• Home
• /
• Business

Markets edgy as investors book heavy profits

MUMBAI — Buying in frontline stocks saw indices close higher yesterday but the broad market remained weak as heavy selling was seen in tier II and III stocks.

The market sentiment remained edgy on reports Monsoon Capital LLC, a $1.20 billion hedge fund firm run by Gautam Prakash, has been hit hard by a slump in Indian stocks this year. It is feared that the news may trigger more redemptions from hedge funds with higher exposure to India.

On domestic economy. as per data released on March 20, inflation surged to over 11-month high of 5.92 per cent for the week ended March 8 as essential items like fruits and vegetables and pulses as well as some manufactured items turned expensive.

Heavy profit booking in midcap and smallcap shares kept the market edgy throughout. BSE Midcap Index ended 2.66 per cent down (159 points) at 5,805.53 and BSE Smallcap Index closed at 6,950.12, down 3.77 per cent (272 points).

The benchmark 30-share BSE Sensitive Index (Sensex) opened for the week with a positive gap of 99 points at 15,094. The index touched a high of 15,349, and a low of 15,056. Spurt of fresh buying towards the close helped the index end on a firm note at 15,289 - up 294 points. The NSE Nifty gained 36 points to finish at 4,610. Nifty March 2008 futures were at 4642, at a premium of 32.15 points as compared to spot closing of 4609.85.

The market breadth was extremely negative - out of 2,717 stocks traded, 2,149 declined, 535 advanced and 33 were unchanged today. However, 22 of the 30 Sensex members made advances. Overall turnover at the BSE was Rs46.83 billion from Rs57.97 billion on Wednesday, last week. The NSE futures & options segment turnover was Rs426.1 billion, lower from Rs463.65 billion on Wednesday, last week.

Biggest Sensex movers were HDFC, Wipro, and major banking sector shares. The BSE Bankex rallied impressive 3.3 per cent (249 points) to 7,744. HDFC zoomed 7.7 per cent (Rs171) to Rs2,384. Wipro soared nearly 6 per cent to Rs399. HDFC Bank rallied 5.3 per cent to Rs1,337, and ICICI Bank surged 5 per cent to Rs805. Hindustan Unilever advanced 4.3 per cent to Rs235. ACC gained 3.8 per cent at Rs805, and Larsen & Toubro added 3.5 per cent to Rs2,937. Bharti Airtel gained 3 per cent at Rs801. SBI moved up 2.7 per cent to Rs1,646. Reliance Inds and ITC were up nearly 2 per cent each at Rs2,201 and Rs191, respectively. Tata Motors, Ambuja Cements and TCS were the other major gainers at Rs662, Rs124 and Rs823, respectively.

However, a few of the Sensex members drifted badly. Tata Steel slumped 7 per cent to Rs592. Reliance Energy plunged 4.6 per cent to Rs1,151, and DLF shed 4 per cent at Rs598. Jaiprakash Associates slipped nearly 2 per cent to Rs200, and Maruti declined 1.3 per cent to Rs812.

The BSE Bankex outperformed the Sensex, rising 3.32 per cent to 7,744.35. Punjab National Bank (up 5.58 per cent at Rs485.45), Centurion Bank of Punjab (up 4.46 per cent at Rs42.15), Yes Bank (up 4.08 per cent at Rs142.75), Bank of India (up 2.83 per cent at Rs245.05) and State Bank of India (up 2.67 per cent at Rs1,645.65).

Reliance Inds topped the value chart with a turnover of Rs2.02 billion followed by GSS America (Rs1.99 bn), Reliance Natural Resources (Rs1.9 bn), Reliance Capital (Rs1.8 bn) and ICICI Bank (Rs1.66 bn).

Reliance Natural Resources led the volume chart with trades of around 19.6 million shares followed by Ispat Industries (10.7 mn), Essar Oil (8.6 mn), Reliance Petroleum (8.6 mn) and IFCI (7.54 mn).

Real estate developer Unitech declined 5.24 per cent to Rs253.30, off sessionís high of Rs279.70. Lehman Brothers and Deutsche Bank are reportedly set to make a combined investment of $500 million in Unitech's special purpose vehicle formed to execute two commercial projects in Mumbai.

Refrigerant gases maker Gujarat Fluorochemicals jumped 3.35 per cent to Rs185 after its board approved the proposal to buyback equity at a ceiling price of Rs300 per share.

Drug maker Sun Pharmaceutical Industries gained 1.48 per cent to Rs1279 after it received an approval from US Food and Drug Administration for the abbreviated new drug application to market a generic of Parke Davis's Cerebyx, fosphenytoin sodium injection. Textiles firm S.Kumars Nationwide slumped 26.74 per cent to 83.70 after 710,000 shares changed hands on BSE at Rs110 and 502,000 shares changed hands on NSE at Rs88.50 each. Sujana Towers, manufacturer of galvanized steel towers, slumped 9.33 per cent at Rs86.05 after the firm said Morgan Stanley & Co International Mauritius acquired a further 3.85 per cent stake in the company to raise its total holding to 7.04 per cent. FMCG products maker Dabur Pharma gained 15.76 per cent to Rs56.50 after 3.75 million shares or 2.4 per cent of the company's equity capital changed hands on the NSE in a block deal at Rs50.75 each. Drug maker Aurobindo Pharma rose 0.60 per cent to Rs2505, off session's high of Rs259.90. The comapny said it has concluded a deal to acquire Italy's Intellectual Property & Marketing Authorizations. Edible oils maker KS Oils fell 2.83 per cent to Rs61.90 even as some reports suggested that the firm sees revenue rising to Rs32 billion and expects net profit of Rs2 billion in full year, ending March 2009 due to a rise in demand, following import duty cuts in mustard oil. Indian government on Thursday, March 20 announced a cut in import duty on some edible oils to improve supplies and rein in inflation that touched a 10-month high.