Pausing for breather

STOCKS REPORT

The market took a breather for the second straight day on Wednesday after a sharp rally in the previous four sessions.

Investors reacted cautiously to positive news on the domestic front as outcome of the meeting of the Federal Reserve on US interest rates played on sentiment.

Telecom and power sector stocks were in the limelight after the government announced some key reforms in these two sectors. Sentiment was also boosted as international rating agency Standard & Poor raised India's foreign currency rating.

But profit taking in blue-chips and select mid-caps after recent gains was evident as the benchmark Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex closed lower, brokers said.

FMCG, pharma, consumer durables and oil scrips were among the biggest losers while capital goods and banking counters recorded some gains on Wednesday. The breadth of the market was marginally positive, with gainers outpacing losers 7:5. In the BSE Sensex basket, 18 out of the 30 scrips closed lower.

Despite a strong buying support from foreign funds the undertone of the market appeared cautious, brokers said. Big block deals on the Bharti Tele-Ventures counter led to higher volumes on the bourses on Wednesday.

Players said that a correction was expected after the run-up from lower levels but a lack of active domestic participation is also playing on sentiment.

Opening in positive territory, the BSE Sensex hit a high of 6,600.25 and a low of 6,509.92 in volatile intra-day trades. The Sensex finally closed at 6,530.06, down 22.41 points (0.34 per cent) from Tuesday's close. Volumes were lower than on Tuesday in the cash segment of the bourses; the BSE reported a turnover of Rs 3,914.62 crore and the NSE reported a turnover of Rs 5,533.18 crore.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of Indian shares worth Rs 820 crore on Tuesday while domestic mutual funds were net sellers to the tune of Rs 113 crore, as per data from the Securities and Exchange Board of India website.

HLL was the biggest loser in the Sensex basket, down 2.52 per cent to close at Rs 164.55, followed by Ranbaxy, down 1.87 per cent to Rs 1,050.70,

ITC fell 1.83 per cent to Rs 1,325.15, Reliance Industries fell 1.61 per cent to Rs 533.85 and Tata Motors fell 1.51 per cent to Rs 485.70.

BHEL was the biggest gainer in the Sensex basket, gaining 3.99 per cent to close at Rs 787.55, followed by Tata Power, up 3.39 per cent to Rs 392.10, Hindalco gained 2.56 per cent to Rs 1,365.50, SBI was up 2.27 per cent to Rs 648.55 and ICICI Bank gained 1.13 per cent to Rs 366.10.