The Hindu Business Line : Auto stocks in reverse gear; metal scrips lose sheen

AFTER a brief respite rally on Tuesday, markets slipped back to negative territory on Wednesday. The Sensex ended on a weak note and closed at 7974.7 points — a decline of 0.2 per cent. Earlier in the day, the Sensex managed an intra-day high of 8,048, but failed to sustain. Corporate results declared during the day could not impress the markets. In the broader markets, the S&P CNX Nifty fell 0.4 per cent to 2408.5. The bank indices at NSE and BSE made marginal gains, while mid-caps stayed out of rally.

Uncertainty in FII inflows appeared to drag the overall sentiment. FIIs were net sellers to the extent of Rs 132 crore on October 22.

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In the basket of BSE 30, Ranbaxy Laboratories, Grasim Industries and Cipla traded in positive territory. Grasim Industries rose sharply by 3.6 per cent to Rs 1,153, despite fall in the group's second quarter profits by 6.5 per cent. Auto stocks dominated the list of losers in the Sensex. Tata Power, NTPC and Dr. Reddy's Laboratories also closed in the red.

The southbound journey of metal stocks was further accelerated by Ispat Industries' loss for the latest quarter. Tata Steel's 12.5 per cent growth in second quarter profits failed to impress as the stock declined one per cent to Rs 347. Kalyani Steel, Hindustan Zinc and Jindal Saw, however, closed in the green.

Pharma stocks saw a mixed trend with plenty of news in the sector. Ranbaxy gained close to four per cent after losing in the last few trading sessions as a result of disappointing quarterly performance. Glenmark Pharmaceuticals announced its acquisition of Servycal SA of Argentina. The stock rose 1.7 per cent to Rs 297.5. Orchid Chemicals, Aarti Drugs and Zandu Pharmaceutical followed broad market sentiments and closed in the red.

Auto stocks appeared to have taken the reverse gear on Wednesday. Tata Motors fell by 4.2 per cent to Rs 498. Maruti Udyog shed Rs 11 to Rs 548. Hero Honda and Bajaj Auto also joined the losers' bandwagon. Mahindra & Mahindra managed to reverse the trend, backed by a 28-per cent increase in its second-quarter profits. The stock gained about one per cent to Rs 464.

Post-trading announcements

Larsen & Toubro announced the sale of its glass unit to Ace Glass Containers. The sale would mark the exit of L&T from the packaging business.

Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Company announced a 90 per cent increase in its net income for the quarter ended September.

HDFC, Tata Tea and Moser Baer were prominent gainers among the Nifty constituents. SAIL, Dabur and IFCI were conspicuous by their declines.

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Auto stocks in reverse gear; metal scrips lose sheen