Auto, metal stocks lead 70-point Sensex fall

The market drifted lower today as selling pressure continued throughout the day. Market may remain volatile tomorrow, 28 June 2007, ahead of the expiry of June 2007 derivatives contracts. All the Asian and European markets, with the exception of China, slipped today, 27 June 2007.

Buying was seen in consumer durables and IT stocks, while auto and metal stocks witnessed selling.

The BSE 30-share Sensex lost 70.02 points or 0.48% at 14,431.06. It had opened slightly higher at 14,520.19, but immediately started declining. It kept on striking fresh lows as the day progressed, with the last being 14,407.12 at 15:21 IST, which was a fall of 93.87 points for the day. It oscillated in a range of about 113 points for the day.

The S&P CNX Nifty declined 21.75 points or 0.51% at 4,263.95. The Nifty June 2007 futures were at 4254, a discount of 9.05 points to spot closing.

The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 4,685 crore as compared to Rs 4,706 crore on Wednesday, 26 June 2007. The NSE F&O turnover rose to Rs 56,258.84 crore as against Rs 52,571.16 crore on Wednesday, 26 June 2007.

The market breadth, which held positive till late afternoon trade, turned negative later as selling emerged in small and mid-cap stocks. On BSE with 1,355 shares declined as compared to 1,266 that advanced. 71 remained unchanged.

The BSE Mid-Cap Index struck all time high of 6,448.78, before settling 6.91 points or 0.11% higher at 6,424.81. The BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.12% to 7,613.84.

Among the Sensex pack, 19 declined while the rest advanced

IT stocks saw steady buying throughout the day. The BSE IT Index gained 0.9% to 4,843.47. Satyam Computers spurted 2.76% to Rs 469, on 4.48 lakh shares. It was the top gainer from the Sensex pack. Other stocks from the IT pack -- Wipro (up 0.10% to Rs 509.15), TCS (up 0.80% to Rs 1131.40) and Infosys Technologies (up 0.65% to Rs 1935) -- also gained.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) on Tuesday, 26 June 2007, said it had entered into an agreement with Scuderia Ferrari to provide the complete software to the Italian automaker’s Formula one (F1) cars. The two companies had in 2004 entered into an agreement to provide IT and engineering services and assist the development of F1 racing cars and Ferrari sports cars.

The rupee opened at its lowest in more than two weeks on Wednesday, 27 June 2007, as overseas investors' appetite for risk weakened and on strong dollar demand from oil companies for import payments. In early trade, the rupee was at 41.027/035 per dollar.

Housing finance major HDFC rose 0.80% to Rs 1,900, as buying emerged in the scrip at the fag end of the day. The stock recovered from intraday low of Rs 1850. As per recent reports, the housing finance major has cut floating rates for new home loans by 25 basis points as part of the monsoon offer

Auto stocks saw mixed trend. Tata Motors slumped 2.40% to Rs 668 on 1.53 lakh shares, and it was the top loser from the Sensex pack. Maruti Udyog lost 0.42% to Rs 754. Two wheeler makers Hero Honda Motors (up 1.07% to Rs 677) and Bajaj Auto (up 0.30% to Rs 2134), gained. The BSE Auto Index lost 0.87% to 4,746.24.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) lost 0.38% to Rs 1,697, on 4.21 lakh shares. It moved in a range of Rs 1692 to Rs 1710.25. As per reports, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has referred the issue of pricing natural gas found off the east coast to a committee of secretaries. The move comes in the wake of differences the petroleum ministry has with the power and fertiliser ministries over the methodology adopted for arriving at the gas price.

Reliance Communications (down 2.39% to Rs 513.20), Reliance Energy (down 2.02% to Rs 577.90) and NTPC (down 2.22% to Rs 150), were the other losers.

Aluminium and copper major Hindalco Industries lost 1.30% to Rs 168.90, on 31.81 lakh shares. Fall in global metal prices on Tuesday, 26 June 2007, weighed on the counter.

Pharma major Ranbaxy Laboratories lost 1.05% to Rs 343.50. Goldshield become the latest in a string of companies to pay millions of pounds in out-of-court settlements to the National Health System (NHS) for alleged drug price-fixing. Goldshield's settlement follows April's announcement from the UK's Serious Fraud Office that it intended to charge nine people and five companies with conspiracy to defraud the NHS over certain drug prices and supply. Ranbaxy is one of the five companies allegedly involved in a cartel that took place between 1996 and 2000.

GMR Infrastructure rose 1.02% to Rs 699, after striking a high of Rs 744.95, which is the lifetime high for the scrip. The stock surged in anticipation of good Q4 March 2007. The company will unveil results on 30 June 2007. The stock was the top traded counter on BSE with total turnover of Rs 296.59 crore

The BSE Consumer Durables (CD) index spurted for the second straight day, and struck an all-time high of 4,256.31 today, 27 June 2007. It settled 1.27% higher to 4,216.57, and was the top gainer among the sectoral indices on BSE. On Tuesday, 26 June 2007, the BSE CD index had surged 2.71% to 4,163.86. Titan Industries (up 3.81% to Rs 1,328), Lloyd Electric (up 3.35% to Rs 160.20), and Rajesh Exports (up 0.45% to Rs 527.50) were the major gainers from the BSE CD index.

Titan Industries, Rajesh Exports, Gitanjali Gems and Lloyd Electric have weightages of 34.01%, 8.14%, 5.03% and 4.03% respectively in BSE Consumer Durable index. The Consumer Durable index rose 7.28% in the past one month to 26 June 2007.

Nelcast settled at Rs 206.25 on BSE, a discount of 5.80% over the IPO price of Rs 219 per share. The scrip opened at Rs 252.05. It touched a high of Rs 284.70 and a low of Rs 203.10 during the day. The counter saw high volumes of 60.95 lakh shares.

The BSE Metal Index declined 0.80% to 10,685.59. Hindustan Zinc (down 2.40% to Rs 704), Sail (down 2.21% to Rs 130.60), Jindal Stainless (down 2.20% to Rs 142.10), and Tata Steel (down 1.93% to Rs 591.50) were among the losers.

Steel Authority of India (Sail) entered into a memorandum of understanding with Manganese Ore India for setting up of a joint venture to produce ferro-manganese and silico-manganese. Sail made this announcement after market hours on Tuesday, 26 June 2007.

Steel maker JSW Steel was down 0.68% to Rs 603.15 after the United Nations awarded more than 5.4 million carbon credits to two of its projects for reducing greenhouse gas emissions between 2001 and 2006.

Wind turbine maker Suzlon Energy jumped 4.58% to Rs 1,502 on reports that it along with Vestas India has signed agreements with the Kerala government for 15 mega watt (MW) wind power project.

Patni Computer Systems gained 1.40% to Rs 506 on announcing a partnership for collaborative research activities in the medical device domain.

IFCI spurted 4.20% to Rs 52 after the central bank once again allowed foreign investors to purchase shares in the company.

IndusInd Bank jumped 6.06% to Rs 51.65. On Monday, 25 June 2007 the bank had got a $50 million line of credit from US-based Wachovia Bank N.A. to expand its international business. The bank has an approval from its board to raise up to Rs 400 crore through debt this fiscal year, which began on 1 April 2007.

Motor Industries Company (Mico) slumped 4.28% to Rs 4,485 after its parent Robert Bosch GmBH raised the open offer price by 15% to Rs 4,600 a share. The market had expected the open price to be raised to at least Rs 5,000 per share. The news hit the market before trading hours today, 27 June 2007. Robert Bosch, the world's largest auto parts maker, holds 60.55% in Mico. The parent firm said it was buying the additional stake in Mico to realise greater operational synergies through closer cooperation and sharing of technology.

Apollo Hospitals Enterprise slipped 1.35% to Rs 518.30 after its net profit advanced 17.74% to Rs 14.60 crore in Q4 March 2007 as against Rs 12.40 crore in Q4 March 2006. Revenue rose 21.56% to Rs 233.40 crore (Rs 192 crore). The company’s net profit surged 66.28% to Rs 100.10 crore in FY 2007 as against Rs 60.20 crore in the year ended March 2006. Revenue increased 25.88% to Rs 891.00 crore (Rs 707.80 crore). The results were announced after market hours on Tuesday, 25 June 2007.

FDC dropped 4.22% to Rs 32.90 after it posted a 43.31% decline in net profit in Q4 March 2007 to Rs 4.32 crore as against Rs 7.62 crore in Q4 March 2006. Sales rose 18.49% to Rs 81.21 crore (Rs 68.54 crore). Net profit slipped 7.35% to Rs 64.33 crore in the year ended March 2007 as against Rs 69.43 crore in the previous year ended March 2006. Sales were up 25.04% to Rs 423.76 crore FY 2007 as against Rs 338.91 crore in FY 2006. . The results were announced after market hours on Tuesday, 26 June 2007

Gail (India) was down 0.35% to Rs 308.80, after the state-owned gas utility inked a pact with China Gas Holdings to jointly pursue gas sector business opportunities in China, India and other countries. Gail on Tuesday, 26 June 2007 signed a pact with China Gas Holdings to jointly pursue businesses in CNG (compressed natural gas), city gas distribution and coal bed methane extraction, besides pipeline and LNG (liquefied natural gas) projects in China, India and other countries.

Nagarjuna Construction Company was unchanged at Rs 171 after it secured Rs 334-crore contract to construct Rajeev Gandhi University of Health Science's administrative block, medical college block, 500 bedded hospital, 250 bedded super speciality hospital and allied colleges, hostels, quarters, and buildings in Ramanagara, Bangalore. The project is to be completed within 18 months.

All the Asian markets were trading lower today, 27 June 2007 led by Japan, as shares of exporters such as Toyota Motor Corp. and Canon Inc. were hurt by yen's strengthening against the US dollar. Japan's Nikkei was down 1.20% at 17,849.28. Hang Seng (down 0.45% to 21,705.56), Taiwan's Taiwan Weighted (down 0.24% at 8,844.22), South Korea’s Seoul Composite (down 0.94% at 1,733.10), and Singapore's Straits Times (down 0.56% at 3,505.50), all edged lower.

However, Shanghai Composite was an exception. It rose 2.65% to 4,078.59

All the European markets were trading lower

Wall Street finished an extremely erratic session with a modest decline on Tuesday, 26 June 2007, as investors parsed unimpressive data on home sales and consumer confidence and awaited the Federal Reserve's meeting on interest rates.

The Dow Jones fell 14.39 points, or 0.11%, to 13,337.66. Broader stock indicators also fell. The Standard & Poor's 500 index slipped 4.85 points, or 0.32%, to 1,492.89, and the Nasdaq Composite index fell 2.92 points, or 0.11%, to 2,574.16.

Oil prices were steady in Asia, on 27 June 2007, as traders awaited the release of a US government inventory report expected to show increases in supplies of crude, gasoline and distillates. Light, sweet crude for August delivery lost 6 cents to $67.71 a barrel in Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

As is the case at the time of expiry of near-month contracts, the extent of rollover to July 2007 contracts from June 2007 contracts will dictate the trend on the domestic bourses in the near term. A higher rollover indicates that the market players expect bourses to remain firm in the month ahead and vice versa.