The Hindu Business Line : Markets end flat after volatile session

The markets ended flat after a volatile session on the last trading day of F&O expiry with the benchmark index, the Sensex shedding 13.35 points to close at 13,864.34.

Taking cues from global markets, the Sensex opened strong and was very active for the first hour of the trading session. For the rest of the trading session, markets moved in a narrow band. A gain of 387 points in the two trading sessions induced profit-booking at higher levels. Majority of the stocks in Sensex and Nifty closed in the red. The broader market Nifty shed 3.7 points to close at 3,970.55.

Declining stocks outnumbered the advances in the ratio of 1.1:1. Most of the sectoral indices closed in the red, except FMCG, capital goods, bankex and auto.

New Listing

Ess Dee Aluminium listed on Thursday, opened strong at Rs 260 and 61.71 lakh shares changed hands. The stock ended the day at Rs 238.4. Another stock, XL Telecom, which listed on Thursday, hit an intra-day high of Rs 177.1 before closing at Rs 136.

Buzzing stocks

Shree Renuka Sugars surged and hit the upper circuit filter on the back of news that the board of directors of the company approved the issue of 6 crore, 9-per cent cumulative redeemable preference shares of Rs 10 each with a tenure of three years, aggregating to Rs 60 crore on private placement basis.

Other prominent stocks active on a flat trading session were HTMT, FDC, Ramco Systems, BPCL, Rolta and iGate Global Solutions.

Sector focus

There was some active trading in banking stocks; Bank of India gained the most by Rs 10 to close at Rs 205.3. HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce and Federal Bank were the other gainers in the banking space. Allahabad Bank led the losers with UTI Bank, Vijaya Bank and Canara Bank closing in the red.

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Auto stocks were in forward gear. Ashok Leyland gained 3.1 per cent. Other gainers in the space were TVS Motors, Bharat Forge, Kirloskar Oil Engine and Hero Honda. The stocks in reverse gear were Sundram Fasteners, Amtek Auto and Punjab Tractors.

Capital goods

The capital goods sector was among the losers on Thursday's trading with ABB shedding the most. The stock lost Rs 31 to end the day at Rs 3,579.3. Bharat Electronics, Siemens and Alstom Projects all lost 1-2 per cent. BEML, Praj Industries, Gammon India and Alfa Laval were gainers in the list.

Stock-specific action

Lupin added 2 per cent on the back of news that the company and Cornerstone Biopharma, which entered into an agreement to co-develop an anti-infective for the US market, have now mutually agreed to end the co-development agreement. The company, however, plans to continue the product development programme and will seek a partner to market to primary care physicians in the US market.

Hindustan Construction Company announced that it bagged an EPC contract estimated at Rs 275 crore from National Highways Authority of India. The stock gained Rs 2.9 to Rs 147.4

Ansal Housing and Construction has approved the placement of equity shares of the company to the QIBs for an overall amount not exceeding Rs 150 crore . The stock shed 0.80 per cent to Rs 353.

Gainers and Losers

Followed by Zee Telefilms, Gujarat Ambuja Cements, HCL Technologies, TCS and Jaiprakash Associates were winners in the Nifty. Prominent losers were VSNL, Suzlon Energy, Sun Pharma, SBI and GAIL.