Sensex ends 139 pts down

Sensex down

Notwithstanding a few sharp rallies from lower levels - one such effort even lifted it up into the positive zone - the Sensex, which opened with a big negative gap and struggled all through the session, ended in the red today as information technology majors, pharma stock Ranbaxy Laboratories and a few old economy stocks went down with sharp losses on sustained selling pressure.

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Though as many as 15 of its components signed off with gains, losses posted by a majority of the remaining components proved so sharp that the Sensex found itself in the red when the session ended today.

Besides the adverse news on Ranbaxy Laboratories and concerns over future earnings of IT majors, inflation, declining industrial growth and uncertain political conditions all contributed to the market's weakness today.

PSU, metal, oil and auto stocks found support. Realty, power and capital goods sectors returned with a mixed bag while IT, bank, FMCG and pharma stocks trade weak.

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While the Sensex, which hit a high of 13,559.36 in intra-day trades, ended with a loss of 139.34 points or 1.03% at 13,330.51, the Nifty settled with a loss of 9.30 points or 0.23% at 4039.70, nearly 80 points down from a high of 4118.10 it touched around mid afternoon.

Pharma stock Ranbaxy Laboratories declined on fears that the promoters of the company may find it difficult to sell their stake to Daiichi Sankyo following the US government alleging that the company indulged in some malpractices like concealing and forging crucial data to get marketing approval for certain products. The stock, which plunged to a low of Rs 470.15 in intra-day trades, ended with a huge loss of 10.45% at Rs 475.90 today.

IT majors Satyam Computer Services (down 7.9%) and Infosys Technologies (down 7.15%) were battered again. Tata Consultancy Services (down 3.75%) and Wipro (down 1.9%) also ended with sharp losses.

Housing finance stock HDFC (down 3.35%), power equipment maker BHEL (down 3.3%), FMCG heavyweight ITC (down 3.3%), metal stock Hindalco (down 2.95%) and private sectors bank major HDFC Bank (down 3.25%) and ICICI Bank (down nearly 2%) also closed with sharp losses.

ACC lost a little over 1.5%. Jaiprakash Associates eased by 1.15%. Bharti Airtel, which moved in a tight band today, ended 1.1% down at Rs 736.85. Reliance Communications closed flat.

ONGC (3.25%), NTPC (3.15%), Mahindra & Mahindra (2.95%), State Bank of India (2.9%), Tata Steel (2.7%), Ambuja Cements (2.5%), Tata Motors (2.45%), Cipla (1.6%), Reliance Industries (1.55%) and Larsen & Toubro (1.5%) recorded impressive gains. Maruti Suzuki, Grasim Industries and DLF also closed on a firm note.

HCL Technologies, Idea Cellular, Suzlon Energy, Unitech, Cairn India, BPCL, GAIL India and Tata Communications closed with sharp losses.

Sterlite Industries moved up by 3.75% on some big order wins reported by the company. Nalco, Punjab National Bank, Tata Power, Sun Pharmaceuticals, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, Siemens, ABB and Zee Entertainment also ended with notable gains.

Hindustan Zinc, MMTC, Jai Corp, Bhushan Steel, Deccan Chronicle Holdings, Chennai Petroleum Corporation, Rajesh Exports, Rolta India, Educomp Solutions, Maytas Infra and Akruti City surged higher on strong buying enquiries.

Bajaj Holdings, Axis Bank, IFCI, Crompton Greaves, Moser Baer, Tech Mahindra, Areva, CESC, Nagarjuna Construction Company, Adani Enterprises, Aditya Birla Nuvo, Aban Offshore, Indian Hotels, Kotak Bank, MphasiS, REI Agro, SpiceJet, Everonn Systems, KLG Systel, KEI Industries, McNally Bharat, Geojit Financial Services, Voltamp Transformers, Emco, Anant Raj Industries, Mysore Cements, GSS America, Himadri Chemicals and Orbit Corporation ended with sharp losses.

As several stocks from midcap and smallcap segments also drifted lower, the market breadth was weak when trade ended today. Out of a total of 2649 stocks traded on BSE, 1576 stocks closed with losses. 1009 stocks posted gains and 64 stocks ended flat.

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