Tata Power top loser

STOCKS REPORT

The benchmark Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex witnessed its second largest fall in 2005 on Tuesday after the 192-point fall on January 5, 2005.

Closing out of leveraged positions over fiscal year-end concerns added to the weakness. Investor wealth (market capitalisation) fell by Rs 34,045 crore on Tuesday.

Nervousness at these levels was obvious as profit booking dragged the market down, brokers said. Selling was witnessed in metal, banking, consumer durables and public sector unit stocks, which were among the biggest losers during the day.

Of the Sensex basket, 27 scrips closed lower. The breadth of the market was also negative, with losers outpacing gainers in the 5:1 ratio. The Sensex hit a high of 6,656.31 and a low of 6,520.15 in intra-day trades, before closing at 6,535.45, down 121.24 points (1.82 per cent) from Monday's close.

Volumes were marginally higher than on Monday in the cash segment of the bourses. The BSE reported a turnover of Rs 2,067.57 crore and the National Stock Exchange reported a turnover of Rs 4,143.26 crore.

An institutional head at a local brokerage house said, "Foreign institutional investor inflows have been negative in most emerging markets in the last one week. ADR and futures and options premiums have also come down, reflecting the nervousness at these levels."

"There has been persistent selling and stop losses have also been triggered in some cases," he added.

Analysts said that worries over higher oil prices has led to weakness in most global markets, triggering off an extended bout of selling in India.

Margin calls and an expected Fed interest rate hike also played on sentiment, brokers added. The Tata Power counter was the biggest loser in the Sensex basket, down 4.51 per cent to close at Rs 359.70, followed by State Bank of India, down 4.08 per cent to Rs 693, Hindalco fell by 3.96 per cent to Rs 1323.15, Cipla down 3.77 per cent to Rs 264 and Tata Motors down 3.74 per cent to Rs 433.50.

The three Sensex gainers included Dr Reddy's, up 1.27 per cent at Rs 731.30, HLL up 0.31 per cent to Rs 130.60 and Bharti Tele-Ventures up 0.14 per cent to Rs 212.30. FIIs bought Indian shares worth Rs 43.80 crore on Monday as per data from the Securities and Exchange Board of India website.

Strong buying support from foreign funds has helped the market rally but the undertone of the market appeared cautious at these levels, brokers said. A lack of active domestic participation has raised concerns among market players, they added.