Sensex swings 366 pts

Index ends 157 pts lower as rumour mills work overtime.

The Sensex on Friday gyrated in a range of 366 points, setting a record at 11,930.66 points in early trade before dropping as much as 1.34 per cent to a day's low of 11,564.99 points " a drop of 157.46 points compared with its previous closing.

Friday's 366 point swing was the eighth highest swing in absolute terms in Sensex history. However, in percentage terms, the volatility was relatively moderate at 3.16 per cent.

The National Stock Exchange's 50-stock Nifty, which posted a new all-time high of 3,555.50 but faltered to a low of 3,445.90 in intra-day trades, settled at 3,454.80 points, recording a 56.10-point or 1.6 per cent loss.

In the process, the market suffered one of its worst setbacks in recent months as equities, with the exception of a few blue chip stocks, came under tremendous selling pressure.

In early trade, the Sensex zoomed owing to an impressive show by information technology, capital goods and metal stocks.

FMCG stocks joined the bandwagon soon and just when it appeared that the 12,000-point mark was well within its reach, the Sensex took a turn down south amid rumours that the Securities and Exchange Board of India had banned 11 foreign institutional investors from participating in the market.

Then, after Sebi came out with a denial of that report, a few blue chip stocks regained some lost ground and joined cement majors ACC, Grasim Industries and Gujarat Ambuja Cements, information technology bellwether Infosys Technologies and a few metal scrips in guiding the market along the recovery path. But, with investors turning out heavy sellers and scared of building up positions, it resulted in a highly negative close for the market on Friday.

Interestingly, the consumer durables index, which had gone down by over 3.2 per cent at one stage, ended with a 0.93 per cent gain on Friday.

The metal index, up 0.65 per cent, was the only other gainer among the sectoral indices. The BSE IT index fell 0.94 per cent. At 3.13 per cent, the Bankex turned out to be the most prominent loser.

The FMCG and health care indices lost nearly 2.5 per cent each while PSU, oil and gas, automobile and teck indices lost between 1.2 per cent and 1.9 per cent. The capital goods index managed to restrict its loss to just half-a-per cent.

The BSE mid-cap index went down by 1.43 per cent on Friday and even the small-cap index finished the day with a loss of nearly a per cent. The market breadth, which was positive till around noon, weakened considerably as the session progressed and in the end, declines outnumbered advances by nearly 3 to 2 on the Bombay Stock Exchange on Friday.

Friday's slide on the bourses happened on the back of huge volumes. The BSE clocked a turnover of Rs 6,633 crore, much higher than Wednesday's Rs 4,808 crore. The turnover on the NSE, at Rs 13,002.72 crore, was higher than Wednesday's turnover of Rs 9,174 crore.

Cement major ACC ended with an impressive gain of 5.85 per cent to Rs 887.15. Gujarat Ambuja Cements finished at Rs 108.20, gaining 1.25 per cent, while Grasim Industries notched up 1.4 per cent at Rs 2,199.6.

Infosys Technologies, which touched a new high of Rs 3,400 on reports that the company's board would consider a bonus issue when it meets next Friday to announce its quarterly results, came down sharply to settle at Rs 3,166, but still managed to gain 1.66 per cent.

Satyam Computers closed with a 4.8 per cent loss at Rs 816.55. Tata Motors, HDFC Bank, Ranbaxy Laboratories, ICICI Bank and Wipro ended lower by 3 per cent-3.7 per cent. Cipla lost 2.9 per cent as it closed at Rs 723.45.

State Bank of India, Hindustan Lever, Hero Honda, ITC and Maruti Udyog declined by around 2.5 per cent-2.8 per cent.

Bharti Tele-Ventures lost by 2.35 per cent to Rs 408.20. Tata Consultancy Services (down 2.1 per cent), Dr Reddy's Laboratories (down 1.7 per cent), Reliance Energy (down 1.65 per cent), Bajaj Auto (down 1.4 per cent), ONGC (down 1 per cent), HDFC (down 0.95 per cent) and Reliance Industries (down 0.8 per cent) also closed on a weak note.

Hindustan Zinc, which hit a high of Rs 663.10 on talks of a price hike, closed with an impressive gain of 18.55 per cent at Rs 654.95. Raipur Alloys rose 10 per cent at Rs 115.65. Deccan Gold, Sterlite Industries, Binani Industries, Jai Corporation, JSW Steel, Nalco and Bhushan Steel were the other gainers in the metal index.

Friday's 366-point swing was the eighth highest in absolute terms in Sensex history. But in percentage terms, the volatility was relatively moderate at 3.16 per cent.