Sensex sheds 282 points

The market drifted lower today, falling for the third day in a row, due to concerns arising on the political front. BSE IT index was the only index among sectoral and niche indices on BSE which was in the green. Market breadth was quite weak. Metal, auto and realty stocks plunged.

BSE Mid-Cap and BSE Small-Cap indices underperformed the Sensex. Reliance Industries lost ground. Asian markets were trading mixed. European markets were subdued.

The market had opened on a firm note taking cue from firm global markets. The Sensex hit all-time high at the onset of the trading session. It later slipped into the red as political concerns took centrestage.

The BSE 30-share Sensex lost 281.97 points, or 1.59%, to 17,491.39 points. It opened with an upward gap of 128.58 points at 17,901.94 and soon surged to all-time high of 17,982.59. Sensex hit an intra-day low 17,322.14 in afternoon trade. At day's low of 17,322.14, Sensex had lost 451.22 points for the day.

BSE clocked a turnover of Rs 7206 crore compared to Friday (5 October 2007)'s Rs 7,778.58 crore.

The S&P CNX Nifty ended down 100.75 points, or 1.94%, to 5,085.10. It had hit a high of 5,249.30 in early trade. It hit a low of 5,024.75 in afternoon trade.

NSE F&O segment clocked a turnover of Rs 69,842.2 crore today, 8 October 2007 compared to turnover of Rs 64,188.48 crore on Friday, 5 October 2007.

Nifty October 2007 futures were at 5071.80 , a discount of 13.30 points or 0.26% to the spot price of 5085.10.

BSE Mid Cap index declined 273.91 points or 3.66% to 7,211.60 and BSE Small Cap index was down 300.87 points or 3.31% to 8,801. Both these indices underperformed the market.

BSE Metal index (down 3.77% to 13,589.61), BSE Oil & Gas index (down 3.09% to 9,797.65), BSE Realty index (down 3.61% to 9,283.22), BSE Health Care index (down 3.06% to 3,709.31), BSE PSU index (down 3.79% to 8,024.21), BSE Bankex (down 2.6% to 8,984.86) underperformed the Sensex.

BSE Auto index (down 1.77% to 5,270.71), BSE Capital Goods index (down 1.89% to 15,445.63), BSE IT index (up 0.63% to 4,770.31) outperformed Sensex.

Speculation of mid-term polls gained strength after Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Sunday, 7 October 2007, indicated her party’s readiness to face elections by saying those opposing the nuclear deal were enemies of development and peace. Gandhi said that there was a need to keep a certain pace in power generation if the pace of the country's progress has to be maintained.

Though Gandhi did not specifically refer to the opposition to the deal from the Left Front, her comments assume importance, coming in the wake of the standoff between the government and the Left Front over the nuclear deal.

A day after Congress president Sonia Gandhi attacked the opponents of the India-United States civil nuclear deal, the Left parties today, 8 October 2007, said India need not surrender its "vital interests" to America on the agreement. "The Left parties categorically reiterate that the nuclear deal with the US is against the interests of India. Those who advocate the deal, should know that India is capable of developing nuclear energy primarily on a self-reliant basis," top Left leaders said in a statement. "We need not surrender our vital interests to America on this plea," CPI (M) general secretary Prakash Karat, CPI leader A B Brdhan, Forward Bloc's Deabrata Bisws and RSP's Abani Roy said in the statement.

While the operationalisation of the Indo-US nuclear deal has been put on hold by the government pending the findings of a committee set up by the government to look into Left Front’s concerns over the deal, it cannot be stalled forever.

The Communists want the government to defer the Indo-US nuclear accord by six months and have warned of a political crisis if it is implemented. The four Communist parties have 60 members of the parliament (MPs) in the 545-member lower house of parliament. The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at the centre could fall or be reduced to a minority if the Left withdraws support.

On the flip side, political turmoil arising from nuke deal will not impact India’s basic economic fundamentals though some infrastructure projects may get delayed. India’s economy is expected to post strong growth for a long period of time mainly due to favourable demographics.

Of the 30 shares of the Sensex, 7 had moved up, while the remaining were trading down. The market breadth was quite weak on BSE: 450 scrips advanced, 2,252 declined, while 371 remained unchanged on BSE.

Metal index was the biggest loser from sectoral indices on BSE. Steel shares declined after global steel industry association IISI said China, one of the largest consumers of the metal, would be a net steel exporter of 50-55 million tonnes in 2007.

Tata Steel (down 5.27% to Rs 789), Sail (down 5.2% to Rs 192.40) JSW Steel (down 5.58% to Rs 804.20), edged lower. Other metal stocks Sterlite Industries (down 2.66% to Rs 741.95) and Hindalco Industries (down 4.52% to Rs 161.55) also declined.

IT stocks gained ahead of Q2 September 2007 results. Infosys begins the earning season on 11 October 2007. BSE IT index was the only gainer from the sectoral indices on BSE. Infosys (up 0.54% to Rs 2,000.45), TCS (up 0.78% to Rs 1,078.50), Satyam Computer Services (up 2.5% to Rs 455.55) and Wipro ( up 1.84% to Rs 469.65), moved higher.

Bharat Heavy Electricals rose 1.73% to Rs 2,190.75. It hit a all time high of Rs 2,250 today.

Reliance Energy (down 4.67% to Rs 1,379.50, ACC (down 5.23% to Rs 1,115.10), Ranbaxy Laboratories (down 4.82% to Rs 412.30) and NTPC (down 4.57% to Rs 204.65) were the major losers from the Sensex pack.

India’s largest private company in terms of market capitalisation and oil refiner Reliance Industries lost 2.7% to Rs 2,416.95.

Bharti Airtel was down 0.83% to Rs 984.80 on reports that it may sell around 10% stake in its unit, Bharti Infratel to a private equity player for $1.1 billion.

Jai Balaji Industries was locked at 5% upper limit of Rs 208.75 on BSE, after it signed a memorandum of agreement with the Government of West Bengal for setting up a steel plant, a cement plant and a captive power plant in the state.

Kotak Mahindra Bank down 4.96% to Rs 911.85 on reports that the bank is in talks with some strategic investors to raise around $400 million via a qualified institutional offering

Patni Computer Systems was up 4.77% to Rs 480.05 on reports that two of its directors Gajendra Patni and Ashok Patni have ceased to be executive directors of the company effective 1 October 2007.

iGate Global Solutions surged 9.76% to Rs 264.25 ahead of the company announcing its Q2 September 2007 results on 10 October 2007.

Dollex Industries declined 6.77% to Rs 104.70 on BSE, after it announced today, 8 October 2007, it has signed a memorandum of understanding with the state government of Madhya Pradesh for Agro-Energy complex.

Housing Development Finance Corporation was up 0.13% to Rs 2,458.30 on hopes of a higher valuation of its insurance business as the company is expected to finalise a partner for its insurance venture by end of this month.

Rajesh Exports was down 0.74% to Rs 879.75 after it said its net profit rose 156% in Q2 September 2007.

McNally Bharat Engineering Company declined 3.48% to Rs 190.05 on BSE, after it announced today, 8 October 2007, it has received a Rs 38.31 crore order from Maharashtra State Power Generation Company for its new Parli thermal project.

Simplex Projects declined 4.47% to Rs 271.55, after it announced today, 8 October 2007, it has recently bagged orders for piling, foundation and residential complex in Kolkata from various agencies.

Among side counters, Intelvisions Software (up 19.96% to Rs 123.20), Phoenix International (up 20% to Rs 25), Surana Corporation (up 19.92% to Rs 44.25) , Panchmahal Steel (up 16.95% to Rs 310.50) and Patspin India (up 14.27% to Rs 13.77) edged higher.

Nagarjuna Chemicals & Fertiliser (down 15.13% to Rs 51.05), ITL Industries (down 14.53 % to Rs 50.30) and Mangalore Chemicals & Fertilisers (down 17.12% to Rs 32.20) were major losers.

Asian markets, which opened before the Indian markets, were mixed today. Taiwan's Taiwan Weighted (up 1.04% to 9,717.17) edged higher. Singapore’s Straits Times (down 0.06% to 3,820.31) and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng (down 0.22% to 27,770.29) edged lower.

European markets, which opened after the Indian markets, slipped into the red after starting on a positive note. France’s CAC (down 0.05% to 5,840.43), FTSE 100 (down 0.16% to 6,585.20) and Germany’s DAX (down 0.11% to 7,993.37) edged lower.

American markets galloped on Friday,5 October 2007. The Dow gained 95.36 points, or 0.68 %, on the day, closing at 14,069.67. The S&P 500 had a record session on Friday, posting new closing and intraday high records. rose 14.17 points, or 0.92 %, on the day to close at 1,557.01. US markets surged as non-farm payrolls report released on Friday 5, October 2007 showed US employers added 1,10,000 jobs in September 2007 and August 2007 job losses were revised to a gain, helping lift worries about a US recession in the near term.