The Hindu Business Line : Mixed global trend pulls down indices

Taking cues from a mixed global trend, the markets opened on a weak note on Thursday. The enthusiasm witnessed on Wednesday was missing in the day's rally. The gains of Wednesday appeared to have prompted investors to book profits.

The Sensex was completely in the bear grip throughout the day. The last hour, however, did bring about some consolidation.

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The Sensex was the major loser among the indices, declining by 151.7 points or 1.4 per cent to close at 10,767.9. The Nifty also ended lower by 1.3 per cent.

The overall market breadth was clearly in favour of declining stocks, which outnumbered advances by a ratio of 1.5 to 1.

The net FII buying to the tune of Rs 214.7 crore on Wednesday fail to impress the markets.

Buzzing stocks

Tata Coffee appreciated by 15.8 per cent to close at Rs 376.55.The uptrend in the stock came on the back of news that a meeting of the board of directors will be held on July 13 to consider a revision in the terms and condition of the proposed rights issue.

News of possible increase in promoter's stake in the stock of Tata Steel did not find favour with the market. The stock witnessed selling pressure and shed Rs 16.5 to end the day at Rs 547.3.

Prominent stocks that gained during the day were Titan Industries, Lupin, CESC, Ipca Laboratories, Bharat Electronics and Aventis Pharma.

Sector Focus

Among the BSE sectoral indices, the banking sector was the worst hit. In the public sector space, Oriental Bank of Commerce was a major loser; it shed 4.5 per cent to close at Rs 172.9.

The other losers were SBI, Canara Bank, IOB, and IDBI Bank.

In the private banking space, ICICI Bank lost Rs 22 to close at Rs 485.7. Other losers include UTI Bank, Federal Bank, and J&K Bank. However, Yes Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank bucked the trend to close in the green.

Other sectoral underperformers were capital goods, consumer durables, and metals. In the capital goods sector, Suzlon Energy, which rallied northward after evincing trading interest in derivatives, lost steam to shed 3.6 per cent.

L&T, Atlas Capco, Thermax and Engineers India lost in the range of 2-3 per cent.

SAIL, Nalco, and Madras Aluminium, witnessed a day marked by selling pressure. Stocks such as JSW Steel and Jindal Steel and Power managed to end on a positive note.

Stock Specific

Hindustan Zinc raised the prices of zinc and lead for the first time in more than a month. The stock gained marginally by Rs 5 to close the day at Rs 613.7.

Bhartiya International informed that the board of directors have recommended a dividend of 15 per cent (Rs 1.50 per share) for the year ended March 2006. The stock shed Rs 6.1 to close at Rs 139.

Prominent gainers and losers

Key gainers in the NSE included Crest Animation, UTV Software Communication, Helios& Matheson, HMT, and Sintex Industries.

Ansal Properties, Indiabulls Financial Services, Blue Star Infotech and Tube Investment were prominent losers.