Sensex witness high volatility

Mumbai, Nov 17 (UNI) With high volatility in the market today the BSE Sensex's recovery in early afternoon trade proved short lived as it once again slipped into the red.

Mixed trend was witnessed in various constituents of the Sensex today, brokers said.

The latest data showing a rise in inflation pulled shares of private sector banks lower.

At 1325 hrs, Sensex was down by 44 points at 13,461. It was hovering close to the day's low of 13,445.58 that it had hit at 1058 IST.

Sensex had opened with a huge upward gap of 172.15 points at a record high of 13,678.04 but it came off immediately after striking that high. It was index heavyweight Infosys Technologies that caused a spike in Sensex at open followed by its sharp fall from that record peak instantly.

NTPC jumped 3.5 per cent to Rs 140. The company said on Friday it planned to invest Rs 3,425 crore to set up a 520-Megawatt hydro power project.

Housing finance major HDFC rose three per cent to Rs 1,603 on the reckoning that the housing loan demand may remain strong. The stock hit a high of Rs 1,615 which is a lifetime high for the scrip.

Infosys lost nearly one per cent to Rs 2,173. The stock had surged over nine per cent in opening trade to Rs 2,401 due to a punching error.

The latest data showing a rise in inflation pulled shares of private sector banks lower. ICICI Bank lost 1.3 per cent to Rs 875 and HDFC Bank lost 1.6 per cent to Rs 1,126. State Bank (up 0.8 per cent to Rs 1230) held positive zone. A block deal at about 19 per cent premium took place in the FII segment in the stock today.

Reliance Industries shed 0.4 per cent to Rs 1,258 as the stock failed to sustain its recovery in early afternoon trade.

Thermax jumped 15 per cent to Rs 410.55. The stock surged for the second day in a row today after the company reported robust Q2 results yesterday.

Chemicals company Chemplast Sanmar jumped eight per cent to Rs 7.40 after the company said on Thursday the Sanmar Group would acquire a chemicals business in Egypt for USD 200 million.

Sugar producer Balrampur Chini Mills plunged four per cent to Rs 92.10 after the company reported a fall net profit for Q2 September 2006 to Rs 32.21 crore (Rs 34.63 crore). Net sales surged to Rs 388.22 crore from Rs 287.57 crore.

Dhanalakshmi Bank jumped by 20 per cent to Rs 43.10. Other major gainers were Aksh Optifibre (up 15.8 per cent to Rs 51) and Bayer Cropscience (up 11 per cent to Rs 210), brokers added.

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