Mid-cap stocks likely to come into spotlight

With some of the immediate worries getting resolved, the focus of the market is likely to shift to mid-cap stocks in the current week. If market circles are to be believed, institutional investors are mopping up mid-cap stocks which are perceived to be attractively valued vis-a-vis frontline stocks. There also has been an increasing number of block deals among institutions in a number of side counters in the last few days.

8216;8216;The broad market is likely to remain range bound,8217;8217; said R.A. Podar, a BSE dealer. Though the market recovered from lower levels last week it was a listless trade and volumes remained low. Sensex gained 52.35 points, or 1 per cent, for the week ended August 27 to 5,117.01. The fall in oil prices and upgrade in outlook on India8217;s foreign currency rating by Standard 038; Poor8217;s triggered recovery. The end of the truckers8217; agitation will cheer the market.

But oil prices can still create problems. 8216;8216;Though crude prices have cooled down to around 43 per barrel, integrated refining and marketing companies are still running at close to their recent lows, which indicates that markets are not yet confident,8217;8217; said a Motilal Oswal Securities analyst.