The Hindu Business Line : Profit booking at higher levels snaps Sensex rally

In what began as a tussle of supremacy between the bulls and bears, bulls lost their ground as Sensex shed close to 75 points to close in the red. Even though, the Sensex opened with an upward gap of about 172 points, it came down immediately after striking that high. The Nifty followed suit and closed with a loss of 0.62 per cent. Mixed cues from global markets failed to enthuse the investors who began booking profit at higher levels, eventually leading the Sensex to snap its six-days winning streak. Market sentiments were clearly inclined towards the bears, with only three stocks advancing for every 10 declines.

All the BSE sectoral indices closed in the red, with the small-cap index leading the loser's pack. Banking, metals and cement stocks also witnessed selling during the day.

Buzzing stocks

Deccan Aviation sizzled to glory with a rise of 18 per cent to close at Rs 147.70. The stock rose on the back of volumes almost 8 times its two-week average. The airline's average load factor has seen an increase, which augurs well for the company. The budget carrier has increased its capacity by about 20 per cent since June 2006. Decreasing crude prices buoyed up the sentiment further.

Sector focus

Large-cap stocks were a mixed bag on Friday. HDFC gained 3.3 per cent on expectations that the home loan markets would remain strong. NTPC after announcing its plan to invest up to Rs 3,425 crore in Tapovan Vishnugad Hydro Electric Power Project clocked a three per cent gain. ONGC, Gujarat Ambuja and Cipla were among the losers for the day. Dr Reddy's lost close to 5 per cent after its ADR got priced at a discount to the market expectations.

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The midcaps were the draggers on Friday, with the respective BSE index losing about 1.8 per cent. Bombay Rayon, Opto Circuits, Deccan Chronicle and Jagran Prakashan were among the stocks that notched up gains. Mahindra Gesco, Kalyani Steel, Asahi India, Jain Irrigation and Inox Leisure were among counters that moved southwards.

Oil marketing companies gained as crude touched its 52-week low. Indian Oil Corporation appreciated by about 5 per cent; Bharat Petroleum gained 4.5 per cent and HPCL clocked gains of about 5.9 per cent. Other gainers in this space were Chennai Petroleum, IBP and Castrol India.

The bank stocks shed points as profit booking began. Among the top losers in the sector were Andhra Bank, Punjab National Bank, Kotak Bank, Federal Bank and IOB. Centurion Bank of Punjab and SBI were the only stocks that gained in the sector index. Latest data showing rise in inflation furthered the sentiments.

Metals lost their gleam, which reflected in the BSE metal index losing 1.63 per cent. Sterlite Industries lost close to 6 per cent as world copper prices accelerated. Hindustan Zinc shed 2 per cent. It had announced a cut in zinc prices by Rs 12700/tonne on Thursday.

Stock-specific action

Chemplast Sanmar gained 7.6 per cent after the announcement that the Sanmar Group would acquire a chemicals business in Egypt for $200 million (approx Rs 900 crore).

Thermax gained about 3 per cent on the back of high volumes after it announced its Q2 results on Wednesday.