ICICI's Q2 net jumps 33% on higher interest income

MUMBAI: ICICI Bank, the country’s second-largest lender, has reported a 32.8% rise in net profit on the back of higher interest income, although the bank’s portfolio of bad loans swelled considerably during the second quarter of this fiscal. Net profit for the quarter ended September 30, 2007 rose to Rs 1,002.6 crore from Rs 755 crore compared with a year ago.

For the first half of this fiscal, ICICI Bank has reported a 29.3% rise in net profit at Rs 1,777.7 crore from Rs 1,375 crore. The gross non-performing assets of the bank have doubled to Rs 5,931.5 crore while net non-performing assets rose by 96% to Rs 2,970.9 crore. Incidentally, the bad loans are more than the gross and net non-performing assets figure for the last fiscal, which were at Rs 4,126 crore and Rs 1,992 crore, respectively. The rise in bad loans has been on account of delinquencies in the loan portfolio of the bank, especially in personal loans and credit cards, where there is no recourse to any collateral. ICICI Bank had forayed into this segment aggressively given the high margins. But typically, such business segments pose severe risks which seem to have impacted the bank now.

On a percentage basis, gross NPAs rose to 2.8% from 1.9%, while net NPAs have risen to 1.4% from 1% the previous fiscal. According to ICICI Bank CFO Vishakha Mulye, the bank has seen a rise in its lending on non-collateralised loans. This has increased from sub-10% of the retail portfolio to 15% of the portfolio. Even though interest rates on these products are high, the delinquencies are also higher. However, compared with the first quarter, the net NPAs have risen by Rs 250 crore. The total income rose 41% to Rs 9,588.4 crore from Rs 6,796.8 crore on the back of a rise in interest income. Interest income rose 43.8% to Rs 7,516.5 crore from Rs 5,226.7 crore and other income rose 31.9% to Rs 2,072 crore from Rs 1,570.1 crore. Fee income of the bank rose 25% to Rs 1,486 crore, while lease and other income showed a sharp spurt of 183% to Rs 411 crore. However, treasury income dropped 27% to Rs 175 crore. The bank had a $1.5-billion portfolio of credit linked notes.

Close to 70% of this constituted Indian credit, with the remaining being institutional credit. Because of the subprime crisis, the bank had to make provisioning which resulted in a drop in treasury income. Interest expenses rose 47.2% to Rs 5,730.5 crore. The net interest margins of the bank have risen to 2.3% from 2.1%. The NIM for the first quarter was at 1.9%. Shares of the bank fell marginally by 1.42% to Rs 1,024.05 on the Bombay Stock Exchange on Friday. Total advances rose 33% to Rs 2,07,121 crore on September 30, 2007. The advances of the bank’s international branches were up 146% to Rs 36,994 crore. With this the proportion of advances of the bank's international branches in total advances rose to 17.9% from 9.7%. The bank’s retail advances at Rs 1,31,014 crore constituted 63% of total advances. Advances to the small and medium enterprises segment increased 56% to Rs 5,205 crore.

Deposits were higher by 20% to Rs 2,28,307 crore. The capital adequacy ratio of the bank is now 16.7%. ICICI Bank UK’s net profit for the half year was at $36 million. Ms Mulye added that the group had invested Rs 600 crore into the insurance ventures in the first quarter of this fiscal. According to a banking analyst at a local brokerage firm, on a quarterly basis, the bank has not lent much. While current tax payments stand at Rs 418 crore, on a tax-adjusted basis, the tax liability has gone down by Rs 178 crore. If this tax-adjustment is taken off, the profit after tax has actually risen only by 9% on a Y-o-Y basis and a mere 6% on a quarterly basis.


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Sensex crashes another 438 points

SENSEX
17559.98
-438.41

NIFTY
5215.30
-135.70

Sensex crashes another 438 points:

MUMBAI: Foreign portfolio managers are frantically trying to put their house in order. The finance minister’s reassurance that FIIs may get more time to unwind P-Notes gave them little comfort. On Friday, FIIs continued to pare P-Note positions held in their sub-accounts, causing the Sensex and the Nifty to drop by over 2%. Both indices closed well above the day’s lows, but the sentiment continues to remain fragile. “The hitch is, unwinding the PN positions may not be as easy as it looks,” said a dealer at a foreign broking firm. “In many instances, FIIs holding the underlying shares have lent them to other players for a fee, or spun off additional products from those shares to earn higher commission. Some FIIs have even been using those shares for trading in their proprietary accounts,” the dealer said.

Meanwhile, at a seminar in Mumbai, HDFC chairman Deepak Parekh defended the proposed curbs on PNs on the grounds that a lot of unregulated money was coming in. According to provisional data on BSE, FIIs net sold Rs 1,750 crore worth of shares while mutual funds net bought Rs 186 crore worth of shares. Interestingly, while the exchange websites showed that FIIs had net sold around Rs 1,100 crore worth of shares on Thursday, SEBI data reveals that foreign funds were net buyers of around Rs 125.7 crore.

Dealers said the discrepancy could be due to exchanges taking into consideration only secondary market trades on that day and not purchases through other sources like primary markets, FCCB conversion and preferential allotment. With the liquidity taps in danger of running dry, should the SEBI proposals to curb P-Notes become law, local operators continued to experience withdrawal symptoms for the third successive session on Friday.

Reflecting the jitters among investors, the Sensex plunged to an intra-day low of 17,226.18 before climbing to 17,559.98 at close, down 438.41 points over the previous close. The Nifty bounced from a low of 5,101.75 to end the day at 5,215.30, down 135.70 points. Reliance Energy shares, which had been in the forefront of the recent rally, was the top loser among the Sensex stocks shedding 16%. In the past couple of sessions, the stock has fallen over 25%. Among other prominent losers, ACC, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Industries, BHEL, Hindalco and Maruti Udyog were down between 4% and 7%. The losses in the indices were cushioned to some extent by 1-2% gains in stocks like Infosys, ONGC and Tata Steel. Traded turnover on both exchanges combined was around Rs 1.13 trillion. But dealers said a significant amount of turnover in the cash market was mainly because of the block trades in large-cap stocks. Dealers said any recovery from current levels was likely to be gradual. This is because the hot money flows, which was propelling stock prices till now, could be hard to come by in the near term.


Long-only funds save market from sharp fall

MUMBAI: Market recovered smartly on Friday after indices fell to the lowest levels in the ongoing correction of past two days. Brokers are of the view that ‘long-only funds’ and domestic institutions must have entered to prevent a drastic loss. BSE's Sensex closed 438 points down at 17,559.98, but up from the day’s low of 17,226. NSE's Nifty ended 135 points lower at 5215.3, recovering from the low of 5,102. Market breadth on BSE showed 2,162 declines and 570 advances, while on NSE, 1,023 shares fell and 161 gained.

“It looks like most of the pain is out of the system and the market is offering good opportunities at these levels,” said Manish Sonthalia, vice-president equity strategist at Motilal Oswal. He said investors should remain focused in large cap stocks and at these levels markets look to be somewhere near bottom.


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Day's Quote/Corporate Story

Quote of the Day

" Stay positive, live positive, surround yourself around positive people and positive things and you will succeed."


Corporate/Personality of the Day

Anil Agarwal (billionaire)

Anil Agarwal (b. 1954, India) is the founder-director and executive chairman of the UK-based Vedanta Resources corporation, which owns mining and metal resources in India, Australia and Zambia. Having ranked eighth in 2003,[1] as of November 2006, he is the eleventh-richest Indian, with a personal fortune of US$4.5 billion.[2] According to Forbes Magazine, on 8 March 2007, his net worth was $3.8 billion—making him the 230th-richest person in the world.[citation needed] He lives in London, Europe & Russia, and is married, with two children.[2]
As of 6th October 2007, his net worth was estimated at $12.7 billion, making him the 6th richest Indian. [1].
In 2007, he announced a $3.1 billion expansion of capacities of Vedanta Resources,[citation needed] and donated US$1 billion to establish Vedanta University—India's answer to Stanford—in Orissa, eastern India.[3]

Visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anil_Agarwal_%28billionaire%29



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Results on 19th October 2007

AEONIAN INV

AMBUJA CEME

ASIAN PAINTS

BAJAJ AUTO

BHARAT FERTI
19-Oct-2007
Quarterly Results & A Board Meeting will be held inter alia, to consider the following: 1. Issue and allotment of 250000 Warrants of Rs 10/- each at a premium of Rs 42/- to be allotted to Shri. Yogendra D Patel, jointly with Smt. Anjani Yogendra Patel, on preferential allotment basis, as approved by the shareholders.


G.E.SHIPPING

GEOMETRIC SOFT

GTL INFRAST

HILTON METAL

HONEYWELL AUT

ICICI BANK

KALYANI STEL

KIRLOSKAR BROS

MAHINDRA BRITISH

ROHIT PULP

STATE BNK MY

UTTAM GALVA

WELSPUN IND

Wipro 19-Oct-07

Greaves Cotton 19-Oct-07

Grindwell Norto 19-Oct-07


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VC Updates from VCCircle.Com

Manipal Group Invests $2.5 Million In TutorVista

Deutsche Bank To Invest $127 Million In HCC’s Lavasa Real Estate Project

Tejas Networks Gets $24 Million From Goldman Sachs In Pre-IPO Placement

Indivision To Pick Up 33% In Chennai Wind Turbine Maker Regen Powertech

Former Goldman Execs Pick Up 5.1% In Future Capital

Sify Becomes Sify Technologies; Focus On Remote Infrastructure Management

Goldman Sachs Takes Majority Stake In Sigma Electric For $172 Million

Evalueserve Report Part II: Private Equity In India Vis-a-Vis Other Economies

SIDBI Venture Capital To Invest $5-6 Million In Home Appliances Maker Stovecraft

ICICI Venture To Raise $2B For Property Fund; IDFC PE Too Mulls A Fund



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ET - Headlines

No intention to keep out select funds, only moderate flow: FM
Reliance Industries Q2 net profit at Rs 3,837 cr
TCS jumps 5% on $1.2 bn Nielsen deal
ABB bags orders worth Rs 512 crore from JSW group
L&T gets orders worth $117 mn
Indian economy to grow at 10%: Lehman Brothers
Financial services next engine of growth for India: FM
Supreme Infra lists with 75 pc premium on BSE
Supreme Infrastructure closes at Rs 175.10 on NSE
Direct tax collections up 40 pc at Rs 1,22,000 crore


Novartis Q3 profit down 12 pc, lags forecast
Essel Propack Q3 net profit up 4pc
Nestle 9-month sales rise 9 pc, confirms outlook
Religare, Australia's Macquarie in wealth management JV

ONGC to invest over $5 bn in its eastern offshore gas finds
Mittal may bid for oil & gas blocks under NELP
Reliance, Mylan, Ranbaxy eye Shasunbs API business
Tamco acquisition will bring Rs 400 cr business for L&T
RCF plans to invest Rs 2,400 cr in Orissa fertiliser plant
Career Launcher to invest Rs 400 cr in school chain


Reliance Retail to board Volvo
Arvind Mills to set up chain of lifestyle retail formats
PEs picking up GIL stake for Rs 1,200 crore
Reliance Communication adds 1.5 mn users in September

Indra Nooyi to share add with Jaya, Rajni
Govt to float Vidyut Vikas Patra to mobilise Rs 50,000 cr
Aban to list in Singapore, IPO largest by a subsidiary
Aban Singapore IPO to be India's largest abroad

Indian IT professionals among worst paid globally
VSNL in Wi-Fi pact with NTT
BRFL buys LNJ Bhilwara unit for Rs 25.5 crore
L&T set to acquire Malaysian firm for $112 mn
Manipal Education group invests $2.6 mn in Tutorvista
Government clears 14 FDI proposals worth Rs 1,257 cr

Mkt jitters leave investors poorer by Rs 2.7 trillion
Market crash, weak Re dilutes CRR hike chances
EMC's $500 mn funds for India on track
Thermax inks deal with German co
PNB, IIFCL tie up to finance infra projects

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Other Results

Ranbaxy net jumps 48%

Driven by foreign exchange gains and sales from emerging markets, India’s largest drug maker Ranbaxy Laboratories’ net profit has grown 48% to Rs 207.4 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2007 from Rs 140.4 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.

ACC's Q2 net jumps 30% on rising cement prices

ACC, India’s No 1 cement maker, defied a traditionally weak July-September quarter to post a strong rise in net profit, with booming construction activity driving up prices. Volumes grew by double digits for the first time in many years

Biocon Q2 net up 19% at Rs 54 crore

Biotech major Biocon has reported a 19.1% year-on-year rise in its consolidated net profit at Rs 54 crore for the second quarter ended on September 30, 2007, from Rs 45.3 crore in the same period last year.

Sona Koyo Q2 PAT up by 38 per cent

Sona group flagship company, Sona Koyo Steering Systems Ltd on Thursday reported an increase of 38 per cent in profit after tax (PAT) in quarter ended on September 30 at Rs 8.8 crore as compared to Rs 6.4 crore in the same period last fiscal.

GIL's net profit after tax at Rs 141.34 cr

GIL, India's infrastructure bellwether company, posted a net profit of Rs 141.34 crore for the first half year ended September 30, 2007, up 4.47 per cent over the same period during the previous year.

GMR Infra Q2 net down 7.53 pc at Rs 49.58 cr

The total income of the company increased 20.26 per cent at Rs 406.96 crore for the second quarter compared to Rs 317.09 crore for the corresponding period last year.

Hero Honda Q2 net down 6 pc beats forecast cast

Hero Honda Motors Ltd, said on Thursday quarterly profit fell 6 per cent, as firmer interest rates and fierce competition weighed on sales in the world's biggest market after China.

SKF India Q3 net profit jumps 93%

SKF India net profit for quarter ended September was up 93 per cent to Rs 43.10 crore compared with Rs 22.39 crore in the same quarter previous year.

Omaxe up 2.03% at Rs 330 on Q2 net profit

Omaxe reported net profit of Rs 116.73 crore for the quarter ended September. Total income stood at Rs 454.67 crore for the same period.

Orchid Chemicals up 4.87% at Rs 246

Orchid Chemicals and Pharmaceutical’s July-September net profit rose 115 per cent to Rs 63.27 crore compared with Rs 29.45 crore in the same quarter previous year.


Petronet LNG net up 74.31% in Sep`07 qtr

Petronet LNG registered a stupendous 74.31% growth in net profit to Rs 1,155.11 million, for the quarter ended September 2007, as against Rs 660.37 million, for the corresponding quarter last year.Net sales for the quarter stood to Rs 16,705.04 million.Total income for the quarter rose 21.68% to Rs 16,826.44 million, from Rs 13,827.81 million in the corresponding quarter last fiscal. The earnings per share (EPS) of the company stood at Rs 1.54 in the quarter ended September 2007.

Hexaware Q3 consolidated net falls 22.39%

Hexaware Technologies, a leading provider of IT & BPO services globally, registered a drop 22.39% in consolidated net profit for the quarter ended September 2007. During the quarter, the company saw a fall in consolidated net profit to Rs 269.16 million from Rs 346.84 million in the same quarter of the previous year. The consolidated total income for the quarter climbed 12.85% to Rs 2,632.54 million compared with the corresponding quarter, a year ago.

NDTV Q2 loss widens 21.61%

Leading broadcaster of news channels, New Delhi Television (NDTV) on Wednesday reported that the loss for the quarter ended September 2007 widened. During the quarter, the company saw a rise of 21.61% in net loss to Rs 39.50 million from a loss of Rs 32.48 million in the same quarter, last year. The company posted loss per share of Rs 0.63 in the quarter. The net income from services for the quarter surged 46.48% to Rs 677.70 million, while the total income for the quarter jumped 45.87% to Rs 679.10 million, when compared with the corresponding quarter, a year ago

Trent net rises 13.10% in Sep `07 qtr

Trent, apart of the Tata Group disclosed a phenomenal jump in net profit for the quarter ended September 2007. During the quarter, the company experienced a 13.10% rise in profit to Rs 91.33 million, from Rs 80.27 million in the quarter ended September 2006.Net sales for the quarter fell marginally 0.66% to Rs 1,194.92 million, compared with Rs 1,202.92 million in the corresponding quarter, a year ago. Total income rose 22.36% to Rs 1,256.79 million for the quarter ended September 2007 from Rs 1,246.42 million for the same period last year.

Tanla Solutions net up 8.07% for Sep`07 qtr (Q-o-Q)

Hyderabad-based Tanla (Q, N,C,F)* Solutions, a provider of telecommunications software and services, registered 8.07% increase in net profit to Rs 210.46 million for the second quarter ended Sep. 30, 2007 as against Rs 194.74 million in preceding quarter (Q1). Net sales for the quarter ended September 2007 rose 22.30% to Rs 316.50 million as against Rs 258.79 million during the June 2007.

Indoco Remedies net rises 73.09% in Sep `07 qtr

Indoco Remedies, engaged in the manufacturing, marketing and distribution of pharmaceutical products, disclosed a phenomenal jump in net profit for the quarter ended September 2007. During the quarter, the company experienced a 73.09% rise in profit to Rs 220.7 million from Rs 127.50 million in the quarter ended September 2006.Net sales for the quarter rose 24.93% to Rs 1,003.20 million compared with Rs 803 million in the corresponding quarter, a year ago. Total income rose 22.76% to Rs 1,025.70 million for the quarter ended September 2007 from Rs 835.5 million for the same period last year.

Noida Toll Bridge net up 3.8 times for Sep` 07 quarter

Noida Toll Bridge Company registered 3.79 times growth in net profit to Rs 81.83 million for the second quarter ended Sep. 30, 2007 as against Rs 21.54 million in the same period last year. Net sales for the quarter ended September 2007 rose 49.47% to Rs 171.81 million as against Rs 114.94 million during the September 2006.Total income rose 49.10% to Rs 172.74 million during the quarter from Rs 115.85 million in the same period last year.

Kirloskar Oil Engine net falls 48.07% in Sep `07 qtr

KSL Indusries Q2 earnings jump 45.27%

Prakash Industries net rises 74.31% for Sep `07 qtr

Prakash Industries, a diversified business house with interests in steel, power and mining, reported a phenomenal jump in net profit for the quarter ended September 2007. During the quarter, the company experienced a 74.31% rise in profits to Rs 546.30 million from Rs 313.40 million in the quarter ended September 2006.Net sales for the quarter rose 38.43% to Rs 2,926.30 million compared with Rs 2,113.90 million in the corresponding quarter, a year ago. Total income rose 38.13% to Rs 2,931 million for the quarter ended September 2007 from Rs 2,121.90 million for the same period last year.

Hikal net rises 83.54% for Sep `07 qtr

Hikal reported a phenomenal jump in net profit for the quarter ended in September 2007. During the quarter, the company experienced a 83.54% rise in profits to Rs 145 million from Rs 79 million in the quarter ended September 2006.

Nippo Batteries Company net up 3.34 times for Sep` 07 quarter

Nippo Batteries Company registered 3.34 times growth in net profit for the quarter ended September 2007 to Rs 43.50 million from Rs 13 million in the quarter ended September 2006.Net sales for the quarter increased 5.05% to Rs 845.80 million as compared with Rs 805.10 million in the corresponding quarter, a year ago

Merck reports flat earnings in Q2


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RIL nudges $1 bn Q2 net with 28% surge

MUMBAI: Reliance Industries (RIL), India’s largest company by market capitalisation, has become the first private sector firm to post a net profit of close to $1 billion in a single quarter. RIL is now short of the $1 billion (Rs 3,947 crore) mark by Rs 110 crore, after it posted a net profit of Rs 3,837 crore in the July-September quarter.


Beating Street expectations, the company posted a 28% increase in net profit, up from Rs 3,000 crore during the same period last year. Net profit in the September quarter last year, has been restated after the merger of IPCL. The increased profit was on a turnover of Rs 33,402 crore compared to Rs 31,422 crore in the same period last year. Profits have grown largely on higher margins and the merger with Indian Petrochemicals Corporation (IPCL). Refining contributed to 63% (Rs 23,575 crore) of the total revenues, while petrochemicals made up for the remaining 35% (12,916 crore).

Though the company registered a 1.2% increase in operating margins during the quarter, it translated into 14% higher operating profit at Rs 5,781 crore. Other income went up 34%, while the interest and depreciation costs came down, resulting in 24% higher PBT at Rs 4,563 crore during the quarter. A fall in deferred tax provisions helped the bottomline gain Rs 3837 crore.

The company has not accounted for forex gains of Rs 515 crore on foreign currency borrowings. Analysts attributed the growth to “strong refining margins and higher refinery throughput.” Profit before interest and tax from this segment zoomed 56% to Rs 2,321 crore. The petrochemicals segment, however, witnessed a 4% fall in PBIT to Rs 2,025 crore from Rs 2102 crore in September 2006 quarter. During the half year, RIL’s 33 metric tonnes per annum refinery processed 16.1 million tonnes of crude, an increase of 3% with an operating rate of 98%. RIL exported refined products worth $6.99 billion, accounting for 60% of the production volumes.

RIL’s gross refining margins (GRMs) in Q2 stood at $13.6 per barrel against the Singapore benchmark of $6.4 per barrel. This was primarily due to the superior configuration of the refinery, which allows flexibility to focus on the production of middle distillate products (gasoil and jet kerosene), where margins remained firm with strong global demand. The company processed four new crudes at its refinery in the last six months. Globally, while refinery outages led to spikes in margins, RIL has maintained its high operating rate to take advantage of these opportunities. RIL’s petrochemical business benefited from higher volumes through integration of IPCL.

The petrochemical production grew 7% in the last half year to 9.8 million tonnes against 9.1 million tonnes during the first half of 2006-07. In Q2, revenues from the petrochemical segment increased by just 1% to Rs 12,961 crore against Rs 12,888 crore during the Q2 of last fiscal. High feedstock prices have impacted the petrochemicals business globally, but strong domestic demand provided integrated players like RIL the flexibility to pass on the increase in polyester and polymer prices, expanding margins. RIL has revalued its plants, equipment and buildings, resulting in additional depreciation of Rs 890 crore.

The company saved Rs 957 crore ($2.4 billion) in the last six months by reducing its other expenditure, primarily due to lower incidence of sales tax on account of higher export of refinery products and exchange differences. On BSE, RIL shares closed at Rs 2575.90, down 4.25% or Rs 114.40 in a highly volatile market. The results were announced after the closure of market hours.


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Sensex tanks 717 pts on all-round selling

Current Change

NIFTY 5351.00 -208.30
SENSEX 17998.39 -717.43

The Sensex recorded one of its biggest single session fall (in absolute terms) as it crashed by a stunning 717.43 points to 17,998.39 today. The Nifty plunged 3.75% or 208.30 points to 5351.
There was no hint of the afternoon massacre this morning. And, the mood was nothing short of bullish in early afternoon trade either. So sharp was the rise in prices of a few frontline stocks, some heavyweights included, that the Sensex went on to hit a new all-time high at 19,198.66 this afternoon.

The National Stock Exchange's 50 stock Nifty index raced to a new high as well.
But the euphoria proved very short-lived. First the mood turned cautious. And then, the bears, turning in large numbers, went berserk and hammered down stocks cutting across sectors. Reeling under the impact, the Sensex nosedived to 17,771.16, a loss of around 1427 points from its historic high. The Nifty, which hit a high of 5736.80, crashed to 5269.65.

The market, which had shrugged off concerns over a possible drop in inflow from FIIs following the market regulator SEBI's move to cap investments through Participatory Notes and re-wrote history by hitting new highs in early afternoon trade today, wilted under a severe bout of pressure that erupted on certain rumours with regard to margins in the derivatives segment.

ACC reported a net profit of Rs 292.42 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2007 as compared to a net profit of Rs 224.81 crore it had recorded for the quarter ended September 30, 2006. But the stock plunged to a low of Rs 1,000 in afternoon trade and was the biggest loser in the Sensex pack as it settled at Rs 1036, around 13.85% down from its previous closing price.
Reliance Energy, which raced to a high of Rs 1847, crashed to Rs 1591.35, netting a big loss of 9.7%. State Bank of India lost around 8.25%. Bharti Airtel (down 7.65%), ICICI Bank (down 6.95%), NTPC (down5.55%), Hindalco (down 5.55%), HDFC Bank (down 5.5%), BHEL (down 4.4%) and Larsen & Toubro (down 4.35%) declined sharply.

Reliance Industries, which zoomed to a new high at Rs 2805, ended with a sharp loss of 4.25% at Rs 2575.90. Tata Steel, Reliance Communications, ONGC, Grasim Industries, Ambuja Cements, Tata Motors, HDFC, Mahindra & Mahindra and Maruti Udyog lost 2% - 4% today. Bajaj Auto, HDFC and ITC eased by 0.75% - 1%.

Pharma stock Ranbaxy Laboratories zoomed sharply on strong quarterly results before surrendering almost its entire gains. It settled with a modest gain of 0.4% in the end. Cipla and Dr.Reddy's Laboratories moved up by 1.8% and 1.05% respectively.

Tata Consultancy Services closed with a sharp gain of 2.2% thanks to the company signing a deal worth $1.2 billion with Nielsen Company for outsourcing a portion of the latter's information technology and operations functions worldwide. Wipro (2.2%) and Satyam Computer Services (1.2%) also closed on a winning note while Infosys Technologies ended around its previous closing price.

Tata Power, Suzlon Energy, Zee Entertainment, SAIL, Punjab National Bank, Siemens, Nalco, GAIL India, Unitech, VSNL and Reliance Petroleum were among the big losers from the Nifty.
Hero Honda, Sterlite Industries, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation, BPCL lost 1% - 2%. HCL Technologies ended lower by 0.65%. GlaxoSmithKline Pharma, ABB and MTNL finished with notable gains. Sun Pharmaceuticals moved up by 3.6%.

At one stage today, when the bulls were having a ball, the market breadth was very strong with advances outscoring declines by nearly 4 to 1. However, as the bears stepped in and caused havoc, the breadth turned quite negative and when trade ended for the day, out of 2824 stocks transacted on BSE today, as many as 1716 stocks had slipped into the red. 1053 stocks closed with gains and 55 stocks settled at their previous closing levels.


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