Market prunes gains; breadth turns negative

After being positive for the previous two sessions, the market-breadth turned negative on BSE as selling emerged for small-cap and mid-cap stocks. Meanwhile, the market had also eased a bit on selling.

At 13:26 IST the Sensex was up 47.60 points, at 13,665.31. It was off the higher level after hitting 13,745.16, the day's high, within minutes of commencement of trade. Its low for the day was 13,630.90. However, volatility is likely during the latter part of trading as investors square off their positions, or roll over the November 2006 derivative contracts to the December series. The November derivatives contracts are set to expire today. As per reports, NSE F&O Open Interest has shot up by Rs 1,008 crore, to Rs 60,719 crore.

The market-breadth turned negative, with 1262 shares declining on BSE, compared to 1,193 that advanced. As many as 65 shares were unchanged.

The BSE clocked a turnover of Rs 2,550 crore.

Among the 30-Sensex pack, 15 advanced while the rest declined.

Private sector banking major HDFC Bank was the top gainer, up 2.93% to Rs 1,119, on 49,285 shares. It moved in a range of Rs 1,102.90 – Rs 1,123.

IT shares witnessed renewed buying. Satyam Computers (up 0.73% to Rs 455), Wipro (up 1.70% to Rs 593) and Infosys (up 0.51% to Rs 2,168.20) advanced.

Software major TCS rose 2.11% to Rs 1,189, after signing a 7-year deal worth $65 million for reorganising Somerfield's IT services. Somerfield is a leading UK-based, small-format food retailer.

Ranbaxy Laboratories was the top loser, down 1.28% to Rs 375.05, on a volume of 71,847 shares.

Hindalco (down 1.11% to Rs 174), NTPC (down 1.21% to Rs 146.65) and ONGC (down 1% to Rs 848) were the other big losers.

Among side-counters, Raipur Alloys & Steel jumped 20% to Rs 122.70, as Reliance Mutual Fund acquired 12.5 lakh shares at Rs 100.47 per share, vide block deals, on Wednesday. There were outstanding buy orders for 1.2 lakh shares at the upper limit, on BSE.

Leather products maker Crew BOS Products rose 4% to Rs 171.60, and Aztec Software rallied 4.3% to Rs 167.35 amid reports that RBI has raised FII-ceilings in both. While the apex bank has permitted 100% FII buying in Aztec Software, it has been restricted to 49% in Crew BOS Products.

The domestic economy grew by 9.2% in the July-September quarter from a year earlier, higher than market expectations of 8.90%, data released earlier today showed. The annual growth rate in the second quarter of the 2006/07 financial year was higher than the April-June rate of 8.9%.

On 28 November 2006, FIIs were net sellers of stocks to the tune of Rs 335.30 crore (gross purchases worth Rs 1894.80 crore and gross sales of Rs 2230.10 crore) while domestic mutual funds were net sellers of stocks to the tune of Rs 268.87 crore (gross purchases worth Rs 404.04 crore and gross sales of Rs 672.91 crore).

US stocks jumped on Wednesday, after the government raised its estimate for economic growth, and a surge in oil price lifted energy stocks, helping major indices recover most of the ground they lost from a big sell-off early in the week. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 90.28 points, or 0.74%, to finish at 12,226.73, while the Standard & Poor's 500 Index jumped 12.76 points, or 0.92%, to close at 1,399.48. The Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 19.62 points, or 0.81%, to end at 2,432.23.