Indices end slightly up

STOCK REPORT

Key indices ended fractionally up after trading in a narrow band on Friday. Dealers said the surging global crude oil prices and slowdown in inflow of foreign funds were keeping investors cautious. Bharat Petroleum ended as the top Nifty gainer, up over 4 per cent.

The Sensex closed at 7680.22, up 19.80 points from Thursday. The index saw an intraday high of 7732.31 and a low of 7644.41. The Nifty closed at 2357.05, up 2.50 points, after touching an intraday low of 2340.20. The total traded turnover remained relatively lower at a little over Rs 89 billion, against over Rs 98 billion on Thursday.

"Foreign funds had kept the market buoyant for the past few months. But there has been a slowdown in these funds in the latter part of this month, which is causing some amount of nervousness among investors," said a dealer at a local brokerage. In this month till Wednesday, foreign funds net bought Indian shares worth over $770 million.

However, they net sold $25.4 million shares on Wednesday causing some apprehension among investors as to whether the inflow for the month would match that in the past two months. In June and July, FIIs net bought over $1.3 billion and $1.9 billion shares, respectively.

"There are also concerns over global crude oil prices touching new highs, making it difficult to take a call on the direction of the market. However, we expect the market to remain around these levels for the next couple of weeks," the dealer said. International crude oil prices had touched highs of $68 a barrel on Wednesday.

In key stock moves, Tata Consultancy Services, Gujarat Ambuja Cements, Associated Cement Co and ABB ended up 3 per cent each.

HDFC Bank, Wipro, Hindalco Industries and Bharat Heavy Electricals featured among the Nifty laggards.

Steel Authority of India, down over 2 per cent to Rs 62.40, was also among the top losers in the Nifty. The stock had gained over 6 per cent on Thursday.

Among the second line indices, the CNX Midcap Index outperformed the frontline indices and rose close to 2 per cent to 3608.20.

Essar Oil gained nearly 10 per cent to Rs 45.35 on the back of its announcement that it plans up to $300 million ADR/GDR/FCCB issue.

Alfa Laval India ended as the biggest mid-cap loser, down over 4 per cent.