Post Market Review - Aug 16 2010

After a steady first half, markets saw a sharp spike down in the afternoon trade to close deep in the red. Sensex lost 116 points to close at 18050 while Nifty ended at 5418, down 34 points. BSE Midcap index though managed to close in green, up 0.1% while the small-cap index lost 0.2%. The big story of the day was Vedanta buying stake in Cairn India. Vedanta Resources Plc will acquire a 51-61% equity stake in Cairn India, 31-40% directly and 20% via Sesa Goa, for approximately USD 8.5-9.6 billion. The deal was struck at `. 405/share including a non-compete fee of `. 50/share. An additional 20% open offer will be made at `. 355 per share. The stocks of Cairn India and Sesa Goa ended lower by 6.4% and 9% respectively. Suzlon plunged 7.2% after a disappointing set of earnings announced over the weekend. European markets turned negative after a positive opening while US stock indices futures were marginally in the red ahead of release of Empire manufacturing index and NAHB housing market index.



Barring BSE FMCG index that gained 0.8%, all the sectoral indices closed in red. Metal and Realty indices were down the most, losing 1.5% and 1.1% respectively. Power Grid and PNB were the top gainers among the Nifty stocks, up 3.5% and 2.9% respectively while Suzlon and Cairn plunged 7.2% and 6.5% respectively, becoming the top losers. BSE advance-decline ratio stood at 1:1.3.