Sensex drops 77 pts, fertiliser stocks rise

The Sensex opened with a negative gap of 28 points at 6,719. After moving to a high of 6,737 (down 10 pts from the last close) in early trades, the markets thereafter were under the grip of a bear hug through the trading session today.

Steady selling pressure in most of the counters saw the markets display a negative range-bound trend till mid-noon trades. The late noon trades witnessed steep correction across-the-board, which dragged the index below the 6,650-mark to an intra-day low of 6,641.

The Sensex came off its lows to close 77 points lower at 6,670. The Nifty slipped below the 2,100-mark to finish at 2,098 - down 28 points.

While only two Sensex stocks advanced, 28 declined today. Advancing shares accounted for a volume of 8 lakh for Rs 63.05 crore, and declining shares registered a volume of 1.21 crore amounting to Rs 610.26 crore.

The market breadth was extremely weak on the BSE with 1,288 losses and 685 gains, while 52 stocks ended unchanged.

Reliance, with a traded volume of over 22.28 lakh, dropped 2% (Rs 12) to Rs 562. ITC and HLL ended with marginal losses at Rs 1,333 and Rs 134, respectively.

HDFC Bank shed 3.56% (Rs 21) to Rs 573. While SBI, on a volume of over 12.98 lakh, was down Rs 2 at Rs 726, ICICI Bank, however, was up a rupee at Rs 401.

Infosys (down Rs 12 to Rs 2,180), Wipro (down Rs 2 to Rs 680) and Satyam (down Rs 3 to Rs 400) largely ended on a subdued note.

HPCL slipped 2.36% (Rs 8) to Rs 331.

Grasim tumbled 2.51% (Rs 34) to Rs 1,306. While Gujarat Ambuja declined 2.65% (Rs 11) to Rs 417, ACC was down Rs 2 at Rs 359.

Hero Honda dropped 3.13% (Rs 17) to Rs 536. While Maruti lost nearly 3% (Rs 13) to Rs 436, Bajaj, after a mixed outing, was down a per cent (Rs 9) at Rs 1,085. Tata Motors also ended weak at Rs 453 - down Rs 3. Over 9.42 lakh Tata Motors shares changed hands on the BSE.

Bharti's downward movement continued, and the counter slipped below Rs 200 to end 5.13% lower at Rs 199.

Hindalco dipped 2.55% (Rs 37) to Rs 1,407. While L&T slumped 2.14% (Rs 23) to Rs 1,045, BHEL lost 1.80% (Rs 14) to Rs 782. Tisco and Zee, too, ended at lower levels at Rs 431 (down Rs 9 or 2%) and Rs 134 (down Rs 3 or 2.26%), respectively.

ONGC, however, recovered from its lows to end with a per cent gain (Rs 5) at Rs 913. The counter clocked a volume of over 5.80 lakh.

UTV stock today made its debut at Rs 165 on the BSE against the offer price of Rs 130. After touching an intra-day high of Rs 175.40 and a low of Rs 155, the stock finally settled at Rs 168.50 on volumes of over 52.59 lakh.

Metal stocks tumbled sharply today. Uttam Galva plunged 9.58% (Rs 7) to Rs 66, and Sun Iron & Steel slumped 8.86% (Rs 2) to Rs 20. While Ispat dropped 7.78% (Rs 2) to Rs 30, Electro Steel Castings declined 7.36% (Rs 35) to Rs 437. Other metal counters, too, ended lower in a range of 4-7%.

Auto stocks, too, slid sharply. Bajaj Tempo lost 6.23% (Rs 22) to Rs 337, while JK Industries dipped 5.90% (Rs 6) to Rs 96. Phoenix Lamp, Rico Auto, Munjal Auto, Hindustan Motors and Escorts declined 3-5%.

Fertiliser stocks, however, were in the spotlight on decent buying support. RCF advanced 5.15% (Rs 2) to Rs 38, and Chambal Fertiliser & Chemicals gained 2% to Rs 30. While FACT added 1.82% to Rs 28, NFL was up a per cent at Rs 36.

Reliance led the value chart with a turnover of Rs 126 crore, followed by SBI (Rs 94 crore), Tisco (Rs 87 crore) and ONGC (Rs 52 crore), respectively.