Post Session Commentary - June 3 2008

The Indian market staged a smart recovery towards the end of the session after a tumbling start on the back of weak cues from the global markets. The market came from the lower level to close with marginal losses. The market tumbled at the start due to the worries of political uncertainty that Left may withdraw its support from the UPA over the concern of hiking domestic fuel price. Also, the lowering of ratings on Lehman Brothers Inc., Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. and Morgan Stanley by Standard & Poor''s Ratings Services also adds to the negative sentiment in the market. Further, the market recovered smartly to pare most of its losses on the back European markets, which opened in green. From the sectoral front, the cement shares gained some grounds on the back of reports that the government has restored benefits under the duty entitlement pass book (DEPB) scheme on export of cement, with immediate effect. The oil & gas stocks were in limelight and contributed in recovering the market marginally from its losses. However, the capital goods, power and IT stocks were not in favor as heavy selling was seen from these baskets. The market breadth was negative as 847 stocks closed in green while 1818 3stocks closed in red and 57 stocks remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex closed lower by 100.62 points at 15,962.56 and NSE Nifty fell by 23.70 points to close at 4,715.9. The BSE Mid Cap and Small Cap closed down by 36.89 points and 77.22 points to 6,547.30 and 7,882.29 respectively.

Losers from the BSE are Bharti Airtel (4.14%), Reliance Infra (3.87%), Satyam Computers (3.64%), BHEL (2.95%), HDFC (2.84%), J P Asso (2.57%), L&T Ltd (2.30%), HDFC Bank Ltd (1.84%), Infosys Tech (1.45%) and NTPC Ltd (0.74%).

The Capital Goods index was down by 287.50 points to close at 12,521.25. Major losers are Kalpat Power (5.81%), Suzlon Energy (3.60%), Kirposkar Oil Eng (3.36%), BHEL (2.95%), ABB Ltd (2.65%) and Elecon Eng (2.65%).

The Power index closed lower by 74.54 points at 2,754.20, losers are Rel Power (4.29%), Reliance Infra (3.87%), Power Grid (3.65%), Suzlon Energy (3.60%), CESC Ltd (3.37%), BHEL (2.95%) and Tata Power (2.91%).

The IT index closed lower by 68.26 points at 4,512.09. Losers are MPHASIS Ltd (5.35%), Satyam Computers (3.64%), HCL Tech (3.44%), Moser Bayer (3.19%), Patni Computers (2.56%), and Finance Tech (1.74%).

The Metal Index closed lower by 63.18 points at 16,232.08. Losers are Bhushan Steel (4.24%), Gujarat NRE C (4.08%), Nat Alu C (3.95%), Sh Precoated 3.275%), Sterlite In (1.61%)%) and Maharashtra Sea (1.10%).

The Banking index fell by 57.08 points to close at 7,397.25 as Bank of Baroda (4.62%), Union Bank (4.37%), Yes Bank (3.91%), Federal Bank (3.13%), Canara Bank (3.10%), and CBOP (3.08%) closed in negative territory.

The Oil & Gas index increased by 205.78 points at 10,412.49. Gainers are Essar Oil Ltd (5.52%), Cairn India (3.41%), IOC (3.03%), HPCL (2.77%) and Reliance (2.17%).