The Hindu Business Line : Sensex sulks on global gloom

THE stocks markets witnessed another round of corrective phase on Thursday as heavy selling by investors resulted in the indices recording losses for the second consecutive session.

The Sensex, which has gained over 1,000 points in the last one month, got hammered for the second consecutive day, as it slipped by 195.8 points. The broader Nifty also came for a sharp correction and ended the day with a loss of 65.2 points.

The markets opened the day on a negative note and remained highly volatile. Weakness in global markets on concerns of a possible slowdown in the US economy compounded the bearish sentiment. There was across-the-board selling that dragged the markets down. Reliance Industries, the nation's biggest non-state-run company, fell Rs 11.1, or 1.3 per cent, to Rs 790.8. ITC, the country's biggest cigarette maker, slid Rs 3.75, or 2.9 per cent, to Rs 127.80.

ICICI Bank, Tata Steel, Wipro and Hindalco were also sharply down. Other frontline stocks that took a beating were SAIL, HDFC, Tata Power, ACC, Bharti Televentures and SBI.

Bears appeared to have taken full charge of the markets. The advances to decline ratio at 0.3 was tilted heavily in favour of the declining stocks. While the Sensex closed at 8528.7, the Nifty settled at 2579.2.

Among the mid-cap space, Indiabulls and Sesa Goa were down by 8.2 and 7.8 per cent respectively. Spicejet, Pantaloon Retail, Cranes Software and Jindal Stainless also succumbed to the bear attack.

Significant losers in the small-cap category were Madhucon Projects, India Infoline, SREI Infrastructure and CCL Products.

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IT stocks which could withstand the market pressure on Wednesday, failed to sustain the momentum. Stocks of Wipro, TCS, Cranes Software, HCL Technologies, Polaris, Infosys, Satyam and iGate came for heavy bouts of selling. Few of those, which managed to negate the trend, were Allsec Technologies, Scandent Solutions and i-flex.

Metals stocks were the worst hit during the day's trading. Heavy profit-booking by investors in the stocks of SAIL, Nalco, Ispat, Maharashtra Seamless, Kalyani Steels, Essar Steel, Mukand and Gujarat NRE Coke dragged them into negative territory. The BSE Metal index underperformed the other sectoral indices with a loss of 3.9 per cent.

Banking stocks put up yet another day of poor show. Kotak Bank led the losers' pack with a loss of 5.6 per cent followed by ICICI Bank, which slid 4.5 per cent.

HDFC Bank, Bank of India, Canara Bank, Allahabad Bank, Punjab National Bank, UTI Bank and Indian Overseas Bank also ended weak.

In sync with the broader market, auto stocks also witnessed a significant slide. There was heavy selling activity across the counters of Ashok Leyland, Bajaj Auto, TVS Motor, Hero Honda and Maruti. Hindustan Motors and MRF, however, closed with marginal gains.

Indian Oil led refiners higher after a decline in crude prices raised expectations of reduced losses from selling fuel below cost to insulate consumers from the surge in oil prices. The stock added Rs 20.8 or 4.6 per cent at close.

BPCL, HPCL, Hindustan Oil Exploration, Petronet LNG and Kochi Refineries also ended on a positive note.

On a day marked by weakness, most stocks in the pharmaceutical sector managed to record healthy doses of gains. Dr Reddy's and Ranbaxy were top gainers among the heavyweights.

Glenmark Pharma, Abbott India and Matrix Labs also netted handsome gains. Dabur Pharma, Merck, Elder Pharma and Aventis Pharma ended in the red.

Among the Nifty constituents, key losers were Alok Industries, Arvind Mills, Berger Paints, Era Constructions, Gammon India, GE Shipping, IVRCL,

M&M, L&T, Monsanto, Siemens, Thomas Cook, Titan, VSNL, Visaka Industries and Timex.

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