Date:07/10/2008 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2008/10/07/stories/2008100751891400.htm

Back 12000 round trip: Winners and losers

Infra, power, financial stocks gain.

BL Research Bureau

The Sensex may be back where it was two years ago — struggling to hold on to 12,000 levels, but whether your portfolio value is back to where it was depends completely on the stocks you hold. If you bought stocks such as Bharti Airtel or L&T in September 2006, you would still be sitting on an impressive 60 per cent-plus gain, after adjusting stock prices for bonuses and stock splits over this period.

Bharti Airtel was hovering at an effective price of about Rs 430 levels in September 2006, while L&T was available at about Rs 660. Index heavyweights such as Reliance Industries (up 47 per cent), HDFC and Reliance Infrastructure (formerly Reliance Energy) are also substantial gainers from their September 2006 levels, outpacing the Sensex quite handsomely.

On the other hand, your portfolio would be much worse off if you held Tata Motors (down 61 per cent), Ranbaxy (down 40 per cent) or tech majors such as TCS or Wipro (down 38 per cent each).

While bank stocks have generally gained in this two-year period, ICICI Bank is an exception, having declined below its September 2006 level in recent weeks.

Overall, infrastructure, power and financial stocks have managed gains over this two-year period, FMCG stocks have remained more or less flat. Automobile and cement stocks have lost significant value relative to the Sensex. A similar trend is evident in a broader market index such as the BSE 500 too, with over 200 stocks in this index now trading much higher than their September 2006 levels.