Post Session Commentary - Dec 17 2008

The domestic market slipped sharply since afternoon trade to close in red terrain on lower US index futures along with dive in European stocks. Earlier market was showing volatility on constant bouts of buying and selling. Initially market surged on positive cues from US markets as the Federal Open Market Committee, cuts the Fed funds rate to target range of 0 - 0.25%. But suddenly the markets gave up their early gains as India''s fourth largest software firm in terms of sales, Satyam Computer Services suspended to buy two related companies. The company called-off deal over the acquisition of Maytas Properties and Maytas Infra that led to the negative sentiments.

The Indian market opened on positive note today on the back of encouraging cues from the global markets led by Fed decision to cut Fed funds rate. However market was not able to hold the same momentum and pared its gains soon after start. Further stocks continued to swing between positive and negative zone till afternoon session. Finally at the end, market closed with losses as investors resorted to profit booking. BSE Sensex ended around 9,700 mark and NSE Nifty below 3,000 level. From the sectoral front, Investors off-loaded positions across the sectors and Reality stocks took a sharp bit as ended with deep cut of more than 7%. Apart from that, Teck, Power Metal, IT, Capital Goods and Oil & Gas stocks contributed to most of selling pressure. Midcap and Smallcap stocks also followed a similar trend.

Among the Sensex pack 21 stocks ended in red territory and 9 in green. The market breadth was negative as 1569 stocks closed in red while 956 stocks closed in green and 72 stocks remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex closed lower by 261.69 points at 9,715.29 and NSE Nifty ended down by 87.40 points at 2,954.35. The BSE Mid Caps and Small Caps ended with losses of 108.04 points and 98.09 points at 3,136.17 and 3,678.56 respectively. The BSE Sensex touched intraday high of 10,073.10 and intraday low of 9,682.91.

Losers from the BSE Sensex pack are Satyam Computer (30.22%), Reliance Infra (13.73%), Reliance Communications Ltd (13.36%), JP Associates (12.21%), ACC Ltd (9.21%), DLF Ltd (8.64%), Tata Power (5.92%), Sterlite Industries (5.16%), Bharti Airtel (4.73%) and BHEL (4.37%).

Gainers from the BSE Sensex pack are ICIC Bank (2.43%), HDFC Bank (1.83%), Infosys Tech (1.51%), Wipro Ltd (1.50%), HUL (1.27%), M&M Ltd (1.25%), Grasim Industries (0.55%) and ONGC Ltd (0.39 %).

The BSE Reality index ended down by (7.36%) or 169.18 points at 2,129.21. Major losers are Indiabull Real (11.13%), Orbit Co (10.57%), Unitech Ltd (9.11%), DLF Ltd (8.64%), Mahindra Life (8.16%) and Ansal Infra (6.75%).

The BSE Teck index plunged (5.02%) or 101.89 points to close at 1,926.48. Losers are Satyam Computer (30.22%), Reliance Communications Ltd (13.36%), Moser Bayer (11.17%), Rolta India (10.26%), Dish TV (9.98%) and Adlabs Film (9.25%).

The BSE Power index ended lower by (4.44%) or 81.07 points at 1,743.64. Main Losers are GVK Power (14.00%), Reliance Infra (13.73%), Suzlon Energy (9.40%), Crompton Greaves (7.00%), Reliance Power (6.42%) and Lanco Infra (5.84%).

The BSE Metal index dropped by (4.36%) or 242.63 points to close at 5,323.44 as Welspan Gujarat SR (13.59%), Steel authority (8.77%), NMDC Ltd (7.34%), Ispat Industries (7.07%), Jindal Saw (6.93%) and JSW Steel (6.78%) ended in negative territory.

The BSE IT index lost (4.04%) or 94.65 points to close at 2,245.93 as Satyam Computer (30.22%), Moser Bayer (11.17%), Rolta India (10.26%), Financ Tech (7.29%), NIIT Ltd (6.46%) and Aptech Ltd (5.21%) ended in red.

The BSE Capital Goods index ended lower by (2.90%) or 189.85 points at 6,835.42. Major losers are Thermax Ltd (15.96%), Suzlon Energy (9.40%), Praj Industries (8.82%), Gammon India (8.74%), Reliance Industrial Infra (8.38%) and Walchand Industries (7.24%).