Down on profit booking

STOCK REPORT

Shares ended down on Monday because investors booked profits ahead of the September futures contract expiry on Thursday, dealers said.

However, short covering in Nifty September curbed losses.

Weak overseas cues also weighed down sentiment on Monday, as Asian markets were trading mixed amid concerns over an economic slowdown in the US, Asia's largest export market.

The Sensex ended 12173.91, down 62.87 points or 0.5 per cent, after touching a low of 12145.09 and a high of 12273.45 intraday.

The National Stock Exchange Nifty ended 3523.45, down 20.60 points or 0.6 per cent, after touching a low of 3514.85 and a high of 3568.65 intraday.

Turnover on both exchanges together was Rs 9,600 crore, down nearly 6 per cent from Friday.

Morgan Stanley said on Monday it expects the Sensex's nine-week rally to continue for another fortnight with some intra-week corrections.

Among lead Nifty gainers, Bharat Petroleum Corp ended up 4.1 per cent at Rs 383.15, followed by Tata Steel, up 2.2 per cent at Rs 507.70, and Hindustan Petroleum Corp, up 1.9 per cent at Rs 295.05.

Oil retailers gained on Monday because crude oil slipped to $59.60 a barrel on New York Mercantile Exchange after Iran said it might consider discussions on its nuclear programme, easing concerns over oil supply.

Reliance Industries was up 0.6 per cent at Rs 1,163.10 on news the company has discovered more gas in the Krishna-Godavari basin.

Hindustan Construction climbed over 5 per cent to end at Rs 105 after the company bagged two contracts aggregating Rs 794 crore from National Hydroelectric Power Corp.

Shares of fast moving consumer goods and information technology companies were the worst affected, with BSE IT and FMCG indices ending down over 1 per cent.

Of the three stocks that debuted on Monday, Atlanta ended up over 28 per cent, while Deep Industries and KEW Industries shed 22 per cent.