The Hindu Business Line : Global concerns weaken benchmarks

Markets opened weak by taking cues from the global peers. Sensex tumbled at the opening bell by shedding 288 points and further selling pressure dragged the markets. Right from the start the bears dominated the entire session.

During the mid-session, it appeared that a recovery was in the offing but it was short-lived. The final hour sell-off brought the bellwether index to the day's low. However, the Sensex managed to close above the day's low, thanks to the average of final 30 minutes. The Sensex closed the day by shedding 453.36 points or 3.4 per cent to 12,529.62. The broader markets Nifty witnessed the same fate by losing 129 points or 3.43 per cent to close at 3,638.5.

The mid- and small-cap indices bettered the bellwether by losing 2 per cent and 1.7 per cent respectively. Bearish sentiment was clearly visible in the advances/declines ratio with 1,770 shares declining while 742 stocks advanced. Majority of the BSE sectoral indices closed in red with banking bearing the brunt of the markets along with software, capital goods and FMCG. In the Sensex basket barring the Bajaj Auto and Gujarat Ambuja Cements others were hammered down without a breather. However, a few stocks that managed to gain were iGate Global Solutions, India Cements, Coromandel Fertilizer, GMR Industries, Taj GVK and Ansal Infrastructure.

Sector Focus

It appears that banking stocks were inconsistent of late. Bank of India had the wrath of the market participants by shedding 5.88 per cent followed by ICICI Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Indian Overseas Bank, State Bank of India and UTI Bank.

Software stocks, which were witnessing some buying action for the past few days, finally fell into the bear grip. Moser Baer led the loser's pack by shedding 6.17 per cent to Rs 300.6; Patni Computer, Wipro, Satyam Computer, Infosys Technologies and Tech Mahindra all lost values in the range of 4-5 per cent.

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In capital goods space, key loser was Gammon India, which shed 8.68 per cent. Punj Lloyd, BHEL ABB, Jyoti Structural, Reliance Industrial Infrastructure and Bharat Electronics shed values between 3-4 per cent. The ones that bucked the trend to close in the positive were Bharat Bijlee, SKF India and AIA Engineering.

FMCG category continued its losing streak with Bata being the major loser, which shed 5.18 per cent; ITC, HLL, Godrej Consumer Durables and United Spirits also closed in the red.

Bear's continue to rub the salt on sugar stocks. Dhampur Sugar, Bajaj Hindusthan, Balrampur Chini, Sakthi Sugars and Shree Renuka Sugars shed values between 3 and 5 per cent compared to the previous close.

It was a mixed bag in the realty space. Akruti Nirman was the biggest loser. It almost surrendered the Tuesday's gain. The stock shed 8.9 per cent to Rs 414. Mahindra Gesco and Prasvnath Developers were the other major losers. Unitech and Ansal Properties and Infrastructure bucked the trend to close in green.

Stock Specific Action

Gayatri Projects announced that it bagged four new orders aggregating Rs 192 crore. However, the stock failed to react positively to the news and shed 4.8 per cent to close at Rs 257.25.

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