Markets close in red as technology stocks weigh

Today’s decline was led by losses in the technology stocks, with the Sensex falling by 21 points and the Nifty declining by 5 points at the close

Major headlines

Dhanlaxmi Bank tumbles as questions raised over business operations

Telecom stocks surge after Kapil Sibal unveils new telecom policy

Goa Carbon advances on better Q2 numbers

Denso India shoots up on re-structuring plans



Indian indices

After enjoying gains in the first half of trade, the Indian markets slipped in the negative terrain in the second half owing to heavy sell-off in technology stocks ahead of Infosys’ results tomorrow (October 12, 2011). Negative European cues too added pressure. Heavyweights like Infosys, Wipro, TCS, ICICI Bank, ONGC, HUL, BHEL, Sterlite Industries were the major draggers. The markets snapped a two-day winning streak and closed the trade in the red zone.

Sensex movements: Tracking global rally, the Sensex started the trade 111 points higher at 16668 and after few minutes touched the intraday high of 16774. The index stayed higher in the first half of trade. While entering in the second half, the index turned negative on the back of losses in the technology stocks and weak opening of the European indices and touched the intraday low of 16512. The Sensex closed 21 points lower at 16536 and the Nifty stood at 4974, down by 5 points.

Market sentiment:

The market breadth stood positive. Of the 2909 stocks traded on the BSE, 1558 (53.56%) surged, 1236 (42.49%) declined and 115 (3.95%) were unchanged.

Sectoral & stock screening

Among the 13 sectoral indices, eight closed in the green. Top Gainers — BSE CD up by 1.16%, BSE Metal rose by 0.97% and BSE Auto surged by 0.87%. Top Losers — BSE IT declined by 2.70%, BSE TECk fell by 1.44% and BSE Oil & Gas lost by 0.56%.

In 'A' group stocks, biggest gainers — Wockhardt surged by 11.59%, Jubilant Foodworks went up by 9.02% and Chambal Fertilisers & Chemicals rose by 8%. Top laggards – Infosys fell by 3.17%, Educomp Solutions slipped by 3.04% and Financial Technologies (India) slid by 2.97%.

Viewing volumes

An infrastructure development and construction company in India – IRB Infrastructure Developers was traded the most with over 0.85 crore shares changing hands on the BSE. Following that, an industrial finance company – IFCI (0.32 crore shares), India's largest automobile company – Tata Motors (0.32 crore shares), India's second largest developer - Unitech (0.26 crore shares) and a major Indian telecommunication company - Reliance Communications (0.21 crore shares).

Global signals

The European stocks fell on Tuesday, snapping a four-day rally, as investors awaited a Slovak vote on the euro- area bailout fund and the start of the American earnings season.

The Asian stocks closed higher on Tuesday, s ending a regional index toward its biggest four-day advance since March 2009, as Chinese lenders surged after a state-owned investment company bought bank shares and Japanese equities climbed on resuming trade from a holiday.

The US Stock index futures pointed to a lower open on the Wall Street on Tuesday.