The market slipped into the red after opening marginally higher this morning but bounced back into the positive zone soon only to falter again. And this trend continued till around mid afternoon as investors chose to tread a cautious path amid mixed global cues. Realty, metal and bank stocks stole the limelight even as the broad market was struggling to make a headway.
Stockometer
And then, there was a severe setback for the market as a severe bout of selling pressure sent stock prices tumbling down sharply and sent the benchmark index Sensex crashing down by over 300 points to 9441.97 from a high of 9746.01 it had touched earlier in the day.
However, thanks to frenzied buying in select bluechip stocks, including heavyweight Reliance Industries, the barometer rebounded smartly and ended the session with just a marginal loss. Though global cues were mixed today, there were some positive triggers for the market in the form of lower inflation and a cut in lending rates for loans across various categories.
Top gainers
While the Sensex ended 9.44 points down at 9645.46, the Nifty, which hit a low of 2861.55, settled at 2920.15 with a loss of 8.10 points.
Worst losers
Jaiprakash Associates (10.35%) traded firm right through the session today. Sterlite Industries (8.45%) and Reliance Communications (4.8%) also had a bright outing today. ACC moved up by 2.85%. Reliance Industries, which bounced back smartly after a setback this afternoon, ended with a sharp gain of 2.6% on strong volumes. ICICI Bank gained 1.6%.
Scrip Scan
Bharti Airtel, State Bank of India and Reliance Infrastructure closed with modest gains. Larsen & Toubro and ITC gained around a quarter per cent while Tata Steel, the other gainer in the Sensex, edged up marginally.
Experts' Talk
Tata Consultancy Services (down 6.2%), Satyam Computer Services (down 5.15%), Wipro (down 4.45%) and Infosys Technologies (down 3.2%) traded weak right through the session.
Hindalco lost 4.35%. BHEL eased by 2.75%. DLF opened on a firm note but lost its way in afternoon trade and ended lower by 2.25%. ONGC, Tata Motors, Grasim Industries, Hindustan Unilever, Maruti Suzuki, NTPC and HDFC drifted down by 1% - 2%. HDFC Bank, Ranbaxy Laboratories, Tata Power and Mahindra & Mahindra also closed weak.
Reliance Petroleum jumped by nearly 9% to Rs 84.05. On NSE, over 25.3 million shares changed hands at the RPL counter today. Reliance Power surged 4.5%. Suzlon Energy, Punjab National Bank and Idea Cellular also ended on a firm note.
GAIL India, Cipla, BPCL, ABB, HCL Technologies and Ambuja Cements lost 2% - 5%. Cairn India, Zee Entertainment, Power Grid Corporation, Unitech and Tata Communications also closed on a negative note today.
Reliance Natural Resources flared up by over 25%. GE Shipping zoomed 15.75%. Jet Airways ended stronger by over 12.5%. Shipping Corporation of India recorded a big gain of 12.15%. India Bulls Real Estate moved up by 10.8%.
Even as several large cap stocks were seen struggling to make a headway, a number of midcap and smallcap stocks rallied sharply on strong buying interest.
Mercator Lines, Anant Raj Industries, Motherson Sumi, ABG Shipyard, HT Media, Patel Engineering, Jindal Drilling, Kalpataru Power, Nirma, GlaxoSmithkline Consumer Healthcare, Shree Cements, SREI Infrastructure, Penland, JM Financial Services, Simplex Infrastructure and Gillette were among the prominent gainers in the Midcap index.
Smallcap stocks Nitin Fire, Andhra Cements, Mysore Cements, Development Credit Bank, DS Kulkarni Developers, Sadbhav Engineering, Emco, Infomedia, JMC Projects, Visa Steel, Zuari Industries, Bharati Shipyard and Sundaram Clayton posted strong gains.
The market breadth was positive today. Out of 2565 stocks traded on the BSE, 1557 stocks posted gains. 911 stocks declined and 97 stocks ended flat.
