Pressure on blue chips

STOCKS REPORT

Selling pressure in blue chips dragged the benchmark Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex lower, in a volatile trading session on Wednesday. Profit taking in mid-cap counters also gained momentum as investors sold at higher levels.

Metal, auto, IT and oil scrips were among the biggest losers though select blue chips and consumer durables scrips saw buying on Wednesday. The breadth of the market was negative with losers outpacing gainers 10:7 on the BSE. 23 scrips out of the 30-scrip Sensex basket closed lower.

Amid volatile trading session, players continued selling at higher levels while buying was visible at lower levels.

Brokers said that weaker global markets have added to the negative sentiment.

Said a dealer from a local brokerage, "Sustained FII inflows are driving the market up but profit taking is acting as a drag now."

Brokers explained that profit taking coupled with churning of portfolios is causing the volatility and we may see some more gains albeit with corrections. Lower international oil prices have helped the positive sentiment, analysts added.

The Sensex gyrated almost 109 points on either side of the breakeven. The BSE Sensex hit a high of 6,359.20 points and a low of 6,250.24 in intra-day trades before closing lower at 6,261.52, down 0.87 per cent (54.76 points) from Tuesday's close.

Volumes were higher than on Tuesday in the cash segment of the bourses; the BSE reported a turnover of Rs 2,313.32 crore and the NSE reported a turnover of Rs 5,016.08 crore.

Bharti Tele-Ventures was the biggest gainer in the Sensex basket, up 5.73 per cent to close at Rs 188.25, followed by the State Bank of India, up 3.91 per cent to Rs 593, ACC gained 1.33 per cent to Rs 305.15, Gujarat Ambuja Cement was up 0.61 per cent to Rs 378.60 and Dr Reddy's Labs gained 0.60 per cent to Rs 834.70.

Tata Steel was the biggest loser in the Sensex basket, falling 2.59 per cent to close at Rs 318.20, followed by Wipro, down 2.41 per cent to Rs 738.90, HPCL fell 2.28 per cent to Rs 375.10, HDFC Bank was down 2.03 per cent to Rs 471.80 and Reliance Energy fell 2 per cent to Rs 548.25.

The BSE Consumer Durables index, up 4.43 per cent, was the lone gainer out of the 11 sectoral indices on the BSE.

The biggest loser was the BSE Metal index, down 1.80 per cent, followed by the BSE Auto index, down 1.21 per cent and the IT index fell 1.15 per cent.