As the markets came down like nine pins, pulling the Sensex down by more than 300 points and the Nifty by over 100 points, the investors were sent hurrying for cover, dumping stocks along the way.
There were more than 60 stocks in the NSE that hit fresh 52-week lows and some of these stocks were blue chips. But for panic stricken investors that was hardly a consideration.
Even in a gloomy market, though, there were winners, 18 to be precise, in the NSE that hit fresh 52-week highs. Probably investors saw value in them was the main reason as to why they stood out when the market was tumbling down. But, more importantly, most of them were non-index stocks which lent credence to the view that they were not being propped by institutions to hold the index up to minimise the impact of the fall in index.
Winners
Leading the pack of 52-week high winners was Asian Paints that surged to Rs 3,650 before easing down to Rs 3,618.85, a gain of Rs 15.25, at the close. The trading volume was 1.35 lakh shares.
Divi's Lab touched Rs 900, a 52-week high, before slipping to Rs 861 at the end of trading and here too, the volume of trading crossed 1.50 lakh shares.
Godrej Consumer Products touched Rs 585, its 52-week high, before coming down to Rs 564.90 at close with nearly four lakh shares being traded. The fellow FMCG major Hindustan Unilever also touched a 52-week high of Rs 437.75, though it closed lower at Rs 434.20, with a huge volume of 18.28 lakh shares.
Strides Arcolab continued with its dream run, surging to a year's high of Rs 692 before giving up some of its gains at the end of the day at Rs 679.65 with a relatively modest volume of about 78,000 shares.
Strong numbers help
TCS, which had become a hot IT pick post-results, almost breached the Rs 1,300 levels, touching a 52-week high of Rs 1295.25, before settling lower at Rs 1,277.25. The trading volume was a high 17.85 lakh shares.
TTK Prestige hit a 52-week high of Rs 3,658.90, before seeking lower levels at Rs 3,492.30. Here too the trading volume of 1.97 lakh shares showed.
In many of these cases, the investor confidence has been boosted by the strong numbers the companies had put up in Q4 of 2011-12 as in the case of TCS, HUL and Godrej Consumer Products.
News-driven
But there were instances of reasons other than performance being a cause for stocks hitting 52-week highs in a gloomy market as Chemplast Sanmar Ltd stock showed.
Chemplast Sanmar Ltd's promoter, Sanmar Holdings Ltd, had fixed a floor price of Rs 4.51 for the delisting of Chemplast Sanmar. But the investors have pushed its price to nearly three times of that-the share closed at Rs 11.55, a new 52-week high with nearly 90,000 shares being traded.
Die-hard optimists may probably be hoping for an upward revision of its delisting price, and hence the frenzy!