After the sustained rally all through last week, not many would have expected the markets to maintain the uptrend today. But such was the buying support that the indices gained throughout the day in a secular move.

The uptrend was led from the front by IT stocks, with Infosys alone gaining close to 4 per cent. The notification regarding its sponsored ADR issue led to all round buying in the stock. Investment bank Goldman Sachs has upgraded its outlook on the Indian tech stocks.

Satyam and Wipro followed Infosys with strong gains. TCS was relatively subdued with gains of under a per cent. With today's 4 per cent gain, Infosys overtook TCS as the fourth most valuable company in terms of market capitalization behind ONGC, Reliance and NTPC.

The other sector in focus today was FMCG. Colgate Palmolive and ITC were among the major gainers in frontline stocks. Many institutional investors are loading up on FMCG stocks as they believe that the worst is over for the sector. HLL remained an exception to the up trend in FMCG stocks by closing with losses.

Another sector which had remained subdued in recent weeks and bounced back today was automobiles. All major auto makers made very good gains on the back of excellent sales volume reported for the month of April.

Sensex closed at 6481, up 93 points and the Nifty at 2001, up 23 points. Nifty May futures discount to the spot index widened to 17 points from Friday's 3 points.

Many traders would take heart from the strong closing today with the Nifty above 2,000 and Sensex nearing 6,500.

Among Nifty stocks, Colgate, Infosys and Satyam were the major percentage gainers while HPCL, BPCL and HLL were the major losers.

The government has indicated that it will come out with a policy on fuel subsidies. Early reports suggest that the government will force private sector refiners also to share the subsidy burden.

ONGC gained over a per cent after reports that the company has put in bids to acquire First Calgary Petroleum of Canada. The Canadian exploration company owns some oil and gas fields in the African state of Algeria. ONGC faces competition from European and Chinese companies for the Canadian company listed on the London Stock Exchange.

Dr Reddy's, which announced dismal results after the markets closed on Friday, opened substantially lower as expected. The stock was trading almost 6 per cent lower in the morning but gradually recovered. Surprising many, the stock closed with gains of over 2 per cent or an intra day movement of over 8 per cent.

Tata Motors indicated that the marginal drop in commercial vehicle sales for the month of April was on account of non-availability of some critical parts which held up production. The company expects to regain lost sales during the months of May and June. However, the company says during current year the industry will not achieve the growth rates of last year.

Engineering major Siemens India, along with its German parent, won a contract worth over Rs900 crore to design and build railway coaches for Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation Ltd. The contract is to be executed in 48 months. The stock gained over 4 per cent on the announcement.

The Telegraph newspaper has reported that TCS may consider the London Stock Exchange for an overseas listing. The paper reports that the London exchange is making a serious pitch to get TCS listed, citing regulatory excesses on companies listed on American bourses.

Jet Airways continue to be volatile with alternate days of buying and selling. The stock lost around a per cent today as Kingfisher Airlines ( See: Kingfisher Airlines takes-off ) took to air today. Kingfisher is pricing its tickets aggressively while offering more in-flight services than other carriers.

Jet may face some erosion in its lucrative corporate travel segment if Kingfisher can maintain the low pricing. With three more airlines set to take off before the end of the year, a price war can be expected especially in the metro routes.

Mid-cap action

Two companies which concluded their IPO's recently made their entry to the exchanges today and closed the first day of trading very differently. Saksoft, issued at Rs30, closed the day at Rs108 for an incredible 260 per cent gain on the first day of trading. Allsec went the other way by losing over 7 per cent on the first day. Issued at Rs135, the stock closed the day at Rs135.

Century Enka gained close to 20 per cent in early trades after the company announced a buy back of shares from non-resident shareholders. The purchase price of Rs122 per share is at a considerable discount to the current market price.

Syndicate Bank gained over 7 per cent after it announced that its profit for the quarter ended March 2005 more than doubled as compared to the same quarter of the previous year. For the full year however, the bank has reported a marginal decline in profits.

Opto Circuits gained over 10 per cent after the company announced a bonus issue of 5 shares for every 10 shares held along with a dividend of 35 per cent.

Allahabad Bank closed marginally lower after the bank reported a sharp drop in forth quarter profits as compared to the same quarter of the previous year. The stock was trading with gains till the results were announced. For the full year, profits have increased close to 20 per cent.

Among mid-cap stocks Asian Electronics, Archies and GTC Industries were the significant percentage gainers.

Softpro Systems, Hexaware Technologies and Jaypee Hotels were among the major mid-cap losers.

*Disclaimer: The author does not have any position in the stocks specifically mentioned above at the time of writing this article. This analysis / report is only for the purpose of information and is not an investment advice. Readers are advised to consult a certified financial advisor before taking any investment decisions. While efforts have been made to ensure the accuracy of the information provided in the content the author or publisher shall not be held responsible for any loss caused to any person whatsoever.

Other articles by Rex Mathew

List of general reports on markets

List of general reports on finance