Bank shares head south

STOCK REPORT

Markets on Friday traded in a narrow range through the day as each rise was followed by profit booking, dealers said.

Rollover activity ahead of March derivatives expiry on Thursday also added to the volatility.

The BSE Sensex ended at 13285.93, down 22.10 points, or 0.2 per cent from Thursday, after touching a low of 13196.90 and high of 13386.95.

The NSE Nifty closed at 3861.05, down 14.85 points, or 0.4 per cent. It touched a low and high of 3850.80 and 3901.75.

On Friday, the combined turnover on NSE and BSE was Rs 12,200 crore, up 7 per cent from Thursday. Both foreign funds and mutual funds were buying, dealers said. On the BSE, there were 1,035 advances and 1,513 declines. CNX Mid-cap index was up 0.3 per cent and the S&P CNX 500 down 0.2 per cent.

Jet Airways fell the most among Nifty shares to end down 5 per cent.

HCL Technologies was up over 2 per cent on reports the company may acquire a business process outsourcing company Cambridge Solutions. However, HCL Technologies denied the report.

Banking shares fell on profit booking, but partially erased losses due to tame inflation numbers. Inflation for the week to Mar 10 was 6.46 per cent versus expected 6.51 per cent according to a NewsWire18 poll.

However, inflation is still above Reserve Bank of India's tolerance levels and measures of monetary tightening may still be effected.

The BSE Bank Index ended down 0.1 per cent. In early trade, the index had fallen 2 per cent.

Cement shares gave up early gains on profit taking. Dealers said the sector was shrouded with doubt as the tussle between the government and the industry over a price cut still continues.

Investors are therefore unwilling to take overnight position in cement shares.

Grasim Industries ended down 0.1 per cent at Rs 2081.70 and Gujarat Ambuja down 2.5 per cent at Rs 105.30. Real estate companies fell after Securities and Exchange Board of India on Thursday announced tightening of disclosure norms for initial public offers of real estate companies.

The regulator also mandated assessment of land banks based on current values rather than project values.