The Hindu Business Line : Weather worries down markets

Triggered by the sharp fall in key index heavyweight stocks, the benchmark BSE Sensex closed the second trading day on a negative note. The index fell by 50.69 points (1.03 per cent).

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The index opened firm at 4911.22 points, about 12 points higher than the previous day's closing. However, it steadily declined after that and reached the day's low of 4835.34 points. Sensex closed at 4848.30 points.

Barring BSE TECk and BANKEX most of the indices on the BSE closed the day on a negative note.

On the NSE, the S&P CNX Nifty fell by 1.08 per cent to 1522.75 points. After a steady decline in the trading volumes since the introduction of transaction tax, trading volumes on the NSE surged on Wednesday. About 24 crore shares were traded on the NSE, as against 16.2 crore shares on the previous day.

On the Sensex, seven stocks advanced, 22 stocks declined and one stock remained unchanged. On the BSE, of the total 1,828 stocks, 924 appreciated in value, 807 logged declines and the rest remain unchanged.

Among the index heavyweights, Infosys Technologies was the lone gainer. This should be seen in light of the company's earnings performance, which beat the market expectations, in the recently concluded quarter.

The stock of Reliance Industries fell by 2.9 per cent to Rs 417.95; ITC fell by 3.5 per cent to Rs 1,009.25.

The stock of Hero Honda fell by 3.7 per cent to Rs 450.55. After the close of the day's trading, the company announced that its motorcycle sales during June 2004 were up by 32.8 per cent, over the corresponding period of the previous year.

Other key losers among the Sensex constituents include ONGC (2.1 per cent), Bajaj Auto (3.1 per cent) BHEL (3 per cent), Dr Reddy's Labs (2.1 per cent) and Zee Telefilms (2.5 per cent).

Stocks and news

UTI Bank posted a net profit of Rs 70.7 crore for the quarter ended June, a 35 per cent increase over the corresponding period of the previous year. The stock rose 4 per cent to Rs 126.3.

Exide Industries posted a net profit of Rs 18.4 crore, a 32.7 per cent growth over the corresponding period of the previous year. The stock rose 3.1 per cent to Rs 126.8.

Dewan Housing Finance plans to raise funds through an issue of shares on rights basis. The stock rose 1.7 per cent to Rs 30.

Gulf Oil Corporation plans to buy back its shares from odd lot shareholders of the company. Coupled with sharp increase in trading volumes, the stock rose by 1.4 per cent to Rs 80.65.

Xpro India is to consider a joint venture with a Biaxially Oriented Polypropylene (BOPP) manufacturer. It is also to consider sale/transfer of a company's undertaking that makes BOPP to the joint venture company. The stock rose by 4.9 per cent to Rs 27.8.

The stocks that witnessed sharp appreciation include Essar Steel (13 per cent), Nahar Spinning (11.2 per cent), Dishman Pharma (9.5 per cent), Elgi Equipment (9.5 per cent), Opto Circuit (9.3 per cent), Tata Finance (8.9 per cent) and Allahabad Bank (7.3 per cent).

The stock of Mastek edged up marginally by 0.5 per cent to Rs 275.1, after it posted a flat growth in earnings in the recently concluded quarter. The net profits during the quarter ended June 2004 was Rs 6.9 crore as against Rs 6.7 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

The stock of Kochi Refineries fell by 3.4 per cent to Rs 153.8. The company's net profit during the quarter ended June declined by 9.6 per cent to Rs 153.1 crore, over the corresponding previous period.