Indices manage a positive closing even as volatility returns

01 August 2005

Markets opened the day on a weak note as expected, as heavy rains once again threatened to sink Mumbai. The decline in banking stocks and some of the frontline technology stocks led to the early weakness.

The trend reversed by early afternoon as ONGC made a come back and auto, cement and power stocks surged ahead. The indices recovered all their early losses and the Sensex closed the day at an all time closing high. However, the Sensex could not reach the 7700-mark, which it had briefly touched last week.

Ranbaxy, which had seen a sharp decline last week after the company reported disappointing first quarter results, was the star of the day among frontline stocks. After opening firm, the stock maintained it's uptrend and was trading with gains of over 10 per cent by early afternoon.

Most auto stocks saw very good buying interest throughout the day as July sales numbers have started coming out. Tata Motors was the most significant gainer, closing the day with gains of over 4 per cent. Maruti went up by 2 per cent while Ashok Leyland closed almost 5 per cent higher.

Power stocks also saw some good buying interest. NTPC shot up over 4 per cent while Tata Power closed with gains of over 2 per cent.

Banking stocks closed the day with losses after the spectacular run in recent days. SBI and HDFC Bank closed the day in red. ICICI Bank recovered its early losses and closed the day with gains of under a per cent.