Sensex garners 295 points in volatile trade

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Sensex garners 295 points in volatile trade

Blue chips edged higher in volatile trading session today. After an initial surge, the market had pared gains in afternoon trade. The S&P CNX Nifty, had in fact, slipped into the red. A strong rebound was witnessed in late trade. Positive cues from the global markets supported the domestic bourses which opened after a long weekend.

However, the market breadth was weak indicating that confidence is low among investors. Mid-cap and small-cap stocks slumped, which was clearly reflected in the poor market breadth. Banking and IT stocks were in demand. Metal and power stocks declined. 22 out of 30 stocks from the Sensex pack ended in green.

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. The news may trigger more redemptions from hedge funds with higher exposure to India, reports suggest.

Asian markets which opened before Indian market, were mostly in the green. European markets were closed on account of Easter holiday.

The 30-share BSE Sensex rose 294.57 points or 1.96% at 15,289.40. The index gained 356.48 points at the session’s high of 15,351.31, hit at the fag end of the trading session. Sensex rose 61.26 points at the day's low of 15,056.09 hit in the afternoon trade.

The broader CNX S&P Nifty rose 35.9 points or 0.78% at 4609.85.

The BSE Mid-cap index fell 2.66% at 5,805.53. The BSE small-cap index was down 3.77% at 6,950.12. Both these indices underperformed the Sensex.

As per provisional data, foreign funds bought shares worth a net Rs 376.13 crore today. Domestic funds sold shares worth a net Rs 253.27 crore.

The market breadth, which was negative in early trade, turned poor as the session progressed. On BSE, 535 stocks advanced, 2149 declined and 33 stocks were unchanged.

Concerns of marked-to-market losses for firms on their foreign exchange derivatives exposure, meltdown in global markets, lower-than-expected industrial production data for January 2008 and a surge in inflation created havoc on the bourses recently. Hike in short-term capital gains tax and alteration of tax treatment of the Securities Transaction Tax (STT) in Union Budget 2008-09 announced on 29 February 2008 had dented the sentiment earlier.

The BSE clocked a turnover of Rs 4663 crore today as against Rs 5,796.91 crore on Wednesday, 19 March 2008.

Nifty March 2008 futures were at 4642, at a premium of 32.15 points as compared to spot closing of 4609.85.

The NSE futures & options (F&O) segment turnover was Rs 42,610.26 crore, which was lower than Rs 46,365.04 crore on Wednesday, 19 March 2008.

India’s largest private sector firm by market capitalization and oil refiner Reliance Industries (RIL) rose 1.93% to Rs 2200.80.

India’s largest private sector bank by assets ICICI Bank rose 4.98% to Rs 804.55.

India’s largest engineering and construction firm by revenue Larsen & Toubro gained 3.46% to Rs 2937.20.

Among the other Sensex gainers were, Housing Development Finance Corporation (up 7.73% at Rs 2384.05), Wipro (up 5.88% at Rs 398.75), HDFC Bank (up 5.31% at Rs 1337.45), Hindustan Unilever (up 4.31% at Rs 235), and ACC (up 3.76% at 805.15).

Among the Sensex losers were, Tata Steel (down 7.04% at Rs 592.45), Reliance Energy (down 4.61% at Rs 1150.90), DLF (down 4% at Rs 598.10), Jaiprakash Associates (down 1.81% at Rs 200.30), Maruti Suzuki (down 1.34% at Rs 811.70), and Ranbaxy Laboratories (down 0.88% at Rs 446.25).

The BSE Bankex outperformed the Sensex, rising 3.32% to 7,744.35. Punjab National Bank (up 5.58% at Rs 485.45), Centurion Bank of Punjab (up 4.46% at Rs 42.15), Yes Bank (up 4.08% at Rs 142.75), Bank of India (up 2.83% at Rs 245.05) and State Bank of India (up 2.67% at Rs 1,645.65), gained.

The BSE IT index underperformed the Sensex, rising 1.55% to 3,421.96. HCL Technologies (up 7.45% at 274.05), TCS (up 1.66% at Rs 823.45), Infosys Technologies (up 1.45% at Rs 1,361.35), and Satyam Computer (up 0.29% at Rs 391.10), gained.

The BSE Metal index underperformed the Sensex, falling 5.27% to 12,787.61. Gujarat NRE Coke (down 16.95% at Rs 103.40), JSW Steel (down 11.98% at Rs 788.25), Welspun Gujarat Stahl Rohren (down 7.71% at Rs 294.30), Jindal Stainless (down 7.44% at Rs 133.15), Sesa Goa (down 4.40% at Rs 3,021.80), and Sterlite Industries (down 4.12% at Rs 680.25), slumped.

The BSE Realty index underperformed the Sensex, falling 3.97% to 6,806.18. Puravankara Projects (down 16.20% at Rs 171.45), Parsvnath Developers (down 9.69% at Rs 173.85), Omaxe (down 5.59% at Rs 182.35), Indiabulls Real Estate (down 4.57% at Rs 423), Mahindra Lifespace Developers (down 1.63% at Rs 377) and Sobha Developers (down 1.25% at Rs 597.05), fell.

Among the side counters, IOL Netcom (down 20% at Rs 155.65), Indusfila (down 20% at Rs 90.25), Orbit Corporation (down 20% at Rs 321.82), Brigade Enterprise (down 16.07% at Rs 154.30), Aban Offshore (down 16% at Rs 2,642.10), Bajaj Hindustan (down 10.85% at Rs 166.40), tumbled.

India's second biggest real estate developer by market capitalisation Unitech declined 5.24% to Rs 253.30, off session’s high of Rs 279.70. 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% to Rs 185 after its board approved the proposal to buyback equity at a ceiling price of Rs 300 per share.

Drug maker Sun Pharmaceutical Industries gained 1.48% to Rs 1279.10 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% to 83.70 after 7.10 lakh shares changed hands on BSE at Rs 110 and 5.02 lakh shares changed hands on NSE at Rs 88.50 each.

Sujana Towers, manufacturer of galvanized steel towers, slumped 9.33% at Rs 86.05 after the firm said Morgan Stanley & Co International Mauritius acquired a further 3.85% stake in the company to raise its total holding to 7.04%.

FMCG products maker Dabur Pharma rose 15.76% to Rs 56.50 after 3.75 million shares or 2.4% of the company's equity capital changed hands on the NSE in a block deal at Rs 50.75 each.

Edible oils maker KS Oils fell 2.83% to Rs 61.90 even as some reports suggested that the firm sees revenue rising to Rs 3200 crore and expects net profit of Rs 200 crore in full year (FY) 2009 due to a rise in demand, following import duty cuts in mustard oil. Indian government on Thursday, 20 March 2008 announced a cut in import duty on some edible oils to improve supplies and rein in inflation that touched a 10-month high.

Most Asian markets were trading higher today, 24 March 2008. Key indices in Taiwan, Singapore, and South Korea were up 0.58% to 3.99%. However, China’s Shanghai Composite index was down 4.49% and Japan’s Nikkei was down 0.02%. Stock market in Hong Kong was closed for public holiday.

US stocks soared on Thursday, 20 March 2008 as declining commodity prices helped offset worries about the economic slowdown. Financial stocks rallied on analyst expectations that more mortgage purchases by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may help stabilize the home loan market.

The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 261.66 points, or 2.16%, to 12,361.32. The Standard & Poor's 500 index added 31.09 points, or 2.39%, to 1,329.51, and the Nasdaq Composite index advanced 48.15 points, or 2.18%, to 2,258.11.

As per data released on Thursday, 20 March 2008, India's inflation surged to over 11-month high of 5.92% for the week ended 8 March 2008 as essential items like fruits and vegetables and pulses as well as some manufactured items turned expensive.