The Hindu Business Line : Strong rupee, weak Reliance pull Sensex down

THE markets, which opened for the week on a subdued note, succumbed to the cause of the bears. Concerns on the appreciating rupee and decline in Reliance pulled the markets into the red. Frontline stocks in the IT sector registered sharp declines.

Frontline stocks in healthcare, FMCG and capital goods helped mitigate the slide in the bellwether indices. Gains in mid-cap stocks tipped the advances-declines ratio in favour of the gainers suggesting a subdued bullish sentiment.

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The BSE Sensex, which opened on a subdued note, managed to remain in the green in the initial hour of trade. However, later giving into the bears the index took a dive into the red. A rally in the closing minutes helped mitigate the declines to 56.84 points. The Nifty, which moved in-sync with the Sensex, fell by 0.13 per cent.

Banking stocks closed on a weak note. Sentiment on bank counters appeared to have turned negative following SBI's decision to raise interest rates for deposits. Vijaya Bank, Union Bank of India, Canara Bank, Bank Of India, SBI and Punjab National Bank, which lost more than 1.5 per cent, were among the prominent losers. In the private sector HDFC Bank and IndusInd Bank figured in the losers' list. Indian Overseas Bank and UTI Bank, however, bucked the trend by registering gains of 7.8 per cent and 2 per cent respectively.

Declines in frontline IT stocks pulled down the Sensex, BSE IT index and BSE Tech Index. Prominent losers in the IT space included Onward Technologies, KPIT Cummins Infosystems, Hexaware, Spanco Telesystems, NIIT Technologies and Silverline.

Healthcare stocks continued to move forward. Second rung stocks such as Aarti Drugs, Themis Medicare, Anuh Pharma, Ajanta Pharma, Strides Arcolab and Orchid Chemicals recorded gains in excess of 3 per cent.

Stock specific action

*Intense activity was recorded on Nagarjuna Construction's counter. The stock closed at Rs 300.3 recording a gain of 7.2 per cent after an announcement of having bagged orders worth Rs 520 crore from NHAI for construction of roads in Uttar Pradesh on a BOT basis.

*A two-fold rise in volumes was recorded on Hindustan Construction's counter. It closed with a 2.5 per cent gain on reports after announcements that it plans to raise $150 million (about Rs 675 crore).

*Aurobindo Pharma continued its march its way northwards. The which has gained about 20 per cent since the beginning of the New Year recoded a sharp rise in volumes. The company, however, denied media reports of it being in acquisition talks with Teva of Israel.

*Himalya International closed with a 20 per cent gain after information that the company has bagged orders worth $1.7 million (about Rs 76 crore) for canned mushrooms from a food service company in the US and developments on its cheese processing facility.

*Camlin gained 5 per cent on flat volumes after reports that the company plans to sell its property in Andheri, Mumbai for Rs 46 crore.

*Among the top gainers was Radha Madhav Corporation, which came out with an IPO in December. Activity continued to remain intense on its counter. The stock has gained about 50 per cent on its issue price.

*BEML continued its winning streak recording gains for the tenth straight day. Activity on its counter also continued to be intense. It closed with a gain of 2.7 per cent after the company reported a topline growth of 75 per cent and bottomline growth of 130 per cent. A drop in depreciation contributed to the rise in earnings.

*Market participants appeared to be unimpressed with the results of Yes Bank (down 2.7 per cent) and Television Eighteen (up 0.3 per cent).

Prominent gainers among the Nifty constituents were Jet Airways, IPCL, Dr Reddy's, Dabur, MTNL, Tata Power, Ranbaxy and BHEL. Losers included Wipro, Satyam, ICICI Bank, Maruti, and Gujarat Ambuja Cement.

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