Volatility grips Dalal Street

STOCK REPORT

Key indices ended close to 1 per cent down on a late bout of selling, despite better-than-expected fourth quarter results of index heavyweight Reliance Industries.

The sentiment was undermined by an over 5 per cent fall in another index major, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation. Automobile shares slumped, after a strong showing on Wednesday.

Bombay Stock Exchange's 30-share Sensex closed at 11835.02, down 103.51 points, or 0.9 per cent, after touching an intra-day high of 12,086.91, a few points away from its record high of 12,102.00.

National Stock Exchange's 50-share Nifty scaled a new peak of 3,598.95, but slipped to 3508.10 at close, down 47.65 points, or 1.3 per cent.

Key indices have been volatile this week, shedding over 2 per cent on Tuesday and gaining over 2 per cent on Wednesday. Dealers said a combination of factors, including erratic foreign fund flows, tightening of margins by NSE, and stretched stock valuations have led investors to take a cautious view in the near term.

Despite the weakness in major indices, market breadth on both exchanges was positive. On BSE, gainers led losers 1,399:1,114. On NSE, gainers squeezed past losers 451:438.

ONGC started off on a bearish note after Indian Oil Corporation sold 27.41 million shares, or roughly a fifth of its holding in that company, to a clutch of investors at Rs 1,340 a share.

The ONGC stock steadily lost ground through the session, closing at Rs 1,303.45.

Among other big losers, Maruti Udyog, Tata Steel, Infosys Technologies, HCL Technologies, Associated Cement Cos, and Videsh Sanchar Nigam ended around 3-4 per cent lower.

Key indices would have fallen further, but for a 2 per cent rise in Reliance Industries, which closed at Rs 997.95. The company reported fourth quarter net profit of Rs 2502 crore, against market expectations of around Rs 2160 crore.

Dabur India shares were the top gainers in the Nifty, closing 5 per cent up at Rs 139.25.

Grasim Industries ended around 1 per cent lower at Rs 2,360.55, despite reporting a standalone net profit of Rs 263 crore, higher than market expectations of around Rs 220 crore.

Zee Telefilms closed around 2 per cent up at Rs 245.85, after it reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 67.5 crore, way ahead of around Rs 50 crore that the market was expecting.

Mid-cap stocks outperformed their frontline counterparts, rising around 0.5 per cent to close at 5022.10.

Index gainers were led by Thomas Cook, which closed around 12 per cent up at Rs 726.05, ahead of the company's board meeting to consider a 10-for-1 stock split.

Raymond was the other major gainer, up 10.3 per cent at Rs 592.85. Prominent losers included Chennai Petroleum, and Great Eastern Shipping, which ended around 5 per cent down.