Sensex pares losses, auto stocks firm

The Sensex has come off its lows on buying in auto stocks and paring of losses in select old and new economy stocks. It is now down 53 points at 6,255. The Nifty has shed 20 points to 1,962.

The market breadth is negative at 2.5:1, with 1,334 declines and 520 gains.

Reliance is down a per cent (Rs 4) at Rs 530. ITC and HLL are down a rupee each at Rs 1,272 and Rs 142, respectively.

Infosys is trading with a per cent loss (Rs 14) at Rs 1,980. While Wipro is down Rs 2 at Rs 676, Satyam is up a rupee at Rs 593.

SBI (down Rs 7 or 1.13% to Rs 593) has come off its lows. HDFC Bank has dipped 1.49% (Rs 7) to Rs 482. ICICI Bank has rolled back into the green to Rs 350 - up Rs 2.

Grasim (down Rs 27 or 2% to Rs 1,248), Gujarat Ambuja (down Rs 10 or 2.38% to Rs 408) and ACC (down Rs 7 or 2% to Rs 338) are trading with steep losses.

Ranbaxy has tumbled 3.82% (Rs 44) to Rs 1,120. While Cipla has shed 3.62% (Rs 10) to Rs 271, Dr. Reddy's has declined 3.70% (Rs 29) to Rs 765.

Bajaj has trimmed gains on profit-taking to Rs 1,110 - up Rs 18 or 1.61%. While Maruti has added 2% (Rs 9) to Rs 432, Tata Motors is up 1.60% (Rs 8) at Rs 483.

Hindalco has tumbled 3.52% (Rs 46) to Rs 1,258. While L&T has dropped 3.13% (Rs 30) to Rs 942, Tisco is down 1.56% (Rs 6) at Rs 352. Tata Powre, however, has gained 1.41% (Rs 5) to Rs 359.

Banking and FMCG stocks have eased on selling pressure. Andhra Bank has she 6.59% (Rs 5) to Rs 77, and Federal Bank has lost 6.22% (Rs 10) to Rs 156. Corporation Bank at Rs 310 (down Rs 20 or 61.7%), Vijaya Bank at Rs 63 (down Rs 3 or 5%), Indian Overseas Bank at Rs 69 (down Rs 4 or 4.89%), Dena Bank at Rs 37 (down Rs 2 or 4.77%), Allahabad Bank at Rs 70 (down Rs 3 or 4.22%), Indus Ind Bank at Rs 59 (down Rs 3 or 4.14%) and Kotak Bank at Rs 274 (down Rs 11 or 3.96%) also have come under sharp correction.

VST Industries has lost 5.20% (Rs 13) to Rs 237. While ShawWallace has dipped 4.31% to Rs 151, Tata Coffee has slided 3.85% to Rs 314. William Tea and McDowell are down slightly over 3% each at Rs 153 and Rs 116, respectively. Colgate, Satnam Overseas and Ruchi Soya are down in a range of 2-3%.

Select counters have attracted considerable buying support. IDBI has notched up 5.89% gains (Rs 6) to Rs 107, and Punjab Tractors has jumped 3.50% to Rs 200. While Aventim Pharma has added 2.62% (Rs 32) to Rs 1,252, LIC Housing Finance is up 2.12% at Rs 200.

Tisco has topped the volume chart with over 20.55 lakh shares traded on the BSE so far, followed by Satyam (15.26 lakh), SBI (14.68 lakh), Reliance (14.17 lakh) and Bharti (9.88 lakh), respectively.