Coy near the peak

STOCKS REPORT

Investors turned jittery as the markets inched towards its all time peak in the afternoon trades. The Sensex slipped from its intra-day high of 6933.26 to finally close 6.57 points lower at 6900.41. The Nifty ended 0.23 points lower to close at 2128.65.

Brokers said, "Profit booking was witnessed across the board as the Sensex inched towards its all time high." The mid-cap segment slipped 42.68 points to close at 3347.33. The worst hit was the BSE Small Cap index, losing more than 2 per cent to close at 4472.96.

A CEO with a domestic mutual fund said, "Markets may face resistance at its all-time high as investors offload their holdings psychologically."

However, there is enough liquidity provided by institutional investors which can push the Sensex to 7000 levels.

Frontline stocks witnessed profit booking as 18 of the 30 shares Bombay Stock Exchange basket stocks ended negative. Among the big gainers in the Sensex basket,

HDFC ended at Rs 844.00, up 3.39 per cent, Reliance Industries was at Rs 590.80 gaining 2.76 per cent,

Bajaj Auto was up 2.21 per cent to end at Rs 1,252.95, Tata Motors closed at Rs 427.25 gaining 1.29 per cent and HDFC Bank closed the day at Rs 595.30, up 0.68 per cent to its stock price.

A leading market operator said, "In the next leg, domestic money will drive up the markets to new highs. The demographics of India is going through a big change and I expect more and more money will be get diverted into the equity markets."

The breadth of the market was negative with 508 stocks advancing as against 2,038 stocks declining. The volumes were moderate and accounted for Rs 2,692.35 crore on BSE and Rs 4,749 crore on the National Stock Exchange (NSE).

Among the indices, the Mid-cap and Bankex index were the biggest losers. The Bankex was down 1.94 per cent losing 78.68 points, while the BSE PSU index closed at 4314.39, losing 48.46 points.

Technology stocks witnessed profit booking after a recent rally. Technology major, Wipro was up 0.03 per cent to Rs 734.90, Satyam Computer was up 0.45 per cent to Rs 483.65, Infosys Technologies was up by 0.98 per cent to Rs 2,280.15 and TCS was up 0.41 per cent to Rs 1,277.15.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers of Indian shares worth Rs 393 crore on Wednesday.

A dealer with a domestic broking firm said, "FIIs have provided enough liquidity in the last few days pushing the markets up as against the general perception that the markets may correct. This has forced investors who had gone short in the futures markets to cover their position, further pushing the market up."

The 7000 level for Sensex is very likely in the next few trading sessions. But markets may correct as it approaches its earlier all-time high of 6950, he added.

Auto stocks were among the rare gainers in today's trading.

The top gainers were-Kinetic Engineering, up 2.32 per cent to close at Rs 88.15, Bajaj Auto was up 2.21 per cent to Rs 1,252.95, Tata Motors was up by 1.29 per cent ending at Rs 427.25, Maruti Udyog gained 0.59 per cent to finish at Rs 439.95 and Hero Honda was up by 0.51 per cent to finish at Rs 550.35.

Bank stocks witnessed profit booking with the Bankex ending lower at 3981.28. Among the losers in today's trading, Karnataka Bank lost 4.07 per cent to finish at Rs 93, ICICI Bank lost 3.78 per cent to end at Rs 416.20, IndusIndia Bank finished at Rs 69.20, losing 3.42 per cent, Bank of Baroda went down by 3.14 per cent ending at Rs 200.70, while Union Bank lost 2.86 per cent to finish at Rs 107.10.

Oil and gas sector stocks ended lower on reports that the government had deferred the fuel prices hike. Among losers-MRPL lost 3.43 per cent to end at 47.85 per cent, Bongaigaon Refineries went down by 1.71 per cent at Rs 97.65.

Petronet LNG was the biggest loser going down by 5.02 per cent to end at Rs 42.55. IBP lost 1.53 per cent to Rs 502.40 and Indian Oil Corporation went down by 1.49 per cent to end at Rs 443.35.