The Hindu Business Line : Sensex falls 2nd straight day; select bank stocks up

The markets saw a fall for the second consecutive session on Wednesday, as investors sought to take advantage of the historic high levels of the indices by resorting to profit booking. The Sensex closed at 13072.51 points, a drop of 84 points compared to its finish on Tuesday; the Nifty settled lower by 21.45 points at 3773.0 points. Select stocks in the banking space perked up on what was otherwise a day of bearish price movements.

The correction could have been far steeper if not for the rally that kicked in with under an hour left for trading to end. At that stage, the index was trading almost 200 points below its close on Tuesday; the recovery thereafter was aided by a smart pullback in ICICI Bank. The undertone of trading was distinctly negative, with two stocks declining for every stock that advanced on the BSE. All but two of the sectoral indices of the BSE ended the day in the red.

Index stocks

Reliance led the fall among index stocks, shedding over 3 per cent during the day's trade to end at Rs 1,252. The cool off in the price has to be seen in the context of the rather strong showing of the stock in the recent past. Further, the stock also had its rating downgraded by brokerage house Kotak Securities. ITC, HDFC and Bajaj Auto were the other stocks that contributed the most to the fall in the Sensex.

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On the positive side, Infosys moved up 1 per cent to end at Rs 2,126. The company has received approval for its sponsored secondary offering, which is likely to lead to its inclusion in the Nasdaq 100. Other key gainers included State Bank of India, HDFC Bank and Wipro. On the Nifty, stocks such as Suzlon Energy and ABB posted moderate gains.

Buzzing stocks

The stock of Hyderabad Industries hit the upper circuit at 20 per cent to close at Rs 297.2. The move was accompanied by a more than 25-fold jump in trading volumes, which were close to seven lakh shares on Wednesday.

GEI Hamon Industries was up about 12 per cent on the back of news that it had bagged a Rs 30-crore order from for supply of equipment intended for use by LNG Petronet.

Falcon Tyres was another stock that moved up smartly by 10 per cent to end at Rs 118.75. The Securities and Exchange Board of India has passed an order directing Wealth Sea Pte to make a public offer to the company's shareholders.

Volume gainers

Stocks that recorded an upward move on the back of a sharp jump in volumes on the BSE included Anant Raj Industries, Onward Technologies, Dalmia Cement and Maharashtra Seamless.

Other gainers and losers

Other prominent gainers on the BSE included Lakshmi Machine Works, Ramco Industries, 3M India, Shree Cement, Container Corporation, Alfa Laval, CMC, Procter & Gamble and BL Kashyap and Sons.

Important stocks that shed value included MRF, Madras Cements, Sesa Goa, BF Utilities, Divi's Labs, Ansal Properties, Sanghvi Movers and Financial Technologies.