Profit sales hurt

STOCKS REPORT

Profit booking in blue-chips dragged the market down, though select buying at lower levels helped pare the fall. The market opened and closed in negative territory.

The Bombay Stock Exchange Sensex hit a high of 5194.04 and a low of 5117.80 in intra-day trades before closing at 5139.77, down 0.68 per cent (35.39 points).

Concerns over inflation, rise in the international oil prices and fears of a cap on commodity prices had a negative impact on the market, observed the brokers.

Volumes continued to remain low even as blue-chips went under the hammer on Thursday, with 23 out of the 30 scrips in the Sensex basket closing lower; losers outpaced gainers 2:1 on the BSE.

Profit taking was visible as players were busy churning their portfolios, selling over valued scrips and looking to invest in under valued counters, said a dealer from a local brokerage. Volumes will continue to remain low as the uncertainty over the market's direction is keeping players away, added another broker.

The BSE IT sector was the biggest loser of the day, following the fall of the Nasdaq on Wednesday. Cement, steel and petrochemicals scrips slipped further after the Union finance minister warned manufacturers against raising commodity prices.

The BSE PSU index fell 1.17 per cent, the consumer durables index was down 0.90 per cent, the BSE Bankex fell 0.70 per cent and the TECk index fell 0.66 per cent.

Tata Motors was the biggest loser in the Sensex basket on Thursday, down 3.05 per cent to Rs 409.15, followed by Hindalco, down 2.72 per cent to Rs 1,091 and HPCL, down 2.39 per cent to Rs 308.20. Wipro fell 2.3 per cent to Rs 543.80 and Maruti Udyog was down 1.98 per cent to Rs 393.70.

HDFC was the biggest gainer in the Sensex basket. The scrip went up 1.24 per cent to Rs 570.55, followed by ACC, up 0.73 per cent to Rs 256.35 and the Bharti Tele-Ventures, up 0.7 per cent to Rs 158.50.

Heavyweights SBI fell 1.13 per cent to Rs 442.05, Reliance was down 0.95 per cent to Rs 475.35, HLL fell 0.31 per cent to Rs 114.15 and ITC was down 0.30 per cent to Rs 1042.45.

Cash segment volumes were low, with the BSE reporting a turnover of Rs 1,677.72 crore and the National Stock Exchange (NSE) reporting a turnover of Rs 3,955.52 crore.

Foreign institutional investors (FII) were net sellers to the tune of Rs 74.50 crore on Wednesday, while domestic mutual funds were net sellers to the tune of Rs 33.20 crore.