The Hindu Business Line : Indices tumble on across-the-board selling

THE markets lost further ground on Tuesday with the bears taking complete charge of the bourses. The Sensex fell by 134.6 points to close at 7,615.9. With this fall, the benchmark index has lost about four per cent from the all-time highs made last week.

The trading session began with some cautious optimism, which carried the Sensex to an intra-day high of 7,770.8. The optimism was soon reversed and profit booking set in with full force and continued till the end of the trading session.

Click here for table

Across-the-board selling behaviour was reflected in the declines overtaking the advances by 5.5 times. The S&P CNX Nifty lost 41.7 points or 1.8 per cent to close at 2,326.

While the sensitive index slid by 1.7 per cent, the mid-cap and small-cap stocks were the worst hit, with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices witnessing declines of 2.3 per cent and 3.2 per cent respectively.

Impending domestic oil price hike and slowdown of FII inflows added to the gloomy market sentiment. FIIs bought stocks valued $33 million last week compared to $164 million in the week ended August 12.

The bears invaded almost all the sectors and across various categories. The basket of BSE-30 (Sensex) managed to salvage just two out of the 30 stocks while the rest were swept away by selling pressures.

ITC and Tata Motors weathered the bear challenges and ended on a flat note. Ranbaxy led the pack of losers among the heavyweight stocks, followed by Bajaj Auto, Gujarat Ambuja Cements, and ICICI Bank. Reports of L&T's aggressive plan to expand its overseas business failed to impress the market; the stock lost about three per cent to end at Rs 1,285.

Banking stocks were hit hard with the BSE Bankex declining by more than two per cent. Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank were some of the significant losers.

Auto stocks moved in line with the market sentiment and ended on a weak note, with declines ranging from 2-4 per cent. Mahindra & Mahindra and Bajaj Auto bore the brunt of the attack on the sector with declines of about four per cent each. Ucal Fuel Systems and MRF, however, proved to be exceptions. While the former surged by 8.7 per cent to close at Rs 251, MRF made smart gains of about 5.5 per cent.

Pharma stocks succumbed meekly to the market sentiment with frontline and mid-cap stocks encountering all-round profit taking. In the mid-cap space, Morepen Laboratories was the worst hit with a decline of 9.5 per cent to Rs 10.23. Elder Pharmaceuticals and Kopran also lost significantly.

The bull run in the construction sector came to a halt; most of the prominent players witnessed selling pressure. Nagarjuna Construction lost Rs 57 to close at Rs 1,065 despite announcement of fresh order books yesterday.

IVRCL Infrastructures and Madhucon Projects also stayed out of rally. Gammon India and Hindustan Construction, however, managed to make marginal gains of about one per cent.

In the oil and gas space, Reliance Industries fell by two per cent to close at Rs 685.20. The stock had gained 30 per cent since May 2005. ONGC and Gujarat Gas were other significant losers. Indraprastha Gas managed to hold ground and made a gain of 3.4 per cent.

Stock-specific action

Dishman Pharmaceuticals & Chemicals added Rs 51 or 7.3 per cent to close at Rs 749.3. The company plans to split its shares.

HCL Technologies announced a decline in profits in its fourth quarter ended June 2005. The stock declined 2.7 per cent to Rs 435.

Federal Bank plans to sell two crore global depository receipts to raise funds to expand its lending. The stock remained flat at Rs 183.

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Does economy need the bull run?

Reliance Capital to buy 14.96% stake in Spanco for Rs 32.2 cr

Bear domination

Sensex sheds 134 on profit-booking

Color Chips rises on valuation

Prime Property sizzles

Patel Engg promoters offload 10% stake — Fidelity, ICICI Mutual buyers

Internet trading of stocks yet to take off

`Sheer value buying may be a difficult proposition'

Indices tumble on across-the-board selling