Post Session Commentary - Oct 23 2008

The Indian market slipped further for the second straight day to close deeper into red. Market shed more than 3% as investors are skeptic about the domestic as well as global economy. Lack of confidence among domestic investors, huge selling by foreign funds and recession fears aggravated the situation. The relaxation of ECB norms by the RBI failed to benefit the investor’s sentiment. Domestic market opened sharply lower on weak global cues as credit concerns had become strong in the emerging markets. Though the markets pared off its early losses in the afternoon, it could not sustain due to huge selling pressure. Eased inflation number and finance ministers’ comment that Sebi has asked FIIs to reverse short positions, also contributed a bit to the rebound. Sustained selling again hammered markets to end with sharp losses. NSE Nifty ended below 3,000 mark and BSE Sensex closed below 9,800 level. From the sectoral front, Metal index was worst performer as it ended with a deep cut of more than 11%. Besides, Oil & Gas, Auto, Bank, Pharma and Reality stocks also took huge beating on the bourses. However, Capital Goods and Consumer Durable stocks ended with gains.

Among the Sensex pack 24 stocks ended in red terrain while 6 in green. The market breadth was negative as 1908 stocks closed in red while 622 stocks closed in green and 66 stocks remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex closed lower by 398.20 points at 9,771.70 and NSE Nifty ended down by 122 points at 2,943.15. The BSE Mid Caps and Small Caps closed with losses of 111.67 points 3,378.72 and by 145.99 points at 3,965.70. The BSE Sensex touched intraday high of 10,260.55 and intraday low of 9,681.28.

Inflation for the week ended 11th October 2008, stood at 11.07% as against to 11.44% of the previous week. The annual inflation rate was 3.07% during the corresponding week of the previous year. Reduction in inflation is contributed by lower prices of food and non food items. In the non food category, sunflower and raw cotton became cheaper. Among food articles, the prices of fruits, vegetables and eggs dropped during the week.

Losers from the BSE Sensex pack are Tata Steel (14.85%), Tata Motors (14.57%), Hindalco (13.10%), Ranbaxy Lab (10.94%), M&M Ltd (9.77%), Maruti Suzuki (8.82%), ICICI Bank (7.79%), Bharti Airtel (7.76%), HDFC (7.71%), Reliance (7.62%), Sterlite Industries (7.47%) and JP Associates (6.41%).

Gainers from the BSE Sensex pack are Grasim Industries (4.74%), BHEL (2.74%), L&T Ltd (2.43%), HDFC Bank (2.23%), ONGC Ltd (1.94%) and TCS Ltd (0.20%).

The BSE Metal index ended down by 622.53 points at 4,996.92. Major losers are Tata Steel (14.85%), Steel Authority (14.39%), Nalco (14.08%), Hindalco (13.10%), Jindal Steel (10.98%) and Hindustan Zinc (10.03%).

The BSE Oil & Gas index plunged 399.30 points to close at 6,058.28. Major losers are Aban Offshore (16.54%), Reliance Petroleum (10.29%), Essar Oil Ltd (10.27 %), Reliance (7.62%), HPCL (7.42%) and BPCL (6.69%).

The BSE Auto index ended down by 215.37 points at 2,169.79. Losers are Tata Motors (14.57%), Apollo Tyre (12.26%), Amtek Auto (11.09%), M&M Ltd (9.77%), Maruti Suzuki (8.82%) and Bharat Forge (6.98%).

The Bank index lost 183.44 points to close at 5,504.58 as ICICI Bank (7.79%), Kotak Bank (6.27%), Bank of India (5.12%), SBI (4.84%), Indian Overseas Bank (4.37%) and IDBI Bank (3.46%) in negative territory.

The BSE Pharma index closed lower by 134.88 points at 3,064.44. Losers are Glenmark Pharma (11.50%), Ranbaxy Lab (10.94%), Sunpha Adv (7.33%), Apollo Hos E (6.46%), Matrix Lab (6.12%) and Aurobindo Pharma (4.51%).

The BSE Consumer Durable index gained 21.62 points to close at 1,969.56 as Titan Ind (5.31%), Rajesh Export (0.59%) and Blue Star L (0.57%) ended in positive territory.