The Hindu Business Line : Sensex crashes on a choppy day

The index opened firm at 5,793.83, about 36 points higher than the previous closing. However, during the course of the day's trading the index swung back and forth to reach an intra-day high of 5,852.96 and low of 5,567.68, registering an intra-day swing of about 285 points.

Click here for table

On the BSE, most of the indices including BSE TECk, BSE PSU, and BANKEX ended on a negative note.

On the NSE, the slightly broad-based S&P CNX Nifty fell by 54.1 points (2.97 per cent) to close at 1,770.50.

On the BSE, of the total of 2,089 stocks that were traded, 452 appreciated in value, 1,569 declined in value and the rest remained unchanged.

In the Sensex, only two out of 30 stocks - Satyam Computer and Tata Power - posted gains. Tata Power rose 2.8 per cent to Rs 361.2 while Satyam Computer rose marginally (by 0.3 per cent) to Rs 312.7.

Index heavyweights registered sharp decline in value on Thursday. The stock of Reliance Industries fell 3.3 per cent to Rs 533.2 on accompanying trade volumes of 60.9 lakh shares.

Infosys fell by 3.7 per cent to Rs 5,173.65. Hindustan Lever (3.6 per cent) and ITC (2.9 per cent) also ended the day lower.

Despite posting a net profit of Rs 210.9 crore during the quarter ended December 2003, about 100 per cent jump over the corresponding previous quarter, Tata Motors fell by 9.1 per cent to Rs 416.8.

Other key losers of the index include Bajaj Auto (9.1 per cent), Tata Steel (5.6 per cent), Hindalco (4.2 per cent), Hero Honda (5.4 per cent), ACC (4.3 per cent), BSES (4.7 per cent) and Zee Telefilms (5.7 per cent).

The stock of Alstom Projects rose 3.3 per cent to Rs 100.1. This has to be seen in light of the Rs 500-crore order bagged by its parent, Alstom, to build a 228 MW combined-cycle power plant for GVK Industries in Andhra Pradesh.

Alstom Projects has a share of about Rs 240 crore in this project.

The Vijaya Bank scrip rose 4.4 per cent to Rs 49.1. This has to be seen in light of the good earnings growth registered in the recently concluded quarter.

The company posted a net profit of Rs 110.1 crore, compared to Rs 52.6 crore in the corresponding previous period. Total income grew by 27.4 per cent to Rs 627.3 crore.

The stock of VSNL rose 4.4 per cent to Rs 162.65 on the back of good earnings number in the recently concluded quarter.

The company posted a net profit of Rs 180.9 crore, over 100 per cent growth from the corresponding previous period.

The stock of Indian Aluminium Company fell by 1.8 per cent to Rs 160.

The company has registered a four per cent drop in its earnings in the recently concluded quarter.

Several bank stocks including State Bank of India, Vijaya Bank, and UCO Bank registered large trading volumes.

Other stocks that registered large trading volumes include SAIL, GAIL, Tata Steel, IFCI, Alka India, GTL, Zee Telefilms, Tata Power, Maruti Udyog, Reliance Capital, JCT, Essar Shipping, Polaris, and Bharti Tele-Ventures.