Bout of fag-end blues

STOCKS REPORT

Technology scrips were in the limelight today as the benchmark Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex closed at a new all-time high.

However, profit booking in select blue chips at higher levels dragged the market down from intra-day highs. Investors bought technology, capital goods, consumer durables, metal and telecom stocks, which were among the biggest gainers today.

Select FMCG and consumer durables counters also witnessed selling pressure. In the BSE Sensex basket, 19 out of the 30 scrips closed higher. The breadth of the market was negative, with losers outpacing gainers 7:5 on the BSE.

Brokers said buying was seen as the tech sector's outlook has improved with encouraging results and guidances. A strong Nasdaq closing on Friday lead to the domestic market opening firm with tech and telecom stocks leading the rally.

Markets hit a high before profit booking set in towards the fag-end of the trading session. However, a strong closing indicates that the markets are in a bullish trend ahead of the budget.

A dealer from Darashaw said, "Some institutional activity is being seen but most players are waiting for the Union Budget before taking big calls."

The BSE Sensex hit a high of 6719.20 in intra-day trades before closing at 6679.33, up 45.57 points (0.69 per cent) from Friday's close.

Volumes were lower than on Friday in the cash segment of the bourses; the BSE reported a turnover of Rs 2334.34 crore and the NSE reported a turnover of Rs 5043.73 crore.

BHEL was the biggest gainer in the Sensex basket, rising 5.11 per cent to close at Rs 860.30, followed by Infosys Technologies, up 3.12 per cent to Rs 2168.85, Bharti Tele-Ventures gained 2.95 per cent to Rs 214.80, Satyam Computer was up 2.71 per cent to Rs 421.45, Hero Honda rose by 2.43 per cent to Rs 563.75 and Wipro gained 2.27 per cent to Rs 711.25.

HLL was the biggest loser in the sensex basket, falling 2.19 per cent to close at Rs 151.90, followed by Maruti Udyog, down 1.52 per cent to Rs 490.80, ACC fell 1.31 per cent to Rs 373.75, ITC was down 1.30 per cent to Rs 1316.55 and HPCL fell 1.07 per cent to Rs 369.80.

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.

But a lack of active domestic participation has also raised concerns among market players, they added. Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of Indian shares worth Rs 57 crore on Friday.