Railway Budget: Market calm

STOCK REPORT

After four consecutive days of gains, equities ended lower on Friday due to profit booking. A higher-than-expected inflation, the Railway Budget, and pre-budget jitters had little impact on the market. Analysts said despite the correction, the market was mostly calm, which is unusual before the Union Budget.

The inflation figure though fell to 4.02 per cent in the week ended February 11 (4.08 per cent a year ago) was still higher than the estimated 3.92 per cent.

The 30-share Sensex ended down 43.29 points, or 0.4 per cent, at 10,200.76, while the 50-share Nifty ended down 12.05 points, or 0.4 per cent, at 3050.05.

Total turnover of both exchanges combined was a little over Rs 9,100 crore compared with Rs 12,400 crore on Thursday.

The market started off on a flat note, but slipped into the red due to weakness in ONGC, HLL and pharmaceutical shares. However, strength in SBI and Reliance Industries limited the downside.

On BSE, gainers trailed losers 1,094:1,372. The previous two sessions had seen gainers trail losers 1:2, despite indices soaring to fresh peaks.

"The budget is unlikely to bring any major surprises for the market," said M Parameswar, director at Shreyas Stock Broking. He said the railway budget has led to reactions from some specific sectors. However, the actual implications will be seen only later once the fine-print is clear.

Public sector banking shares led Nifty gainers on Friday. PNB, OBC and SBI rose 4 per cent each. The rise in these shares limited downside in indices.

Oil shares rose after the rail budget proposed freight cut on petrol and diesel by 8 per cent. However, the budget spelt trouble for the automobile sector as rail freight load was hiked. Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra slipped after the announcement.