Selling pressure takes its toll

STOCK REPORT

The benchmark index went down on Thursday after IT, FMCG and auto counters witnessed selling pressure. On the Bombay Stock Exchange, 1,091 stocks advanced while 1,456 stocks declined.

The Sensex went down 38.57 points to close at 7304.32. The Nifty lost 11.40 points to close at 2230.5. The BSE turnover was low at Rs 3,037.44 crore. The NSE turnover went up to Rs 5,986.53 crore.

This was the first quarter number game in an action-packed market, as certain stocks went up owing to good results (Britannia Industries, Polaris Software, SPIC, Corporation Bank, Greaves Cotton, Gateway Distriparks, Havell's India, Atlas Copco etc) while some scrips went down on dismal results (Jet Airways, Tata Chemicals).

Infosys Technologies went down for the second consecutive day after its head of global sales Basab Pradhan announced his decision to quit. The scrip was down 1.01 per cent to Rs 2,210.15. HDFC was the highest gainer among the frontline stocks, up 1.58 per cent to Rs 893.70.

Other major gainers in frontline stocks were-Bharti Tele (1.52 per cent), Satyam Computer (1.41 per cent), Gujarat Ambuja Cements (1.38 per cent), HDFC Bank (0.85 per cent), Maruti Udyog (0.79 per cent), Hindalco (0.48 per cent), Cipla (0.35 per cent) and BHEL (0.10 per cent).

Only nine scrips advanced among the thirty Sensex stocks. Larsen & Toubro was the biggest loser, down 3.76 per cent to Rs 1,247.50. Among other scrips were-ITC (2.26 per cent), SBI (2.09 per cent), Tata Motors (1.87 per cent) and Reliance Energy (1.79 per cent).

Tata Chemicals lost 2.8 per cent to Rs 191.15 even though it reported strong first quarter results. The company had registered a 42 per cent rise in its net profit. Mastek gained 4.34 per cent to Rs 369.45 backed by strong results.

The BSE Metal index was the sole gainer on Thursday, up 0.04 per cent to 5790.32. Among others, the BSE Consumer Durables index (1.67 per cent) and the BSE FMCG index (1.44 per cent) were the biggest losers. The BSE Capital Goods index and the BSE auto index were other major losers.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of Indian shares worth Rs 317.70 crore on Wednesday, while domestic mutual funds were net sellers of Rs 72.29 crore.

In the banking sector, UCO Bank went up 3.77 per cent to close at Rs 30.25. Other major gainers in the sector were-Kotak Mahindra Bank (1.48 per cent), Corporation Bank (1.17 per cent), Syndicate Bank (1.15 per cent) and HDFC Bank (0.85 per cent).

The major losers were-United Western Bank (4.95 per cent), Karnataka Bank (4.73 per cent), SB of Mysore (4.10 per cent) and Centurion Bank (3.72 per cent).

HMT continued its rally among the auto stocks. The scrip was the highest gainer of the sector, up 2 per cent at Rs 89.15 on Thursday after gaining about 45 per cent in the past few days.

Other major gainers were-Premier (1.76 per cent), Kinetic Motors (1.65 per cent), Swaraj Mazda (1.13 per cent) and Maruti Udyog (0.79 per cent). The major losers were-Escorts (4.03 per cent), Hindustan Motors (3.66 per cent), Maharashtra Scooters (2.16 per cent) and Tata Motors (1.87 per cent).