Profit taking to the fore

STOCKS REPORT

Profit taking dragged the market down on Monday, but bargain buying at lower levels helped the market recover from the lower levels.

The benchmark Bombay Stock Exchange Sensex closed lower despite a positive start in early trades as investors turned sellers.

Technology, banking and pharma scrips were among the biggest losers on Monday. The breadth of the market was negative with losers outpacing gainers 2:1. In the Sensex basket, 26 out of the 30-scrips closed lower.

Moving in a range of 182.24 points, the BSE Sensex hit a high of 6469.09 and a low of 6286.85 in the intra-day trades. The Sensex finally closed at 6308.54, down 111.92 points (1.74 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 2,141.15 crore and the NSE reported a turnover of Rs 4,812.40 crore.

A dealer from a local brokerage house said, "Some consolidation during the reporting season is expected with the next big trigger being the annual budget expected next month."

Brokers said that they expect the market to be rangebound in the near term. There are worries of a slowdown in foreign fund inflows as the possibility of a hike in the US interest rates may have an adverse impact.

A slowdown in demand from China and a subsequent fall in metal prices last week had also weighed down on the sentiment.

Foreign funds were net sellers to the tune of Rs 68.30 crore on Friday, while domestic mutual funds were net buyers to the tune of Rs 60.30 crore, according to the data released by Sebi.

Tata Power was the biggest loser in the Sensex basket, falling 4.01 per cent to close at Rs 354.10, followed by Bharti Tele-Ventures was down 3.75 per cent to Rs 202.70, Tata Motors fell 3.68 per cent to Rs 475.10, Maruti Udyog was down 3.62 per cent to Rs 423.75 and Satyam Computer fell 3.49 per cent to Rs 373.80.

The HLL counter was the biggest gainer in the Sensex basket, gaining 1.28 per cent to close at Rs 142.75, followed by Zee Telefilms, up 1.17 per cent to Rs 164.80, BHEL was up 0.40 per cent to Rs 740.35 and HDFC was 0.24 per cent to Rs 728.60.