Market drifts lower as heavyweights slide

The market ended lower, after decent rise in the past two sessions, due to losses in the US markets on renewed worries over the fallout from the US subprime mortgage crisis. European markets, which opened after Indian markets, slipped into the red in volatile trade.

Earlier, select Asian markets recovered from an initial fall after Abu Dhabi Investment Authority reached a deal to buy an equity stake in Citigroup. US stocks tumbled on Monday, 26 November 2007, as investors worried rising US mortgage defaults and credit market losses will drag on the US economy, fueling fears that US consumers will slash spending during the vital holiday season.

Banking and metal shares declined. Realty, auto and IT shares were in demand. Two index heavyweights Reliance Industries (RIL) and ICICI Bank edged lower. Mid-cap and small-cap stocks bucked the weak trend. But the market breadth was negative. 18 out of 30 stocks in the Sensex pack were in red.

The 30-share BSE Sensex lost 119.81 points or 0.62% to 19127.73. The Sensex hit a low of 19,019.33 in morning trade. At day’s low, the Sensex shed 228.21 points.

The broader based S&P CNX Nifty lost 33.55 points or 0.59% to 5698.15.

The BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.11% to 8,393.49, off session’s low of 8,310.55. The BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.28% to 10,372.07, off session’s low of 10,293.30. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth was negative. On BSE, 1478 stocks declined, 1299 stocks advanced and 66 stocks remained unchanged. 18 out of 30 stocks from the Sensex pack were in the red.

BSE clocked a turnover of Rs 5795 crore, lower than Monday (26 November 2007)'s Rs 6,035.19 crore.

Nifty November 2007 futures were at 5727, a premium of 28.85 points as compared to spot closing of 5698.15.

NSE’s futures & options (F&O) segment turnover was Rs 75192.11 crore, which was lower than Rs 75903.04 crore on Monday, 26 November 2007.

India's largest private sector firm by market capitalisation and oil refiner Reliance Industries fell 1.42% to Rs 2842.

India's largest private sector bank by assets ICICI Bank lost 2.18% to Rs 1132.40.

The BSE Bankex fell 0.90% to 10,495.46. It underperformed the Sensex. Federal Bank fell 2.93% to Rs 324.25, Kotak Mahindra bank fell 1.70% to Rs 1122.35, Centurion bank of Punjab lost 1.48% to Rs 43.35 and HDFC Bank shed 0.68% to Rs 1632.45.

Telecom stocks declined. Bharti Airtel dropped 3.32% to Rs 916.50 and Reliance Communications fell 0.49% to Rs 684.55.

The BSE Auto index moved up 0.99% to 5,348.21. It outperformed the Sensex. Ashok Leyland surged 16.65% to Rs 47.65, TVS Motors spurted 12.24% to Rs 70.15, Hindustan Motors soared 10.53% to Rs 41.45 and MRF jumped 9% to 7377.10.

The BSE Realty index rose 1.24% to Rs 10,206.60. It outperformed the Sensex. DLF moved up 0.68% to Rs 897.95, Unitech rose 1.14% to Rs 364.60, Indiabulls Real Estate gained 2.94% to Rs 641.

The BSE IT index moved up 0.23% to 4,107.48. It outperformed the Sensex. TCS rose 1.20% to Rs 996.80, Wipro gained 1.12% to Rs 457.75, Satyam Computers rose 0.23% to Rs 427.35.

India's second largest software exporter by sales Infosys Technologies fell 0.03% to Rs 1575.80.

The BSE Metal index fell 1.03% to 17,344.05. It underperformed the Sensex. Jindal Saw dropped 3.28% to Rs 788.25, Hindalco Industries fell 1.52% to Rs 191.35 and Steel Authority of India (Sail) fell 0.57% to Rs 263.65. Sterlite Industries gained 1.27% to Rs 908.15 and Hindustan Zinc jumped 6.60% to Rs 737.15.

India’s largest steel firm by sales Tata Steel fell 0.16% to Rs 847.60. The company may reportedly pick up a 35% stake in its newly formed Mozambique joint venture for a consideration of Australian $100 million. Report suggests that the stake will help Tata Steel get exclusive rights to the coal being mined in the new coal mine and will use it as feedstock for its plants both in India and abroad.

The BSE Power index fell 0.67% to 4,347.50. It underperformed the Sensex. Tata Power fell 3.65% to Rs 1135.80, Torrent Power declined 3.12% to Rs 174.10, Power Grid Corporation of India fell 2.30% to Rs 148.50, Reliance Energy fell 1.91% to Rs 1755.45 and NTPC fell 1.53% to Rs 234.95.

Mundra Port and Special Economic Zone settled at Rs 961.70 on BSE, a premium of 118.56% over the IPO price of Rs 440. The stock debuted at Rs 770 a premium of 75% over the IPO price of Rs 440. The stock hit a high of Rs 1,150 and a low of Rs 770.

Steel strips maker Bhushan Steel slumped 13.17% to Rs 1368.20. Market regulator Securities & Exchange Board of India (Sebi) will reportedly look into the sudden share price rise in Bhushan Steel stocks which rose 46% from Rs 1,086 to Rs 1,576 on Monday. Reports suggest that Sebi would study the price movement before taking any action on it.

Realty firm Parsvnath Developers was down 1.11% to Rs 342.85. The company reportedly plans a consortium with a Turkish airport operator TAV Airports Holding and domestic infrastructure finance firm IL&FS Transport Network (ITNL) to bid for the Greater Noida airport. Parsvnath plans to hold majority stake in the consortium. The formation of the consortium will ultimately depend on whether the Central Government permits the development of the Greater Noida airport, the report added.

Brokerage firm India Infoline jumped 11.42% to Rs 1284.70. The company has inked a $76.7 million equity deal by selling stake in its consumer finance subsidiary India Infoline Investment Services (IIIS) to Singapore-based Orient Global. The latter has picked up a 22.5% stake in IIIS.

Consumer products maker Godrej Industries was up 5% to Rs 243.60. The company said on Monday, 26 November 2007, its board has approved entering into a strategic partnership, joint venture or sell its medical diagnostic business. An extra-ordinary general meeting will be held on 28 December 2007 to approve this, it said in a statement.

State-run Allahabad Bank was up 0.31% to Rs 111.95 on reports that the bank has plans to buy about 74% of a small bank in Africa for up to $15-20 million.

Detergent maker Nirma jumped 9.02% to Rs 224.10 after it said it would buy US-based soda ash maker, Searless Valley Minerals Operations Inc and Searless Valley Minerals Inc.

Debutant Mundra Port and Special Economic Zone clocked highest turnover of Rs 1458.51 crore on BSE. Essar Oil (Rs 361.87 crore), Reliance Petroleum (Rs 242.75), Jindal Steel & Power (Rs 185.95) and Deccan Aviation (Rs 143.70 crore), were the other turnover toppers on BSE in that order.

Ashok Leyland registered highest volumes of 2.12 crore shares on BSE. Essar Oil (1.69 crore shares), Mundra Port and Special Economic Zone (1.48 crore shares), Ispat Industries (1.35 crore shares) and IFCI (1.35 crore shares), were the other volume toppers on BSE in that order.

In Europe, key indices in UK, France and Germany were down by between 0.20% to 0.54%.

South Korea’s Seoul Composite index was up 0.24% and Japan’s Nikkei 225 index was up 0.58%. Key benchmark indices in Hong Kong, China, Singapore and Taiwan were down by between 1.3% to 1.97%.

The Dow Jones industrial average slid 237.44 points, or 1.83%, to close at 12,743.44 on Monday, 26 November 2007. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index sank 33.48 points, or 2.32%, to 1,407.22. The Nasdaq Composite Index plunged 55.61 points, or 2.14%, to close at 2,540.99.