Sensex ends Muhurat session with a big loss

Despite a rousing start, it turned out to be a weak outing for several blue chip stocks in the short one hour Muhurat Trading Session today. The session convened by the bourses to mark the beginning of Samvat Year 2064 saw the Sensex extending its recent losses and close in the red, way down from a high of 19,329.57 it had touched in early trade.

While the Sensex finished with a loss of 151.33 points or 0.79%, the broader 50-stock Nifty index of the National Stock Exchange ended with a loss of 35.50 points or 0.62% at 5663.25.

The Nifty, which had touched a high of 5794.20 in early trade this evening, plunged to a low of 5614.90 during the final minutes of the session. The Sensex crashed to a low of 18,737.22. This is the worst ever setback suffered by the market in special trading sessions.
India's inflation dropped down to 2.97%, its lowest in more than five years, but weak global markets continued to dampen the mood of investors and pushed the indices to a negative close for the fifth straight session today. Participants appeared keen on utilising the one hour trading opportunity to book profits due to sustained weakness in global markets.
As the mood turned quite bearish, only a few stocks, Reliance Communications (0.7%), Cipla (0.45%), NTPC (0.4%), Ranbaxy Laboratories (0.3%) and ONGC (0.2%), among the Sensex components ended on the positive side today.
ACC lost nearly 3.5%. ICICI Bank and Wipro closed lower by 2.15% and 2.05% respectively. Satyam Computer Services, Bharti Airtel, HDFC, Tata Motors, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Auto, Tata Steel, Grasim Industries, Mahindra & Mahindra and State Bank of India lost 1% - 2%.
Hindustan Unilever, Ambuja Cements, Infosys Technologies, Hindalco, Reliance Energy, Tata Consultancy Services and BHEL also closed with sharp losses. Maruti Suzuki eased by around 0.35%. Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, Larsen & Toubro, ITC and Reliance Industries ended marginally lower.
Oil stocks Hindustan Petroleum Corporation, BPCL, Indian Oil Corporation, Reliance Petroleum and Essar Oil closed with strong gains on expectations of a hike in fuel prices.
Suzlon Energy, Ispat Industries, National Fertilizers, Fertilizers & Chemicals, Essel Propack, Gujarat Minerals, Gillette, Indo Rama Synthetics, Spice Telecom, Britannia Industries, Ramco Systems, Punjab Tractors, FDC, Dredging Corporation, Raymond, Apollo Tyre, ING Vysya Bank, Container Corporation and Finolex Cables surged higher on firm buying support.
Though the indices went down sharply, the market breadth remained positive thanks to a fairly strong display by stocks in the midcap and smallcap segments.


Muhurat Day: Sensex ends down 151pts

The Sensex, began Samvat 2064 with a bang, opened with a positive gap of 224 points at 19,283, and soon touched a high of 19,330. The index, however, could not hold gains for long as profit taking at higher levels saw the index slip into red.The index tumbled to a low of 18,737 - down 546 points from the day's high. The Sensex finally ended with a loss of 151 points at 18,908 on this special trading day.In the process, the index finished in red for the first time in the last ten years on Muhurat trading day.

MUHURAT TRADING
Date
Sensex Close
Net Chg

Nov 09, 2007
18,907.60
-151.33

Oct 21, 2006
12,736.82
27.42

Nov 02, 2005
8072.75
128.65

Nov 12, 2004
5964.01
9.67

Oct 25, 2003
4802.28
44.91

Nov 04, 2002
2987.58
37.00

Nov 14, 2001
3113.04
35.85

Oct 26, 2000
3757.16
13.55

Nov 07, 1999
4650.54
52.09

Oct 19, 1998
2853.27
5.16

Oct 30, 1997
3803.24
-131.09

Nov 10, 1996
3080.26
13.60

* Data by BS Research Bureau The BSE Bankex dropped 1.4% to 10,212. The IT and Metal indices slipped 1% each to 4253 and 16,864, respectively.ACC plunged 3.5% to Rs 1,020. ICICI Bank and Wipro slipped over 2% each to Rs 1,143 and Rs 460, respectively.Satyam shed 1.8% at Rs 427. Bharti Airtel, HDFC and Tata Motors dropped 1.5% each to Rs 871, Rs 2,523 and Rs 696, respectively.HDFC Bank, Bajaj Auto and Tata Steel declined 1.3% each to Rs 1,538, Rs 2,398 and Rs 834, respectively.Grasim, Mahindra & Mahindra and SBI were down 1% each at Rs 3,503, Rs 744 and Rs 2,162, respectively.The market breadth, however, was fairly positive - out of 2,557 stocks traded, 1,792 advanced, 701 declined and 64 were unchanged today.


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