Top Movers

The week saw food inflation soaring to a nine-month high as the prices of vegetables, milk and meat product moved up. This prompted the Reserve Bank of India to indicate that interest rates may be eased during December. However, this did little to lift the indices. BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty shed 1.4 per cent each during the week. The world markets continued groping for the details of the European debt bailout package. The broader BSE 500 did fare better, shedding just 0.6 per cent.

The top gainer of the week among the BSE 500 was Essar Ports . The stock gained 26 per cent through the week on indications from the company that volumes would increase in the coming year.

Agricultural commodity producer, Karuturi Global , also gained 25 per cent. The company plans to improve embankment around the company's massive Ethiopian land holdings which had been hammered by floods.

The BSE Bankex had a better outing than the BSE Sensex, shedding a mere 0.6 per cent. A string of solid results from mid-sized PSU banks rescued the index, which was dragged down by constituents such as ICICI which shed five per cent. Second quarter results reinforced market confidence in Allahabad Bank 's asset quality and loan book. This lifted the stock by 17 per cent. Similarly, robust loan book growth also helped the cause of Bank of Baroda whose shares were up 10.2 per cent. A fall in operating expenses and provisions gave Vijaya Bank 's shares a handy gain 8.86 per cent. Indian Bank and Canara Bank were two other beneficiaries of a solid second quarter, showing gains of 6.8 per cent each.

Onmobile Global was up by 14.4 per cent on the back of a solid second quarter showing. The company may be making inroads into the Latin American markets with significant revenue growth over the last year. Consumer durables player, Havells India, was up 15 per cent on a blockbuster set of results, including a good showing by its European acquisition Sylvania.

The stock of IVRCLAssets gained by 11.7 per cent. The move to merge IVRCL Assets into the parent company is expected to boost the ability for the former to raise funds. The promise of more lucrative times ahead sent the stock up.

A strong set of second quarter results also helped the cause of Hindustan Unilever . The stock was up 8.4 per cent through the week. Despite a sombre set of results, P&G Hygiene (whose Gillette India operations also reported mediocre results) and Colgate Palmolive gained over 7 per cent through the week.

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