Sensex ends lower; Bharti Airtel plummets

The Sensex ended on a negative note on inflation worries and also weighed by Bharti Airtel, Sterlite Industries and Reliance Communications. Consumer durables, tech and oil & gas stocks lost ground, while healthcare and IT gained. After flat to positive start, the index fell into the negative terrain and gain bounced back into the green to trade flat amid volatility. Later in the second half, Sensex slipped further due to selling activity seen in frontliners and continued to trade in red rest of the day, after touching a high of 16,227.04 and low of 16,011.82.

At the close, the benchmark 30-share index, BSE Sensex lost 112.41 or 0.70% at 16,040.18 with 20 components posting drop. Meanwhile, the broad based NSE Nifty fell by 24.90 or 0.52% at 4,801.95 with 33 components posting drop.

On global front, European stocks rose, extending the Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index`s first weekly advance in a month. Standard & Poor`s 500 Index futures expiring in March slipped less than 0.1%.

Sensex Movers

Bharti Airtel contributed fall of 50.05 points in the Sensex. It was followed by ICICI Bank (14.53 points), Larsen & Toubro (12.06 points), Reliance Industries (11.88 points) and Sterlite Industries (India) (11.14 points).

However, HD F C Bank contributed rise of 7.52 points in the Sensex. It was followed by Bharat Heavy Electricals (7.04 points), ITC (4.81 points), Hindalco Industries (4.12 points) and Tata Steel (2.43 points).

Biggest gainers in the 30-share index were Hindalco Industries (1.63%), Bharat Heavy Electricals (1.33%), H D F C Bank (0.92%), Wipro (0.62%), Hero Honda Motors (0.60%), and I T C (0.55%).

On the other hand, Bharti Airtel (9.40%), Sterlite Industries (India) (2.94%), Reliance Communications (2.77%), Reliance Capital (2.25%), Tata Power Company (2.04%), and Reliance Energy (1.61%) were the major losers in the Sensex.

Mid & Small-cap Space

The BSE Midcap index was at 6473.07 down by 36.67 points or by 0.56%.The major losers were A I A Engineering (2.32%), Reliance MediaWorks (1.51%), Alfa-Laval (India) (1.26%), Core Projects and Technologies (1.24%) and Ackruti City (0.34%).

The BSE Smallcap index was at 8272.69 down by 30.38 points or by 0.37%. The major losers were A B G Shipyard (5.41%), Abhishek Industries (1.97%), INEOS ABS (India) (1.76%), A B G Infralogistics (1.58%) and Provogue (India) (1.45%).

Sectors in Limelight

The Consumer Durables index was at 3,975.92, down by 60.17 points or by 1.49%. The major losers were Videocon Industries (2.47%), Blue Star (2.03%), Rajesh Exports (1.62%), Gitanjali Gems (0.91%) and Titan Industries (0.86%).

The TECk index was at 3,136.95, down by 41.4 points or by 1.3%. The major losers were Bharti Airtel (9.4%), Dish TV India (1.44%), Mphasis (0.82%), Balaji Telefilms (0.56%) and Idea Cellular (0.51%).

The Oil & Gas index was at 9,720.78, down by 91.85 points or by 0.94%. The major losers were Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (2.62%), Essar Oil (2.13%), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (1.43%), G A I L (India) (1.32%) and Cairn India (1.2%).

On the other hand, the HC index was at 4,792.77, up by 19.12 points or by 0.40%. The major gainers were Dr Reddy`S Laboratories (1.6%), Cipla (1.09%), Divis Laboratories (0.99%), Ipca Laboratories (0.49%) and Dishman Pharmaceuticals & Chemicals (0.29%).

Market Breadth

Market breadth was negative with 1,153 advances against 1,618 declines.

Value and Volume Toppers

Syncom Healthcare topped the value chart on the BSE with a turnover of Rs. 2,186.64 million. It was followed by Bharti Airtel (Rs. 1,301.17 million), Tata Steel (Rs. 900.31 million) and Vascon Engineers (Rs. 833.60 million).

The volume chart was led by Cals Refineries with trades of over 42.05 million shares. It was followed by Syncom Healthcare (24.99 million), Camlin (6.54 million) and Unitech (6.32 million).

Corporate News

Bharti Airtel and Zain have agreed to enter into exclusive discussion until Mar. 25, 2010 for the acquisition of Zain`s African unit (Zain Africa BV) based on an enterprise value of USD 10.7 billion.