Profit taking to the fore

STOCKS REPORT

Fast moving consumer goods, telecom and select pharma companies were among the worst hit on Friday with profit taking dragging the market down for the third straight day. The same concerns over inflation, rise in international oil prices and fear of a cap on commodity prices played on market sentiment, said brokers.

Volatile in a narrow range, the Bombay Stock Exchange Sensex hit a high of 5,144.70 and a low of 5,084.51 in intra-day trades before closing at 5,102.92, down 0.72 per cent (36.85 points).

Volumes on the BSE were higher due to a huge block deal in the Sensex scrip Bharti Tele-Ventures but otherwise the market continued to be lacklustre as bluechips witnessed selling pressure. 21 out of the 30 scrips in the Sensex basket closed lower while gainers edged out losers 896:873 on the BSE.

Uncertainty over the market's direction is keeping players away, said a dealer, adding that most players are either booking profit and sitting on cash or switching to lower valuation counters.

"This way they are ensuring that in case the market falls, they will not be sitting with already over-valued scrips that will be hit, while the upside for under-valued scrips in a rising market are good anyway," added another broker. Brokers said that the Sensex should remain range-bound in the near term over inflation and crude prices concerns.

The Bharti Tele-Ventures scrip was the worst hit, down 4.98 per cent to Rs 150.60, followed by the MTNL counter, down 3.69 per cent to Rs 124.10. FMCG pivotal HLL fell 3.20 per cent to Rs 110.50 and ITC was down 2.27 per cent to Rs 1,018.75. Dr Reddy's Labs was down 2.82 per cent to Rs 740.50 and Ranbaxy fell 1.84 per cent to Rs 959.35.

Cement scrips were in the limelight, Gujarat Ambuja Cements was the biggest gainer in the Sensex basket, gaining 3.94 per cent to Rs 307.55, followed by Grasim, up 2.84 per cent to Rs 1035.90 and ACC was up 2.40 per cent to Rs 262.50.

Heavyweights State Bank of India gained 0.83 per cent to Rs 445.70 and Reliance Industries was up 0.31 per cent to Rs 476.80. ONGC gained 2.12 per cent to Rs 691.05 and HPCL was up 0.47 per cent to Rs 309.65.

Wipro was down 1.79 per cent to Rs 534.05, Infosys Technologies was down 1.30 per cent to Rs 1,480 and Satyam Computer fell 0.87 per cent to Rs 334.20. Tech scrips are falling on selling pressure on the back of tech-led fall in the US markets.

The BSE FMCG index was the biggest loser, down 1.85 per cent, followed by the TECk index, down 1.55 per cent and the IT sector index was down 1.16 per cent.

The BSE PSU index bucked the negative trend, up 0.74 per cent and the consumer durables index was up 0.19 per cent.

Cash segment volumes were average, with the BSE reporting a turnover of Rs 2,769.35 crore and the National Stock Exchange (NSE) reporting a turnover of Rs 4,029.19 crore.

Foreign institutional investors (FII) were net sellers of Indian shares worth Rs 148.30 crore on Thursday while domestic mutual funds were net sellers to the tune of Rs 24.30 crore.