Sensex sheds 88 points

The market turned negative from opening bell, and on emergence of selling touched an intra-day low of 16613. The index pared losses to a considerable extend and ended the session with a loss of 88 points at 16693, while Nifty declined 28 points to 4959.

The market breadth was positive. Of the 2,855 stocks traded on BSE, 1,628 stocks advanced, 1,137 stocks declined and 90 stocks ended unchanged. BSE HC was up 5.33%, while BSE Oil & Gas, BSE CD, BSE Realty and BSE FMCG gained marginally. Rest of sectoral indices ended in negative territory. BSE Metal declined 2.23%, BSE IT was down 1.72%, BSE Teck lost 1.30% and BSE Bankex slumped 1.14%.

Among gainers in heavyweights, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries jumped 7.04% to Rs1,311, Reliance Industries gained 1.21% to Rs2,129.80, and ITC advanced 1.01% to Rs234.75. ONGC, DLF, Maruti Suzuki India, HDFC, Jaiprakash Associates and National Thermal Power Corporation reported marginal gains. However, Tata Steel dropped 2.85% to Rs498.50, ICICI Bank fell 2.50% to Rs838.60, Tata Consultancy Services shed 2.06% to Rs587.05, Tata Power declined 2.05% to Rs1284.10 and Wipro slipped 2.04% to Rs567.15. Other losers like Hindalco Industries, Infosys Technologies, Tata Motors, Sterlite Industries, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bharti Airtel and Reliance Communications were down around 1-2%.

Health care stocks were the major gainers. Dr Reddy’s Laboratories soared 10.50% to Rs985.85, Orchid Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals was up 9.19% to Rs177.65, Aurobindo Pharma advanced 8.51% to Rs744.30, Biocon jumped 7.27% to Rs257.55 and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries surged 7.04% to Rs1311. Glaxosmithline Pharma, Divis laboratories and Pfizer advanced over 5-7% each.

Ispat Industries was the most actively traded share with over 1.32 crore shares changing hands on BSE followed by IFCI (1.14 crore shares), Suzlon Energy (98.61 lakh shares), IDBI Bank (97.25 lakh shares) and GTL Infrastructures (90.95 lakh shares).