The Hindu Business Line : Tech, FMCG stocks bear brunt of bearish sentiment

The markets had a restless day on the penultimate day of the current month derivatives, with no big news flowing in for either bulls nor bears. Across the globe the markets moved in similar fashion. Japan's central bank raised its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points on Wednesday. The benchmark Nikkei closed down. With the sentiment being cautious the Sensex shed 64.9 points to close at 14,188.49. Mid-caps remained flat but some buying emerged in the small-caps. The Nifty lost 10.7 points to close at 4,096.2.

The breadth of the markets skewed towards the declines with 1,513 stocks closing in the red against 1,079 that advanced. Among the sectors, metal, consumer durables and auto closed in the green, while IT and FMCG bore the brunt of the bearish sentiment in the markets.

Buzzing Stocks

On a dull day, Sintex Industries surged 5.3 per cent on the back of news that the company won an order worth of Rs 750 crore. The company and the Gujarat Urban Development Company, have entered into an agreement for the construction of 50,000 EWS quarters in Ahmedabad, Baroda, Rajkot and Surat. Out of the 30 stocks in the Sensex basket, 15 stocks advanced. Hero Honda, which added 3.28 per cent, led the pack of gainers followed by Tata Steel, Bharti Airtel, HDFC and Gujarat Ambuja Cements. In the mid-cap space, AstraZeneca Pharma gained the most followed by NDTV, TV 18, Yes Bank and Everest Kanto Cylinder.

Sector Focus

After a steep correction, the metal stocks appear to be in consolidation mode. Jindal Stainless Steel surged 3.0 per cent; Tata Steel which was in sideways after the Corus deal found support and added value to the overnight tally. SAIL and Hindalco were the other gainers from the space. Hindustan Zinc, Sterlite Industries and Jindal Saw were the prominent losers.

Value buying emerged in the auto sector with Hero Honda, Sundram Fasteners, Exide Industries and Escorts gaining. Ashok Leyland led the loser's pack with a loss of 3 per cent to the previous close followed by Amtek Auto and MRF.

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In the BSE sectoral indices, the IT sector was the biggest loser. Satyam Computer shed 3.2 per cent and other frontline stocks such as Infosys Technologies, i-flex and TCS closed in the red. Wipro and HCL Technology registered gains.

The FMCG sector, which has been under pressure close to a year, lost again on the back of HLL reporting slowdown in the sales growth. Bata India, P&G, Colgate Palmolive were the prominent losers. However, Dabur, Tata Tea and Britannia Industries bucked the trend to close in green.

Stock-specific action

SKF India has announced unaudited results for the quarter ended December 31, 2006.The company has posted a net profit of Rs 31.7 crore compared with Rs 10 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2005. The stock surged 3.58 per cent to Rs 311.7.

Deccan Chronicle Holdings has informed that the board of directors of the company at its meeting has considered and approved the launch of the Bangalore edition of the newspaper. However, the news failed to cheer the market participant as the stock shed Rs 20 to Rs 850.

Gainers and Losers

Aptech, Nucleus Software, Thiru Arooran Sugars, Navneet Publication and Lupin were the prominent gainers in the Nifty. GAIL, Ranbaxy, Jet Airways, BHEL and Tata Power were among the losers.

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