Cement stocks rebound after initial losses; end up over 4 pc

MUMBAI: Cement stocks today ended 1-4 per cent up on bourses after erasing sharp losses of up to 4 per cent amid news reports that competition watchdog CCI may soon impose hefty penalty on them for alleged price cartelisation.

Shares of ACC settled 3.53 per cent higher at Rs 1,271.10 on the BSE after falling 3.82 per cent intra-day.

Similarly, Ambuja Cements also rebounded as its shares moved up by 2.75 per cent, India Cements, too gained 4.64 per cent.

However, UltraTech Cement ended 0.97 per cent lower and Madras Cements lost 0.88 per cent.

"Cement stocks opened the day with panic selling. But later during the day buying emerged. The initial furore was on back of buzz that CCI found cement companies guilty of cartelisation and may slap them with penalty," Milan Bavishi Head Research Inventure Growth & Securities said.

According to news reports, CCI is believed to have slapped penalty of about Rs 3,000 crore on 11 big cement manufacturers, found guilty of being involved in price cartel.

CCI was probing the cartelisation charges based on complaints from realtors' body, Builders Association of India (BAI), which alleged that the retail prices fixed by cement manufacturers were almost same.

Meanwhile, in the broader market the BSE Sensex ended at 16,896.63, up 36.83 points.