The Hindu Business Line : Autos, metals, FMCG bear brunt of bearish sentiment

The markets slumped for the third consecutive trading session, with the Sensex shedding 268 points to close at 11,647 points. Though the mid-cap and small-cap indices also ended in the red, they did not bleed as much as the Sensex and the Nifty. The market sentiment remained negative, with the advances to declines ratio at 0.75:1 in favour of the losers.

SECTOR WATCH

The autos, metals, FMCG were the sectors that bore the brunt of the bearish sentiment in the markets. These sectors shed more value than the Sensex. The other sectors that also ended in the negative territory were IT and oil and gas.

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Among the auto stocks, the big losers during the day were MRF, Tata Motors, Cummins India, Hindustan Motors and Bajaj Auto. In the metals pack, the significant losers were Essar Steel, Jindal SAW, Jindal Stainless, SAIL and Tata Steel. Some of the key losers from the FMCG stable were Britannia Industries, Dabur India, Tata Tea and Hindustan Lever. Among the IT stocks, the key losers were Infosys Technologies, Wipro, MphasiS BFL, Satyam Computers, TCS and HCL Technologies.

BUZZING STOCKS

Subex Systems appreciated by 15.6 per cent to close at Rs 633.70. The uptrend has to be seen in the light of Subex's acquisition of UK-based Azure Solutions for a consideration of $ 140 million, one of the bigger acquisitions in the software products space. Post acquisition, the company will count 23 of the world's largest 40 telecom companies.

The stock, which was riding against the trend in the metals pack was Hindustan Zinc, which appreciated by 12.4 per cent to settle at Rs 897.55.

EVENT SPECIFIC ACTION

The Biocon stock marched up by Rs 6.50 to Rs 474.3. The stock has been attracting heightened market activity and it has been upgraded to a buy by a research firm.

The IPCL stock dipped by Rs 16.50 (or 5.6 per cent) to close at Rs 269.05. The company has announced a drop in its post tax earnings for the fourth quarter. It has also announced the merger of six polyester manufacturing companies with itself.

The Dabur India stock ruled lower by 3.4 per cent to settle at Rs 131.40 with heightened trading volumes. Though the performance has been encouraging, there has been a one-time item booked in the results.

The Gujarat Gas stock ended 1.3 per cent lower at Rs 1,334.65 on the back of weak earnings for the latest quarter.

The Mahanagar Telephone Nigam stock also ended lower by 4.92 per cent to close at Rs 202.10. The decline has to be seen in the light of a 57 per cent drop in its fourth quarter post-tax earnings. The company, however, plans to transfer its real estate assets to a separate company and rent them to other companies to boost sales.

The Sun TV stock, which had a spectacular debut on Monday's trading, cooled off during the day. The stock settled 10.7 per cent lower at Rs 1,308. Godawari Power & Ispat was the latest IPO listing during the day's trading session. The stock closed at Rs 103.15.