Select stocks on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) hit a new 52-week high on Thursday, even as the S&P BSE Sensex was down 135 points at around 1.30 p.m.
The list included state-run oil companies such as BPCL, HPCL and IOC, private sector lenders Kotak Mahindra Bank and HDFC Bank, two-wheeler makers Bajaj Auto and Hero MotoCorp and two Aditya Birla Group companies -- UltraTech Cement and Grasim Industries.
HDFC Bank, which declared its first quarter results on Thursday, hit a new year-high of Rs. 1,239.50. The private sector lender's June 2016 quarter net profit was up 20 percent at Rs. 3,238.9 crore from Rs. 2,695 crore in the year-ago period. Net interest income was up 21.8 percent to Rs. 7,781 crore.
Kotak Mahindra Bank shares touched a new 52-week high of Rs. 790. The private sector lender's standalone net profit for the June 2016 quarter stood at Rs. 741.9 crore, up almost four-fold from Rs. 189.78 crore in the year-ago period.
The rally in the shares of oil marketing companies BPCL, HPCL and IOC was on the back of hopes of better gross refining margins with rising crude oil prices. The momentum got a fillip with HPCL declaring a bonus issue of 2:1 shares on Wednesday evening.
HPCL hit new 52-week high of Rs. 1,233.25, BPCL at Rs. 590 and IOC at Rs. 531.80 on Thursday on the BSE.
UltraTech Cement, which declared its June 2016 quarter results recently, was another stock that rose to a new 52-week high of Rs.3,645, while Grasim Industries, a diversified company belonging to the Aditya Birla Group as UltraTech Cement, also hit a year-high of Rs. 4,929.
Bajaj Auto and Hero MotoCorp, the two leading Indian companies that manufacture two-wheelers and sell globally, also saw their shares climb sharply on the BSE. Bajaj Auto shares touched Rs. 2,801.50 apiece, while the Hero MotoCorp stock hit Rs. 3,306.10. Among the listed two-wheeler firms, Hero MotoCorp has delivered more returns to investors in the past one year.
Shares of Piramal Enterprises, with interests in pharma, healthcare and lending, touched Rs. 1,673. 65 on the BSE on Thursday.
