Profit booking snips gains

STOCKS REPORT

The market closed flat in a volatile trading session on Friday. Selling pressure in select frontline companies was seen as investors turned to profit taking at higher levels.

The benchmark Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex closed a tad lower as investors sold banking, oil and PSU counters, which were among the biggest losers on Friday.

FMCG, pharma, cement, textiles and sugar stocks were in the limelight on fresh buying interest. In the BSE Sensex basket, 15 out of the 30 scrips closed higher. The breadth of the market was also almost even.

Rajesh Kamdar, a dealer from K G Vora Securities, said that the market was seeing select profit taking after yesterday's rally on the back of the 25 basis points hike in US interest rates, and the Fed's decision to keep raising rates at a measured pace.

The government announcement on Wednesday to hike FDI limit in telecom sector and the Union Cabinet clearing the National Electricity Policy had also helped the positive sentiment.

Strong buying support from foreign funds in the last few sessions has helped the market record a strong rally but the undertone of the market appeared cautious, brokers said.

A lack of active domestic participation and a rally on the back of positive 'news' in the last few days has also raised concerns among market players, they added.

Opening in positive territory, the BSE Sensex hit a high of 6,684.16 and a low of 6,571.51 in intra-day trades, before closing at 6,618.23, down 1.74 points (0.03 per cent) from Thursday's close.

Volumes were higher than on Thursday in the cash segment of the bourses; the BSE reported a turnover of Rs 2,599.80 crore and the NSE reported a turnover of Rs 5,504.82 crore.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of Indian shares worth Rs 489 crore on Thursday while domestic mutual funds were net sellers to the tune of Rs 16 crore, as per data from the Securities and Exchange Board of India website.

HDFC was the biggest gainer in the Sensex basket, rising 3.60 per cent to close at Rs 816.25, followed by ACC, up 3.40 per cent to Rs 375.65, Dr Reddy's gained 2.95 per cent to Rs 732.05, Hero Honda was up 1.74 per cent to Rs 542.75 and Ranbaxy gained 1.72 per cent to Rs 1,078.05.

HDFC Bank was the biggest loser in the Sensex basket, falling 1.24 per cent to Rs 565.30, followed by SBI, down 1.21 per cent to Rs 648.10, ICICI Bank fell 1.18 per cent to Rs 365, Infosys Technologies was down 1.07 per cent to Rs 2,080.70 and ONGC fell 0.89 per cent to Rs 825.90.