Sensex sheds 106 points

Market indices yo-yoed from positive to negative territory today as speculators bid up prices and then exited when Finance Minister P Chidambaram failed to provide any specific gifts to lift sentiment in the markets.

The indices stayed volatile, with the Bombay Stock Exchange Sensex surging 89 points in early trades to the day's high of 5,012.52, before falling 223 points from the day's high to a low of 4,789.63. The Sensex eventually closed at 4,817.99, down 2.15 per cent (105.70 points) from Wednesday's close.

Profit-taking at higher levels, after two days of gains, was the main reason given for today's losses, with both institutions and funds said to be among sellers. Many players also attributed the fall today to the market not being enthused by Chidambaram's meetings with various industry participants.

Sandeep Presswala, head-retail business, Investsmart India Ltd, said, "The market had built a lot of expectations

that the finance minister would be making some kind of positive statements. Many investors, including some FIIs, had taken up positions in the market. However, when he only made some bland statements about his meetings in Mumbai, disappointment set in and this led to a selloff.

For the record, the markets opened with a gap in positive territory but steadily lost ground after Chidambaram spoke to the press briefly in the afternoon after finishing his meetings with industry representatives.

Chidambaram met brokers, bankers, foreign investors and the regulator in Mumbai on Wednesday and Thursday and told them his government would take reforms forward so as to sustain higher economic growth. In the process, it would also keep the fiscal deficit in check.

The rupee has seen almost as much volatility as the stockmarket over the past month on worries about the future of economic reforms. The 10-year benchmark paper closed down marginally at 5.28/5.27 per cent compared to Wednesday's close of 5.29 per cent. The rupee closed at a two-month-high of 45.24/26 to the US dollar, up 0.30 per cent.

The National Stock Exchange (NSE) Nifty fell 40.10 points to close at 1,495.10. Losers outpaced gainers 1164:467 on the BSE with the 30-scrip Sensex basket seeing 27 scrips closing lower. Brokers said that players booked profit and selling was seen in blue chips after the markets witnessed gains in the last two days.

The BSE IT sector index was the biggest loser today, down 2.97 per cent, followed by the BSE PSU index, down 2.57 per cent. The Healthcare index fell 2.43 per cent. The BSE capital goods sector index was up 0.22 per cent and the Bankex gained 0.19 per cent, bucking the negative trend.

MTNL was the biggest loser among Sensex stocks today, falling 5.80 per cent to Rs 116.15, followed by Grasim, down 5.60 per cent to Rs 1,024.25. Cipla fell 5.53 per cent to Rs 225.55. Reliance Energy fell 5.36 per cent to Rs 508.90 and Gujarat Ambuja Cements was down 5.24 per cent to Rs 283.20.

Heavyweight Reliance industries was down 2.58 per cent to Rs 428.30, ITC was down 2.38 per cent to Rs 879.25, HLL fell 0.98 per cent to Rs 135.85 and the State Bank of India scrip was down 0.66 per cent to Rs 469.45.

ICICI Bank was the biggest gainer in the Sensex basket today, up 1.74 per cent to Rs 266.15, followed by HDFC, up 0.60 per cent to Rs 566.25. BHEL gained 0.59 per cent to Rs 446.70.

Tech bellwether Infosys Technologies fell 2.03 per cent to Rs 5231.55, Satyam Computers was down 2.65 per cent to Rs 309.90 and Wipro fell 4.48 percent to Rs 1460.20.

HPCL fell 4.74 per cent to Rs 314.60 and ONGC was down 3.25 per cent to Rs 635.30. Tata Motors was down 4.39 per cent to Rs 375.30 and Maruti Udyog fell 3.57 per cent to Rs 377.75.

Volumes in the market were higher than on Wednesday, with the BSE registering a turnover of Rs 1,943.51 crore and the NSE Rs 4,596.95 crore in the cash segment.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers on Wednesday, buying shares worth Rs 52.8 crore while mutual funds sold net shares worth Rs 41.80 crore on Wednesday.