Indices have an off day

STOCK REPORT

Key shares indices ended off lows on Thursday as investors bought shares of automobile and capital goods companies, dealers said.

Market was volatile on Thursday as investors are getting jittery as the Sensex nears the psychological resistance of 15000, dealers said.

Also, a lack of cues from the US market, which was closed Wednesday for Independence Day holiday, and 5 per cent drop in Chinese stocks on Thursday kept investors wary.

China market fell on concerns a slew of public offers, some from state-owned giants such as coal miner Shenhua Energy, and a 500-bln-yuan (Rs 2.7 trillion) bond issue, will suck out liquidity from the country's equity market.

Here, the Sensex hit an all-time high of 14963.26 at open but succumbed to profit sales mid-way through the session.

However, other Asian markets were up led by metal shares and provided buying support at lower levels.

The Bombay Stock Exchange Sensex ended at 14861.89, down 18.35 points or 0.1 per cent, after falling to 14731.22 intraday.

The National Stock Exchange Nifty ended at 4353.95, down 5.35 points or 0.1 per cent.

It moved between a low of 4311.80 and a high of 4378.55 during the session.

The CNX Midcap Index was down 0.8 per cent and the S&P CNX 500 Index down 0.4 per cent.

The combined turnover on both exchanges was Rs 20,600 crore against Rs 16,700 crore on Wednesday. The surge in volumes was due to market participation in DLF shares' listing, dealers said.

The biggest Nifty gainers were "� Mahindra & Mahindra, up 2.8 per cent at Rs 770, Tata Power Co, up 2.2 per cent at Rs 671, and Tata Steel, up 1.9 per cent at Rs 628.

Four-wheeler shares gained on value buying after correcting over the past one month. Also, most companies' June sales were "not as bad as market had feared", a dealer said.

Maruti Udyog ended at Rs 805, up 1.7 per cent. The passenger carmaker on Thursday re-launched its sports utility vehicle Grand Vitara in the Rs 13.8"�14.8 lakh range, lower than its earlier cost.

Ashok Leyland recouped the day's losses to end at Rs 38.35, up 1 per cent, after it reported 2.2 per cent growth in June sales at 6,510 units.

The worst hit in the Nifty were: Reliance Energy, down 3.4 per cent at Rs 592, Ranbaxy, down 2.1 per cent at Rs 360, and HDFC Bank, down 1.9 per cent at Rs 1,129.

Information technology shares were the biggest sector losers as the rupee held steady against the dollar.

Satyam Computer Services was down 1.4 per cent at Rs 465.

Reliance Industries ended at Rs 1,710, down 0.5 per cent, after the Bombay High Court on Thursday adjourned the company's case against Reliance Natural Resources to Jul 12. Reliance Natural Resources was down 1 per cent at Rs 38.

Larsen & Toubro up 1.5 per cent and Bharat Heavy Electricals up 1 per cent were other major Nifty gainers.

Bharat Heavy Electricals gained on news the company is in talks with the Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra governments set up joint ventures for power projects and is likely to hold 10 per cent in these JVs, which will be with state-owned units.

Steel Authority of India ended at Rs 133, up 0.7 per cent, on news it has got two coal blocks in Jharkhand and is seeking two-three more in Orissa.

Hindustan Petroleum ended at Rs 268, up 1.1 per cent, on news the petroleum and natural gas ministry is seeking government bonds worth Rs 19,000 crore to be issued to oil marketing companies.

India's crude basket hit a 11-month high Wednesday at $70.93 per barrel.

DLF listed, in line with expectations, at Rs 561 on NSE and at Rs 582 on BSE, against an issue price of Rs 525. The stock ended at Rs 568. BNP Paribas on Thursday said the stock is fairly valued at current levels.

Real estate shares fell on profit sales after gaining over the past week ahead of listing of DLF shares. Parsvnath Developers, fell 4.5 per cent to Rs 365 and Akruti Nirman dropped 2 per cent to Rs 413.