On a day when the BSE Sensex shed almost 77 points and NSE-50 lost almost 28 points, 20 scrips from BSE's group A inched up and closed higher. Public sector refineries, Cochin Refineries and Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) recorded 10 per cent and 3.36 per cent gains, respectively. On NSE too, BPCL, after touching a high of Rs 400 closed the day at Rs 390.70 against the previous close of Rs 380. Cochin Refineries gained Rs 7.70 to close at Rs 258.60 on NSE.

Out of the 20 gainers in group A, five were multinational stocks. Among the pharma MNCs, Pfizer gained 3.1 per cent (Rs 20.25) to Rs 663. Smithkline Beecham Pharma moved up further to Rs 776.5 against the previous close of Rs 768.75 andKnoll Pharma gained Rs 1.25 to close at Rs 834.5. Scrips of Knoll Pharma and Smithkline Pharma are still being traded cum-bonus and both have rewarded their shareholders with a liberal 1:1 bonus which has kept the investors glued to these stocks.

Among the other MNC scrips, ICI (India) appreciated by 2.03 per cent to close the day at Rs 260.9 against the previous close of Rs 255.7. Esab India too gained Rs 2.2 to close at Rs 127.8.

Among the major gainers, Crompton Greaves shot up by 9.96 per cent to Rs 55.75 up from the previous closing of Rs 50.7 on May 8. Cochin Refinery surged by Rs 23 to Rs 254 against the previous close of Rs 231. Videocon International, after the announcement of an excellent performance for the year ended March 1998, remained firm and moved up from Rs 113.9 to Rs 116.6. The company earned a net profit of Rs 125.04 crore, a 52 per cent jump over its previous year's figure of Rs 82.13 crore.