Enthused by a 172-point rally in the Bombay Stock Exchange Sensex in the second half of the week ended July 25, operators and investors have begun to build positions in small- and medium-cap stocks.

Large-cap stocks have been generating huge volumes on the back of encouraging quarterly numbers during the period.

This study, based on the weekly change in trading volumes of stocks traded on the BSE and National Stock Exchange, shows that 120 scrips have recorded an aggregate volume growth of 87 per cent last week.

Of the large volume stocks, 90 are from the B1 and B2 groups, while 30 belong to the A group.

Trading volumes on the BSE and NSE were down by around 17 per cent last week.

The volume growth in 52 B1 group stocks was 124 per cent, 38 stocks in the B2 group saw a growth of 100 per cent and 30 A group stocks witnessed a 80 per cent rise in volume.

But not all stocks gained from the surge in volumes. As many as 32 stocks reacted negatively to the surge in volumes, while 90 shares gained between 1 per cent and 148 per cent.

Public sector unit stocks were losers on account of the delay in the divestment process.

Premier Explosive and Kalindee Rail Nirman, two small-cap B2 group stocks, were big gainers with both witnessing over a 100 per cent rise each in prices on the back of a 1,000 per cent jump in volumes.

Premier Explosives gained 147 per cent to Rs 11.65 with an aggregate volume of 1,74,305 shares last week.

The trigger for the stock was the company's decision to shift operations from Chandrapur to Singrauli for better business opportunities.

Kalindee Rail soared 103 per cent to Rs 17.79 with a volume of 420,000 shares (up 1,521 per cent).

FCGL Industries' plans to telecast corporate game shows have attracted buying on the bourses. The volume in the scrip increased 18.89 times last week from 114,000 shares to 21.58 lakh (2.1 million) shares. The stock price was up 91 per cent to Rs 7.26.

The Avon Organics scrip was up 32 per cent, with volume doubling from 15.2 lakh (1.5 million) to 30.9 lakh (3.09 million) shares on the company's better prospects after it entered into a long-term contract for the supply of one of its products to a global multinational company. This is expected to contribute to the revenues of the company from the next financial year.

Enkei Castalloy appreciated 41 per cent, while its volume soared 10 times to 212,000 shares.

ING Vysya Bank was back in operators' priority list with a 10-fold jump in volume.

The better-than-expected first quarter results buoyed the Satyam Computer counter with a volume of 11.08 crore (110.8 million) shares last week compared with 6.544 crore (65.44 million) shares during the week ended July 18.

Tata Engineering (to be renamed Tata Motors) witnessed sustained buying from investors and operators alike on account of the 258 per cent rise in its net profit for the quarter ended June 2003.

The trading volume moved up from 2.067 crore (20.67 million) shares to 4.214 crore (42.14 million).

Investors with a bottom-fishing strategy was back in action on the Hindustan Lever counter, as evidenced by the 54 per cent rise in volume at 1.941 crore (19.41 million) shares.

The stock gained 11.32 per cent last week to close at Rs 169.70. Bharti Tele-Ventures saw hectic buying on the eve of its quarterly results. The company came out with positive net profit numbers in the two consecutive quarters.