Commodity, cyclical stocks up

MUMBAI, JUNE 21: The 300-point rally in the past four sessions was once again centered around the commodity and cyclical stocks. Stocks b...

MUMBAI, JUNE 21: The 300-point rally in the past four sessions was once again centered around the commodity and cyclical stocks. Stocks belonging to these sectors have outperformed the BSE Sensex8217;s upward movement by a huge margin. Against a 7.7 per cent spurt in the BSE Sensitive Index in the past four trading sessions, as many as 48 scrips in the BSE8217;s group A have outperformed the index.

The lack of interest in these stocks is visible from a marginal fall witnessed in many of the frontline stocks. Pharmaceutical stocks like Knoll Pharma, Rhone Poulenc, German Remedies, Nicholas Piramal and Sun Pharma have shown a negative growth. Among the FMCG stocks, Britannia, Reckitt amp; Colman and Smithkline Consumer have shown a net fall in the past four sessions.

The gains have been as high as 34 per cent in the case of Essar Steel, followed by 29.2 per cent rise in the PSU steel giant SAIL. Essar Steel has shot up from Rs 9.1 to Rs 12.2 and SAIL has zoomed from 6.15 to a high of Rs 7.95 in just four trading sessions. The fact that these scrips carry a much higher upper filter ceiling has aided such a sharp spurt.

After cement, the steel sector has been targeted by the punters and as many as four steel stocks in BSE8217;s group A have seen a steep rise in their values. Among the other steel stocks, the Tata group company, Tisco has shot up from Rs 127 to over Rs 150, registering a rise of over 18 per cent. Sesa Goa too has risen by over 13 per cent to 122.5.

Paper has been seen yet another turnaround sector. Scrips belonging to this sector have shown a healthy rise in the past few sessions. Scrips of the paper majors, Ballarpur Industries and ITC Bhadrachalam have shown an appreciation of over 19 per cent. Ballarpur has zoomed to a high of 59.2, a rise of around 20 per cent in just four trading sessions. ITC Bhadrachalam has shot to Rs 32.9, up from Rs 27.5.

The erstwhile market leader Reliance Industries just about managed to move with the Sensex and rose by around 8.6 per cent from Rs 173.5 to the current level of Rs 188.5. Surprisingly, although the hospitality sector is passing through a rough patch, the hotel stocks have been demand in the past few sessions. There has been a lot of institutional buying at these counters. Stocks like EIH limited and Hotel Leela Venture have risen by over 15 per cent. EIH has risen by Rs 35 to Rs 220 and Hotel Leela from Rs 27.55 to Rs 31.9. The Tata group company, Indian Hotels too has shot up by over 12 per cent to Rs 359.