 stocks traded on BSE now, 1153 stocks are up with gains. 908 stocks have posted losses and 74 stocks trade flat.

HDFC, which tops the list of Sensex gainers now, is up by nearly 6.5% at Rs 2011. HDFC Bank rules firm with a sharp gain of 6.25%. ICICI Bank is up by 5.6% at Rs 582.

Cipla, Reliance Infrastructure, BHEL, DLF, State Bank of India, NTPC, ONGC, Tata Motors and Jaiprakash Associates are up by 1% - 3%. ITC, Grasim Industries and Mahindra & Mahindra are up with modest gains while Maruti Suzuki trades flat.

Essar Shipping tops the list of gainers in the Midcap index. The stock remains firmly locked at the 10% upper circuit at Rs 105.65. Yes Bank has recorded a gain of 6.7%. Gujarat Petronet is up by over 6%.

Ansal Infrastructure, Ballarpur Industries, BF Utilities, Shriram City, Patel Engineering, BGR Energy and Gujarat Gas are up by 4% - 6%.

Asian Hotels, Gujarat Fluorochemicals, FSL, Nagarjuna Construction Company, EID Parry, Nagarjuna Fertilizers & Chemicals, HT Media, Emami, Sobha Developers and Rolta India are among the other prominent gainers in the midcap space.

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