Bulls pause for breath
The markets ended slightly lower, after two consecutive sessions of gains. The markets lost ground as heavy weights like HDFC, ABB, Reliance Industries, SBI, Infosys and HLL witnessed profit booking. Profit booking was also seen in Metal, FMCG and Oil & Gas stocks, dragging the benchmark Sensex to hit a low of 14070.65. Metal index was the major loser and lost 1.17%. However, M&M, BHEL, Wipro, ACC, L&T and Bharti Airtel held the choppy markets from a major fall. Finally, the BSE benchmark Sensex slipped 14 points to close at 14114. NSE Nifty closed flat at 4081.
ABB slipped 2% to Rs3577. The company won Rs1.8bn contract from Indian Electricity Co. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs3699 and a low of Rs3560 and has recorded volumes of over 1,00,000 shares on NSE.
Bajaj Auto edged higher by 0.2% to Rs2774 after the company announced Q3 result with net profit at Rs3.45bn (up 23%) and sales at Rs25.68bn (up 27%). The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs2850 and a low of Rs2715 and recorded volumes of over 7,00,000 shares on NSE.
M&M advanced 3.7% to Rs986 amid reports that the Romanian authorities are in talks with the company for selling Tractorul assets. The scrip was top gainer among the 50-scrip’s of NSE Nifty touching an intra-day high of Rs1001 and a low of Rs948 and recorded volumes of over 15,00,000 shares on NSE.
BHEL gained 1.8% to Rs2261 as the company signed a deal with Alstom for the transfer of technology for super critical power plants. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs2284 and a low of Rs2176 and recorded volumes of over 4,00,000 shares on NSE.
Metal stocks were among the major losers after rising in recent trading session. SAIL, Hindalco, Tata Steel and Sterlite Industries were among the major losers.
Telecom stocks witnessed fresh buying towards the end. Bharti Airtel advanced 1.3% to Rs669, Reliance Communication gained 0.3% to Rs430, VSNL was up 1.8% to Rs473 and MTNL added 0.3% to Rs160.
Cement stocks attracted buying interest. Frontline stock ACC advanced 1.5% to Rs1101, Prism Cement was frozen at 10% upper circuit to Rs41 ahead of its result, Grasim was up 0.9% to Rs2865 and Mangalam Cement added 0.5% to Rs250.
Capital Good stocks were the major gainers. Heavy weight BHEL gained 1.7% to Rs2261, L&T gained 1.4% to Rs1521, Siemens advanced 0.9% to Rs1195 and Punj Lloyd edged higher 0.2% to Rs1065.
Mid-Cap Technology stocks recorded smart gains. Visual Software jumped over by 5.3% to Rs89, Polaris surged 4.4% to Rs219, Rolta advanced 4.8% to Rs279 and HCL Tech was up 1.6% to Rs639. However, heavy weights Wipro and Satyam Computer also ended with smart gains.