A few stocks buck the trend, hit 52-week highs ::Business Line

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Even as the stock markets were pummelled by a bout of late selling, a few stocks on the NSE Nifty hit their 52-week highs and a few more came close to touching their previous yearly highs today.

While several theories were offered including selling ahead of the contract expiry, weak global clues and profit-booking, the severity of the fall and the speed with which the decline hit the market, came as a surprise.

On the NSE, TCS did a star turn hitting a new 52-week high of Rs 1,266.85 before ceding some of its gains to close at Rs 1,246.20, up by Rs 9.15.

Cairn was another stock that reached a new 52-week high and this came as a relief as two of its siblings from the Vedanta Resources Group -- Sterlite Industries and Sesa Goa were subjected to some hammering. Cairn, however, could not hold on to its 52-week high of Rs 401.10 and shed considerable value to end at Rs 384, a loss of Rs 7.55.

Bajaj Auto was another star performer, reaching a 52-week high of Rs 1,840 before closing lower at Rs 1,802.

Other stocks that came close to breaching their previous 52-week highs included ITC that touched a high of Rs 209.40 (52-week high Rs 216.20); Hero MotoCorp Rs 2,198 (Rs 2,249.70); Dr Reddy’s Rs 1,665 (Rs 1,717.65); PowerGrid, which moved tantalisingly close to its 52-week high of Rs 113.50 when it reached Rs 112.70; HDFC moved up to Rs 719.85 (Rs 737.90); and Grasim Rs 2,867.40 (Rs 2,928).

Advance-decline ratio

But the advance-decline ratio was heavily skewed in favour of the latter with 43 Nifty stocks declining compared to seven Nifty stocks advancing. While the gainers were barely able to hold on to the positive territory, many of the losers suffered a severe knock, including banking blue-chips such as SBI (-Rs 199.50), Axis Bank (-Rs 79.60), PNB (- Rs 51.50), ACC (-Rs 50.60) and Jindal Steel (-Rs 34.80).

Many of the frontline stocks have rallied smartly since the beginning of the year and, hence, today’s loss may not make a significant dent in the gains made in a short time, unless the weakness deepens.