The Hindu Business Line : Bottom fishing cuts intra-day losses

An appreciating rupee, rising crude prices and fears that the Chinese government may raise interest rates to cool its rapidly growing economy weighed on the Indian bourses, which fell prey to bouts of selling.

After opening with a bear gap of about 134 points, the sensitive index managed a modest closing with about 52 points loss for the day. The Nifty was no different and closed with a 0.35 per cent loss.

However, bottom fishing and value buying at lower levels helped the bourses curtail their intra-day losses. Market sentiment, nonetheless, remained neutral with about one stock advancing for every declining one.

New listing

Advanta India, a subsidiary of United Phosphorus, witnessed massive investor interest after a lacklustre listing at Rs 640.

The stock price, after touching a low of Rs 591, took a U-turn and surged to a high of Rs 992, commanding a premium of about 55 per cent over its listing price.

Buzzing stocks

Deccan Aviation, bucking the declining trend in the broader market, gained by about 5 per cent on reports that the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group may buy as much as 26 per cent stake in the airline. The stock closed at Rs 114.

Expectations of a robust earnings report rubbed off positively on SKF India, which appreciated by about 6.4 per cent. Among other scrips that clocked gains were Bihar Caustics, India Glycol, Aptech and Gremach Infrastructure.

JSW Steel, Bharat Seats, Teledata Info, BAG Films and Educomp Solutions were some of the stocks that hit an all-time high during the trading session.

Sector focus

Concerns of a slowdown in the profit growth of IT companies on the back of an appreciating rupee led to selling in IT stocks.

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Leading the loser's pack was Satyam Computer, which lost about 3 per cent. Other stocks that closed in the red were Infosys Technologies, Wipro, I-Flex, HCL Technologies and TCS. Incidentally, the Indian rupee has appreciated by about 11 per cent in the last nine months.

Prospects of above-normal rainfall in the four-month monsoon season, during which India's summer crops are sown, led to buying in FMCG stocks.

ITC, which has an extensive rural sourcing network for raw material, appreciated by about 1.2 per cent.

Among other stocks that moved northwards in this space were Tata Tea and Godrej Consumer Products with about 1.4 per cent gains each. Hindustan Lever, on the contrary, failed to attract buying interest and ended with a measly loss.

Select stocks in the banking space witnessed buying interest. ICICI Bank recouping the loss in early trades, closed with a marginal gain of about 0.86 per cent on reports that Reserve Bank of India is likely to permit Temasek and the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation to raise their stakes in the private bank to 10 per cent each.

Among other stocks that closed in the green were Andhra Bank, State Bank of India, PNB, Federal Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank.

Stocks of tyre-making companies witnessed buying interest triggered by spectacular results from MRF. After reporting a 511 per cent increase in earnings, the stock surged by about 6 per cent.

Among other stocks, JK Industries appreciated by about 12 per cent; Ceat gained 9 per cent; Apollo Tyres gained by about 6 per cent.