Cash turnover hits record Rs 21447 cr

Last day of April contract sees higher F&O activity.

A phenomenal surge in volumes was seen on the bourses on Thursday amid a high degree of volatility. The total cash turnover of the top two exchanges hit a record Rs 21,447 crore, up 54 per cent from Rs 13,945.8 crore on Wednesday.

A chunk of the turnover was recorded on the NSE cash segment at Rs 16,114 crore compared with Rs 9,242 crore on Wednesday. Also in the derivatives segment, which is active only on the NSE, the turnover recorded was Rs 60,434 crore.

The derivatives turnover on the NSE has increased over 60 per cent over the past month. Dealers said the squaring off of positions in the cash segment by traders led to the record turnover as on Thursday was the last day of April 2006 derivative contracts.

The market ended in the red on Thursday as traders unwound April contracts. The Sensex crashed by a massive 283 points to a low of 11,803.49 from its morning high of 12,086.91 as investors booked profits almost across the board around late afternoon.

Earlier, the market had opened on a strong note with bulls, taking cues from firm Asian markets and a fall in global crude oil prices, ramped up purchases.

However, as the session progressed, stocks tumbled as traders wound off their positions on key counters ahead of the expiry of April derivatives contracts.

The Sensex lost 103.51 points to settle at 11,835.02. The S&P CNX Nifty lost 47.65 points and settled at 3,508.10. Infotech stocks were among the worst hit in Thursday's correction.

Auto stocks, which had displayed immense strength in morning trade, succumbed to the pressure this afternoon and ended on a sluggish note. PSU, oil and bank stocks surrendered their gains as well.

Metal stocks came off their highs too and only a select few in the sector managed to romp home on a winning note in the end. Profit taking took a toll of several mid-cap and small-cap stocks as well.

Still, the two indices BSE Mid-cap and BSE Small-cap closed on the positive side, gaining 0.56 per cent and 0.84 per cent respectively.

Though the indices closed on a highly negative note, the market breadth remained quite positive till the end. As many as 1,403 of a total of 2,575 stocks traded on Thursday, were up in the positive territory on the BSE. 1108 stocks ended in the red, while 64 remained unchanged.

Reliance Industries rose 1.91 per cent on Thursday to Rs 996.50 as its results beat market expectations. The market was expecting a fall in net profit owing to a fall in refining margins. ONGC plunged 5.97 per cent to Rs 1303.70. IOC on Thursday sold 2.7 crore shares of ONGC at Rs 1,345 shares, in favour of a clutch of institutional investors.

Infosys lost 2.89 per cent to Rs 3134.20. Car maker Maruti Udyog lost 2.75 per cent to Rs 898.10. Among other auto shares, Tata Motors lost 2.25 per cent to Rs 936.85, and Hero Honda lost 2.82 per cent to Rs 822.90 and Bajaj Auto shed 0.79 per cent to Rs 2929.70. Cement major ACC lost 3.55 per cent to Rs 933.80.

The stock had risen sharply over the past few weeks on the back of firm cement product prices. Zee Tele films gained 2.13 per cent to Rs 246.65. Zee reported 27 per cent fall in Q4 March 2006 net profit to Rs 67.55 crore from Rs 92.57 crore. Total income rose 10 per cent to Rs 396.64 crore from Rs 360.02 crore. Petronet LNG jumped 11.24 per cent to Rs 59.40 after it reported a solid surge in Q4 March 2006 net profit.

The net profit surged to Rs 66.14 crore from Rs 7.61 crore in Q4 March 2005. Net sales rose 79.9 per cent to Rs 941.74 crore from Rs 523.26 crore.

Investment & Precision Castings jumped 20 per cent to Rs 1217.25 as the scrip rose for the second day in a row after the company declared a liberal 3:1 bonus.

Indiabulls jumped 12.3 per cent to Rs 310.95 after its joint venture with a subsidiary of DLF Universal had the winning bid in an auction for a 35.8 acre residential land in south Delhi.

FMCG stocks were in demand on Thursday. Nestle jumped 7.96 per cent to Rs 1,329.30, Colgate rose 6.38 per cent to Rs 431.10, Dabur rose 5.62 per cent to Rs 139.95, Marico gained 1.68 per cent to Rs 544.95, P&G rose 1.18 per cent to Rs 975.5, Glaxosmithkline Consumer Healthcare gained 1.44 per cent to Rs 618.15 and ITC rose 0.52 per cent to Rs 202.45. FMCG major Hindustan Lever lost 0.66 per cent to Rs 287.25.