Market breaks 11 consecutive days’ rally

The market declined today, 4 October 2007, ending an 11-day winning streak that had taken it to record highs. It had made a smart recovery in late trade from its earlier lower levels in day of volatile trading. Reliance Industries sprang back into action. Banking stocks were the major losers. Mid-cap and small-cap indices gained. The market breadth remained negative. Asian markets ended in red, while European markets were trading in green.

The market had opened soft, following weak Asian and US markets. After recovering briefly, it once again sank into red, only to spring back later. The market slipped to its lower levels for the day in mid-afternoon trade.

The BSE 30-share Sensex ended down 69.90 points, or 0.39%, to 17,777.14 points . It had hit a high of 17,890.49 and a low of 17,494.70 during the day. At its day’s low, the Sensex had shed 352.54 points. The S&P CNX Nifty closed lower 2.15 points, or 0.04%, to 5,208.65. It had touched a low of 5,126.05 in mid-afternoon trade.

Of the 30 shares of the Sensex, only 12 settled in the positive territory. The remaining ended in red. The market breadth was weak on BSE: 1,134 scrips had advanced, 1,608 declined, while 332 remained unchanged.

The BSE Mid-Cap index rose 34.27 points, or 0.45%, to 7,576.27, and the BSE Small-Cap index 39.61 points, or 0.44%, to 9,141.52. Thus, both the indices outperformed the broad market.

IT stocks declined today.Top software exporters Infosys Technologies (down 0.31% to Rs 1,995.10), Wipro (down 1.99% to Rs 461.30),Tata Consultancy Services (down 0.12% to Rs 1,078.65)and Satyam Computer Services (down 0.12% to Rs 450.45) turned weak after the Indian rupee touched a nine-and-a-half-year peak against the dollar on Wednesday, 3 October 2007.

The BSE Capital Goods index recovered from its lower levels. L&T was flat at Rs 2,896.25, Bhel (up 0.84% to Rs 2,091.70) and Unitech (up 5.45% to Rs 338.95) edged higher.

The BSE Metal index was the second highest gainer in the sectoral indices. Tata Steel (up 2.94% to Rs 864.75) and Jindal Steel & Power jumped 16.95% to Rs 6,291.75 on reports that it will spend $600 million to build an electricity plant in Turkey.

The Bankex was the biggest loser among the sectoral indices on expectation that the Reserve Bank of India will raise the cash reserve ratio (CRR). Constituents ICICI Bank shed 2.45% to Rs 1,061.35, and HDFC Bank 1.28% to Rs 1,404.20 after their American depositary receipts fell 2.2 % and 3.2 %, respectively, on Wednesday, 3 October 2007.State Bank of India declined 0.47% to Rs 1,900.35.

NTPC (up 4.33% to Rs 226.40) was the top gainer among the Sensex pack. It hit an all-time high of Rs 228.90 today. Other gainers were Tata Steel (up 2.94% to Rs 864.75), Cipla (up 2.19% to Rs 189.05),Reliance Energy (up 1.89% to 1,477.85) and Maruti Suzuki (up 2.1% to Rs 1,041.30) edged higher.

The largest private sector company and oil refiner Reliance Industries was up 1.21% to Rs 2,422.55.

HDFC lost 3.84% to Rs 2,494.65 and was the top loser from the Sensex pack. ONGC (down 3.77% to Rs 985.950), Hindalco Industries (down 1.84% to Rs 175.70) and Wipro (down 1.99% to Rs 461.30) were the other losers from the Sensex pack.

Among the side counters, Ensa Steel Industries (up 59.55% to Rs 6.35), Nagpur Power (up 19.93% to Rs 65.30), AMD Multiplast (up 20% to Rs 48.95), and Nava Bharat Ventures (up 20% to Rs 279.15) were the major gainers.

Valecha Engineering (down 32.21% to Rs 201.75), SPL Polymers (down 9.96% to Rs 8.14), Link Pharma Chem (down 9.34% to Rs 8.25), Dynemic Products (down 9.11% to Rs 22.95) were the major losers.

Kaveri Seed Company ended at Rs 230.10 on it debut on BSE, a premium of 35.35% over the IPO price of Rs 170.

Jindal Steel & Power jumped 16.95% to Rs 6,291.75 on reports that it will spend $600 million to build an electricity plant in Turkey.

Crisil had declined 0.91% to Rs 3,613.75, its high for the day after reports suggested it had tied up with Corporation Bank for rating of small and medium enterprises and small-scale industries.

Biocon advanced 4.9% to Rs 515.70 on reports that it is in talks with German pharma major Bayer AG for co-development of innovative biotech drugs.

Ranbaxy Laboratories moved up 0.84% to Rs 442.30 on reports that it is planning to hive off research and development of its new chemical entities into a separate company.

Eicher Motors soared 16.61% to Rs 442.30 on reports that European automobile major Volvo is set to acquire a majority stake in the company.

Sobha Developers extended gains by 2.25% to Rs 899.50 after it joined hands with QVC Realty and Chintels India to develop an integrated township on 192 acres in Gurgaon.

Tata Chemical jumped 2.8% to Rs 313.75 on reports that its wholly-owned subsidiary Brunner Mond is eyeing forward integration.

Dabur India up 1.39% to Rs 109.30 after a block deal of one crore shares (1.16% equity) at Rs 107 per share on the National Stock Exchange.

CS Software Enterprise had surged 4.14% to Rs 39 after securing a contract from Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company to implement electricity billing in Nasik, Maharashtra.

Most of the Asian markets, which opened before the Indian markets, were in red today. These included Hong Kong’s Hang Seng (down 1.84% to 26,973.98), Taiwan's Taiwan Weighted (down 0.75% to 9,627.39) and Japan's Nikkei (down 0.62% at 17,092.49). Singapore's Straits Times (up 0.78% to 3,783.81), however, had edged higher.

Most of the European markets, which opened after the Indian markets, were trading in red, except UK’s FTSE 100 (up 0.52% to 6,568.90): France’s CAC (down 0.07% to 5,802.29) and Germany’s DAX (down 0.04% to 7,952.43) edged lower.

American markets ended in red on Wednesday, 3 October 2007. The Dow Jones Industrial Average index shed 79.26 points to 13,968.05 and Nasdaq 17.68 points to 2,729.43 after getting hit by tech sell-off and job data fears.

The Sensex had ended up 518.42 points, or 2.99%, to 17,847.04, an all-time closing high on Wednesday, 3 October 2007. The S&P CNX Nifty was up 141.85 points, or 2.8%, to 5,210.80, an all-time closing high.