The Hindu Business Line : High volatility, profit-taking drag indices

IT was yet another black Monday on the bourses as markets recorded a significant slide. High volatility amidst profit-booking by investors dragged the indices down. The benchmark Sensex shed 171 points to close at 9085.9, its biggest drop since October 27. The Nifty also witnessed a sharp decline of 55 points to close at 2749.6.

Extending last week's losses, markets opened on a bearish note and soon came under heavy selling pressure. Amidst concern that holiday season in the US and Europe might slowdown FII activity, equities witnessed a significant cool-off. The breadth of the market was largely negative; as many as 1,076 declined while only 207 managed to end in positive territory on the BSE. Banking sector stocks were the worst hit. The BSE BANKEX was an under-performer among sectoral indices with a loss of 3.2 per cent. On the National Stock Exchange, the Bank Nifty slid by three per cent.

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Steel stocks came under pressure following reports that the Ministry of Mining is said to be against captive mining of iron ore by steel makers. SAIL, Jindal Stainless, Jindal Saw ended in the red. Tata Steel, however, remained resilient, ending the day with marginal gains.

There was widespread selling across the counters of frontline stocks. Bharti Tele-ventures was a prominent loser, as it slipped by 5.2 per cent. Closely following were Gujarat Ambuja, Grasim, Tata Power, ICICI Bank, Reliance Energy, ACC and BHEL.

Bajaj Auto, HDFC Bank, Satyam, HLL, Hindalco, Maruti, NTPC and Reliance also lost steam.

In sync with the large-cap stocks, small-cap and mid-cap stocks exhibited a high degree of weakness. In the mid-cap space, Television Eighteen and NDTV recorded sharp losses. The stocks closed 9.3 per cent and 7.9 per cent lower respectively.

Among small-caps, GTN Textiles led the losers' pack, recording a slide of 24.2 per cent. MSK Projects, Nahar Industries, Mawana Sugars, Vishal Exports, Man Industries and Rana Sugars were among others that came for bearish onslaught.

A majority of FMCG and pharmaceutical stocks also wilted under market pressure. Prominent losers included Shaw Wallace, Ruchi Infrastructure, McDowell, Venus Remedies, Nicholas Piramal, Matrix Lab, Ajanta Pharma, Novaris and Dishman Pharma.

Oil and energy stocks also failed to fuel the market sentiment. Profit-booking across the counters of Hindustan Oil Exploration, Chennai Petroleum GAIL, HPCL, BPCL, IBP, IOC and ONGC resulted in stocks ending lower.

IT stocks which were plagued by lacklustre trading during the previous session continued to sport a bearish outlook. Polaris, Four Soft, Helios and Matheson, Hexaware and Rolta India were among those that bore the brunt.

Auto and auto-ancillary stocks put up a disappointing performance. TVS Motor was a prominent loser, whose stock declined by 5.5 per cent. Asahi India, M&M, Ashok Leyland, CEAT, Escorts and Apollo Tyres were among others that were hammered by the bears. Scooters India, however, was a star performer in this space whose stock notched up by 9.9 per cent.

Stock-specific action:

ICSA India rose by Rs 6.6 or one per cent after the builder of electricity transmission lines said it won an order worth $140 million from Sudan's National Electricity Corp to design and build 514 km of lines.

Sundaram Fasteners added 2.7 per cent after the maker of auto parts said it will buy the German-based Peiner Umformtechnik to expand its sales in Europe.

Other notable losers on the National stock Exchange included Arvind Mills, Aegis Logistics, Balaji Telefilms, Berger Paints, Emco Industries, Gammon India, GE Shipping, Nelco, PBA Infrastructure, Suzlon Energy, Thermax, Tube Investments and VSNL.