Street catches Chinese chill

STOCK REPORT

Key shares ended down 1 per cent on Wednesday as investors squared-off positions on fears a sell-off in China may spread to other markets, including India, in a repeat of late February, when a slump in China triggered a rout in global equities.

"Our market saw a knee jerk reaction to the fall in China and other Asian markets. The bearish sentiment may continue (in India) tomorrow, but we do not expect any sharp downside," a dealer with a domestic brokerage said.

On Wednesday, the Chinese stocks plummeted after the country's government tripled a securities transaction tax in a bid to cool a heated market. The Chinese benchmark CSI 300 Index, which has almost doubled this year, fell 7 per cent.

The fall in Indian equities was further aggravated on Wednesday on unwinding of positions ahead of expiry of May futures series contract, dealers said.

The National Stock Exchange's 50-share Nifty ended at 4249.65, down 43.60 points or 1 per cent from Tuesday. It touched a lifetime high of 4301.60 at open but gave up gains on profit sales.

The Bombay Stock Exchange's 30-share Sensex ended at 14411.38, down 96.83 points or 0.7 per cent. Intraday, it moved between 14379.21 and 14576.37.

Turnover on both the exchanges was roughly Rs 16,400 crore compared with Rs 13,800 crore on Tuesday. The CNX Midcap Index and S&P CNX 500 Index ended down 1 per cent each.

Capital goods shares rallied led by Larsen & Toubro, which jumped 7.5 per cent to Rs 1,995. It touched a lifetime high of Rs 2,010 on NSE on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Larsen & Toubro reported Jan-Mar net profit at Rs 700 crore, up 53 per cent on year and operating margin grew 152 basis points to 12.96 per cent, beating analysts' expectations.

Shares of McDowell Holdings hit upper circuit of 20 per cent at Rs 196 after listing at the same price, amid expectations of a possible merger with UB Holdings. Housing Development Finance Corp gained 1 per cent at Rs 1,833.

Analysts are positive on the stock as the company plans to raise Rs 3,110 crore through a preferential offer to Carlyle Group and Citigroup.MIC Electronics listed at Rs 262.5, against issue price of Rs 150. It closed at Rs 337.