The Hindu Business Line : Markets buckle under selling pressure

In spite of positive cues from the US and Asian markets, the Sensex succumbed to selling pressure, shedding 25 points to close marginally below 11,700.

Thursday, being the expiry day for the F&O contracts for August 2006, also witnessed a volatile session with selling witnessed across the board.

Among the index heavyweights, Tata Steel, Gujarat Ambuja Cements and Reliance Communications were the prominent losers.

Small caps, metals, oil and gas and consumer durables were the major losers for the day. Selective buying was seen in FMCG, auto and banking.

The market breadth was clearly in the favour of the bears, with two stocks declining for every one that advanced.

However, FIIs remained net buyers to the tune of Rs 265.53 crore, according to provisional data.

Buzzing Stocks

Nestle India gained six per cent on renewed buying interest. The other prominent gainers were Apollo Tyres, Finolex Cables, iGate Global Solutions, Nitco Tiles and Dalmia Cements.

Sector Focus

Stocks in the TV broadcaster space lost on news that TRAI has placed a ceiling of Rs 5 per pay channel per subscriber per month in its tariff order prescribing rates for pay channels in CAS areas. Zee Telefilms dipped by 4.7 per cent, NDTV lost 2.8 per cent while TV18 closed with a loss of 7.1 per cent.

Housing finance firms saw some action after it was announced that home loans had seen strong growth in the last year.

Some of the counters that surged in this space were Dewan Housing Finance, LIC Housing Finance, GIC Housing Finance and Canfin Homes.

Oil and gas stocks recorded losses for the day. BPCL, GAIL and HPCL moved southwards. Concerns on rising oil prices due to possible supply disruptions in Iran triggered losses in the sector.

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Metals continued to lose for the second consecutive day. SAIL recorded a loss of 3.6 per cent while Tata Steel and Sesa Goa lost close to two per cent each.

Selling was seen across airline stocks too. Jagson Airlines shed 8.7 per cent, Jet Airways 3.5 per cent and SpiceJet 1.2 per cent.

Stock-specific action

Voltas continued its winning streak on Thursday, recording an intra-day gain of 6.7 per cent. The stock saw high volumes owing to the forthcoming stock split.

The company recently partnered with the Netherlands-based Beselling group to deliver turnkey solutions for storage of horticulture produce.

PSL surged two per cent on having bagged a contract worth $21 million from Reliance Ports and Terminals for anti-corrosion and weight concrete pipe coating.

Crest Animation Studios gained 2.4 per cent after the company and its subsidiary, RichCrest Holdings, secured $40-million financing.

Aurion Pro Solutions touched an all-time high on news that the company intends to acquire 100 per cent control in US-based Coban Corporation in an all-cash deal. The stock later closed with an intra-day loss of 2.8 per cent.

Gainers and Losers

Some of the other gainers were ING Vysya, ITC, Motherson Sumi Systems and Gujarat Ambuja Exports, while Hinduja TMT, Rajesh Exports, Bombay Rayon and Kalyani Steel were some that declined.

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