Sensex ends 19 pts lower, after early crash

The Sensex resumed nine points lower over its previous close at 6,457. The market sentiment was extremely bearish in early trades as relentless selling pressure across-the-board dragged the index below the 6,400-mark to an intra-day low of 6,381 - down 85 points from the last close.

Selective buying, particularly, in old economy stocks saw the market pare most of its losses by early noon trades, before a fresh spell of selling pressure pulled the index lower in mid-noon trades.

However, stock-specific gains towards the fag-end saw the Sensex finally end the session with a loss of 19 points at 6,447. The Nifty, too, trimmed losses to end eight points lower at 1,983.

While 12 Sensex stocks advanced, 18 declined today. Advancing shares accounted for a volumeof 1.04 crore amounting to Rs 526.40 crore, and declining shares registered a volume of 44 lakh for Rs 257.31 crore.

The breadth of the market, however, was positive. Of 2,449 shares traded on the BSE today, 1,301 advanced, 1071 declined and 77 remained unchanged.

ONGC dropped 1.40% (Rs 12) to Rs 860. BHEL tumbled 2.98% (Rs 26) to Rs 838, and Bharti shed 2.48% (Rs 5) to Rs 214. Hindalco slumped 2.83% (Rs 34) to Rs 1,175.

Infosys lost a per cent (Rs 21) to Rs 2,043, while Wipro finished with a small loss of Rs 2 at Rs 651. Satyam, however, was up a per cent (Rs 4) at Rs 434, with volumes of over 9.86 lakh.

Gujarat Ambuja declined 1.43% (Rs 6) to Rs 439, while Grasim slipped a per cent (Rs 12) to Rs 1,123. ACC was down a rupee at Rs 382.

While Reliance gained a per cent (Rs 4) to Rs 530, ITC ended with a steady gain of Rs 6 at Rs 1,485. More than 19 lakh Reliance shares changed hands today.

SBI, on a volume of over 22.88 lakh, advanced 2.41% (Rs 15) to Rs 642. ICICI Bank (down Rs 5 to Rs 391) and HDFC Bank (down Rs 2 to Rs 535) ended on a subdued note.

L&T logged 1.21% gains (Rs 12) to Rs 1,037. While Tata Power added 1.15% (Rs 4) to Rs 364, Tisco was up a per cent (Rs 3) at Rs 357. Over 26.96 lakh Tisco shares changed hands on the BSE.

Bajaj bounced from its lows to end with a per cent gain (Rs 7) at Rs 1,185. While Hero Honda, too, was up a per cent (Rs 5) at Rs 555, Maruti ended a tad higher at Rs 446. Tata Motors, however, shed 2.22% (Rs 10) to Rs 437.

Dr. Reddy's and Cipla ended marginally lower at Rs 682 and Rs 278, respectively. Ranbaxy, however, clocked a per cent gain (Rs 9) to Rs 970.

Capital goods stocks attracted decent buying support. Gammon India notched up 9.44% gains (Rs 26) to Rs 300. While Greaves Cotton jumped 3.85% (Rs 6) to Rs 150, Astra Micro added 3.63% (Rs 48) to Rs 1,371. Havell moved up 2% (Rs 8) to Rs 386, and Crompton Greaves was up 1.38% (Rs 6) at Rs 470.

Auto scrips, too, firmed up today. Munjal Show soared 10.62% (Rs 29) to Rs 303, and Shanthi Gears advanced 5.33% (Rs 3) to Rs 52. While Kirloskar Engineering gained 4% (Rs 22) to Rs 572, Sundaram Clayton added 3.93% (Rs 28) to Rs 740. Other auto counters also ended higher in a range of 2-3%.

Select FMCG majors, however, faltered on steady-to-strong selling pressure. Shaw Wallace plunged 7.17% (Rs 15) to Rs 191. While REI Agro lost 3.50% (Rs 5) to Rs 127, Agro Tech dipped 2% (Rs 2) to Rs 88. Tata Coffe at Rs 280 (down Rs 5 or 1.77%) and United Breweries at Rs 425 (down Rs 7 or 1.61%), too, ended weak.

SBI led the value chart with a turnover of Rs 145 crore, followed by Reliance (Rs 103 crore), Tisco (Rs 96 crore) and Infosys (Rs 89 crore), respectively.