The Hindu Business Line : Bearish trend continues to hit sentiment

THE undertone in the markets was distinctly bearish during the day's trading, with both the BSE Sensex and the S&P CNX Nifty ending in the negative territory. The Sensex closed at 6183.24 points, down 76.81 points and the Nifty declined 16.3 points at 1902.9 points.

The mood in the market was cautious, with high crude oil prices weighing on sentiment.The Sensex opened at 6201.60 points, touched a high of 6215.78 early in the trading session, before falling steadily to dip to a low of 6086.73 points. Among the Sensex constituents, only 7 advanced while 23 declined. The weak trend in the markets was also evident from the advances, which lagged the declines. Of 2,315 stocks traded, 822 advanced in value while 1,431 stocks logged declines.

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Select stocks from the metals, FMCG, healthcare and consumer durables sectors recorded gains while a few in the banking, capital goods and technology fell.

In the Nifty, 21 stocks advanced in value while 29 registered a decline.

Among the Nifty, the significant gainers were Dabur, Maruti Udyog, Satyam Computer, Hindustan Lever and Punjab National Bank. The losers were Hero Honda, Wipro, HDFC Bank, Tata Power and L&T.

Outside the benchmark indices, the significant gainers were LG Balakrishna Bros, Sesa Goa, Man Industries, MRPL, UTI Bank and Everest Industries. The Sesa Goa stock flared up 10 per cent to close at Rs 1,134.60. The trading volumes also shot up from 91,560 shares on Thursday's trading to 3.45 lakh shares during the day. The rise in the stock price of this private iron-ore exporter has to be seen in the light of a strong earnings performance expected on January 25.

The Man Industries stock appreciated Rs 8.10 to settle at Rs 102.65, accompanied by robust trading volumes. There was a three-fold jump in volumes from 1.63 lakh shares on Thursday to 5.31 lakh shares. The rise has to be seen in the light of orders worth Rs 542 crore bagged for supply of SAW pipes from the West Asia.

Barring UTI Bank and SBI, majority of banking stocks fell. The UTI Bank rose by 7.13 per cent to close at Rs 205.05, with heightened trading volumes.

The MRPL stock was another prominent gainer, appreciating 6.82 per cent to close at 50.10. There was a four-fold rise in trading volumes, as the company announced a sharp rise in third quarter net profits.

Notable losers were Mukta Arts, Matrix Laboratories, IDBI, India Cements, Chennai Petroleum, Polaris and Kesoram Industries.

The stock of Matrix Laboratories plunged 15 per cent to Rs 169.10. This has to be seen in the light of the drug makers' announcement of a decline in third quarter profits by 23 per cent.Following the announcement of the merger ratio between IDBI and IDBI Bank, the IDBI stock declined by 7.01 per cent to close at Rs 110.1. However, the IDBI Bank stock rose to Rs 74.05.

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