Sensex ends 99 pts down; Oil, power

Sensex ends 99 pts down; Oil, power
Sensex ends down nearly 100pts, RIL

NSE
6206.80 6.70
BSE
20728.05 -99.40

After a fairly positive start, the benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty slipped into the red in a flash as several blue chip stocks, led by information technology majors, wilted under a strong bout of selling pressure.
Though the Nifty spent a better part of the next four hours in the positive territory thanks to a firm trend displayed by some of its components, the Sensex remained quite choppy and kept moving in and out of the positive territory with participants choosing every small rise as an opportunity to lighten commitments.
Though both the premier indices plunged sharply into the red with an hour to go for the closing bell, the Nifty managed to bounce back thanks to some hectic buying in some of its non-Sensex components.
While the Nifty ended the day at 6206.80 with a marginal gain of 6.70 points, the Sensex settled at 20,728.05, down 99.40 points or 0.48% from its previous closing mark. In intra-day trades today, the Sensex, which had opened with a positive gap at 20,918.23 and spurted to 20,985.62 in early trade, hit a low of 20,661.90. The Nifty touched a high of 6244.15 and a low of 6172 today.
Oil, power, realty, bank and PSU stocks were in demand today. Information technology stocks traded weak and mirroring the sharp losses posted by key stocks in that space, the BSE IT slipped by as much as 2.85% from its previous closing mark. Buying remained selective in FMCG, auto, capital goods, metal and pharma sectors.
Mid and smallcap stocks, which had taken a hammering last week, bounced back into the reckoning today. Reflecting investor interest for these stocks, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices moved up by 1.04% and 1.33% respectively.
Power stock NTPC, which remained quite subdued for a better part of the session, rallied smartly during the closing minutes and ended with a handsome gain of 4.65%. Heavyweight stock Reliance Industries (up 2.85%) ruled firm right through the session.
BHEL moved up by 1.6%. Reliance Communications, HDFC Bank, State Bank fo India, Ranbaxy Laboratories, ITC and DLF also closed with sharp gains. Tata Motors and Cipla gained marginal ground.
Bharti Airtel, which eased by a little over 6% to Rs 907.30, was the biggest loser in the Sensex. Wipro ended lower by 5%. Maruti Suzuki lost 4.85%. Infosys Technologies finished with a loss of 3.15%.
Tata Consultancy Services, Satyam Computer Services, HDFC, Mahindra & Mahindra, ACC, Bajaj Auto, ICICI Bank and Hindustan Unilever lost between 2% - 3%. Grasim Industries, Tata Steel, ONGC, Ambuja Cements and Reliance Energy also closed with sharp losses. Larsen & Toubro and Hindalco ended with small losses.
BPCL (7.5%), Hero Honda (6.6%), Tata Power (5.1%), Idea Cellular (4.4%) and Reliance Petroleum (2.35%) served Nifty's cause today.
Punjab National Bank, GlaxoSmithKline Pharma, Unitech and Cairn India were the other prominent gainers from the Nifty fold. GAIL India, Suzlon Energy and Zee Entertainment chipped in with modest gains.
Sun Pharmaceuticals, Nalco, HCL Technologies, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, Siemens and SAIL ended with sharp losses.
Apollo Tyres, Shipping Corporation of India, Hinduja Ventures, Axis Bank, Indian Bank, Exide Industries (Indian Bank and Exide Industries rose smartly on buoyant quarterly numbers), BPCL, Jindal Steel, Welspun Gujarat, Gujarat Narmada, Alok Industries, Gujarat Industries & Power, Arvind Mills, BASF India, Neyveli Lignite Corporation, Bank of Baroda and Indian Hotels posted impressive gains.
Reliance Natural Resources gained 7.2% on strong volumes. Jaiprakash Associates moved up by 5.55% on sustained buying on the back of a good show by the company in the October-December 2007 quarter.
The market breadth was marginally positive today. Out of 2881 stocks traded on BSE, 1576 stocks closed with gains. 1283 stocks finished in the negative territory and 22 stocks ended at their previous closing levels.

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