Sensex pares losses at close; RCom, JP Asso drag

Indian equities dropped on Tuesday erasing earlier gains. The Sensex ended with mere loss of 61 points at 17,971.12 due to weakness persisted in global markets. On sectoral front, consumer durable, oil & gas, realty and metal stocks also dragged the indices lower. Both Sensex and Nifty traded below 1-month low.



It opened on a bleak note in line with the cues from global markets. Aggressive selling pulled the market further due to European woes. Impressive GDP numbers failed to cheer markets. Later the short covering aided the index recover part of the lost ground. Finally, it closed the volatile session in red after hitting a low of 17,819.99.

At the close, the benchmark 30-share index, BSE Sensex lost 60.99 points or 0.34% at 17,971.12 with 20 components registering drop. Meanwhile, the broad based NSE Nifty fell by 13.05 points or 0.24% at 5,402.40 with 36 components posting drop.

European stocks dropped before reports on US house prices and consumer confidence that may compound concern the recovery in the world`s largest economy is faltering. U.S index futures fell.

Asian stocks fell the most in three weeks as slower-than-estimated growth in US incomes fueled concern the economic recovery may falter. Japanese shares led declines on concern the government`s latest policy efforts will fail to rein in the yen and boost domestic growth.

Sensex Movers

Reliance Industries contributed fall of 66.64 points in the Sensex. It was followed by State Bank Of India (13.33 points), Bharat Heavy Electricals (7.45 points), Jaiprakash Associates (5.92 points) and Reliance Communications (5.39 points).

However, I T C contributed rise of 23.24 points in the Sensex. It was followed by I C I C I Bank (12.93 points), Mahindra & Mahindra (9.68 points), Bharti Airtel (7.07 points) and Infosys Technologies (6.96 points).

Major gainers in the 30-share index were Mahindra & Mahindra (2.85%), I T C (2.10%), Maruti Suzuki India (1.68%), Tata Motors (1.61%), Bharti Airtel (1.32%), and I C I C I Bank (0.95%).

On the other hand, Reliance Communications (3.61%), Jaiprakash Associates (3.54%), Reliance Industries (3.05%), Jindal Steel & Power (2.11%), D L F (1.82%), and Bharat Heavy Electricals (1.38%) were the biggest losers in the Sensex.

Mid & Small-cap Space

The BSE Mid and small caps underperformed their larger counterparts declining 0.58% and 1.00% respectively.

The major losers in the BSE Midcap were Aban Offshore (2.52%), Alstom Projects India (1.78%), Anant Raj Industries (0.9%), Ackruti City (0.05%) and Alfa-Laval (India) (0.05%).

The major losers in the BSE Smallcap were A B G Shipyard (2.39%), Abhishek Industries (1.65%), A B G Infralogistics (1.53%), Aarti Industries (1.18%) and INEOS ABS (India) (1.04%).

Sectors in Limelight

The Consumer Durables index was at 5,669.30, down by 134.52 points or by 2.32%. The major losers were Gitanjali Gems (6.88%), Rajesh Exports (5.69%), Whirlpool Of India (2.73%), Blue Star (1.3%) and Bajaj Electricals (1.21%).

The Oil & Gas index was at 9,920.62, down by 197.46 points or by 1.95%. The major losers were Aban Offshore (2.52%), Essar Oil (2.03%), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (1.4%), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (1.23%) and Cairn India (1.2%).

The Realty index was at 3,331.76, down by 57.89 points or by 1.71%. The major losers were D B Realty (3.06%), Indiabulls Real Estate (2.3%), D L F (1.82%), Anant Raj Industries (0.9%) and Ackruti City (0.05%).

On the other hand, the FMCG index was at 3,385.07, up by 52.77 points or by 1.58%. The major gainers were Colgate-Palmolive (India) (3.46%), United Spirits (2.7%), Dabur India (2.2%), I T C (2.1%) and Hindustan Unilever (0.46%).


Market Breadth

Market breadth was negative with 939 advances against 2,060 declines.

Value and Volume Toppers

Prakash Steelage topped the value chart on the BSE with a turnover of Rs. 2,841.30 million. It was followed by Reliance Industries (Rs. 2,418.20 million), S K S Microfinance (Rs. 1,415.18 million) and E I H (Rs. 1,277.79 million).

The volume chart was led by Prakash Steelage with trades of over 13.15 million shares. It was followed by E I H (9.13 million), Kingfisher Airlines (3.76 million) and Unitech (3.04 million).