Sensex closes at a low of 13,680.83 points

Mumbai, Nov 23: The Sensex eased modestly by 25.70 points today touching a low of 13,680.83 at the Bombay Stock Exchange(BSE) on sustained heavy selling pressure by bear operators especially after yesterday's bullish trend in equity.

The Sensex weakened in late-trading amid volatility and closed at 25.70 points (0.19 per cent) lower, at 13,680.83. The bellwether index had also surged to a new high of 13,790.82 in early trade.

The Sensex resumed low at 13,667.13. Later it recorded the day's high at 13,790 in intra-day session. Meanwhile, it dropped at 13,643.47 during the mid-session.

The BSE OIL&GAS index also crashed by 31.07 and was quoted at 6194.47 while TECK and FMCG indices also declined by 20.48 points and 18.14 points respectively and touched at 3560.29 for TECK index and at 1992.98 for FMCG index.

However, BSE CG index shot up by 105.57 points and touched at 9110.10. Similarly, METAL and PSU indices also advanced by 53.81 points and 28.01 points respectively and were quoted at 8894.81 for METAL Index and 6202.87 for PSU index.

Meanwhile, S&P CNX Nifty index of National Stock Exchange (NSE) also opened flat at 3955.30. Later it moved upto 3976.80 in intra-day, but it came down at 3933.70 during the session. Finally, the Nifty index eased by around nine points and closed at 3945.45 from it's last close of 3954.75.

However, the softening of index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) in late-trading took its toll despite Hero Honda and HDFC Bank holding fort at the fag end.

The market-breadth weakened in the latter part of the trading session after being positive in the first half. For 1,324 shares that declined on BSE, 1,219 rose. As many as 68 shares were unchanged.

After a bout of early volatility, the Sensex had turned range-bound during mid-morning and early-afternoon trade. Volatility reared its head again in late-trading.

The BSE clocked a turnover of Rs 5,531.48 crore, boosted by a large block deal of 92.7 lakh in the FII-segment in ICICI Bank, at Rs 880.50, brokers said.

Tata Steel lost 0.3 per cent to Rs 471.05. The stock weakened in the latter part of the trading disappointed by the board meeting in Mumbai which got over today afternoon without making any pathbreaking announcement about the Corus impasse. Hero Honda rose nearly 3 per cent to Rs 749.90. The company's managing director today said margins will remain under pressure in the second half of the year. Rival Bajaj Auto gained 1.6 per cent to Rs 2,640. Private sector bank HDFC Bank surged nearly 4 per cent to Rs 1,120. Zee Telefilms rose 3.5 per cent to Rs 361, after its demerger scheme became effective from November 22, 2006. Zee Telefilms' demerger scheme was approved by the Mumbai High Court on Nov 17, 2006.

L&T gained 2 per cent to Rs 1,402. In an analysts meet held on Wednesday, L&T said its sales will grow at a higher rate of 20 per cent in October 2006-March 2007 period.

Siemens (down 4.5 per cent to Rs 1270) witnessed a sell-off in mid-afternoon trade after its Q4 results hit the market in afternoon trade. It reported 32 per cent growth in net profit for Q4 September 2006 to Rs 137 crore (Rs 104 crore).

Cellular services major Bharti Airtel dropped 2.2 per cent to Rs 624, on profit taking, after a recent solid surge. Satyam Computer also shed nearly 3 per cent to Rs 463.50, due to profit-taking.

Oil exploration major ONGC shed 1.3 per cent to Rs 845, following a drop in crude oil price to below USD 60 a barrel, on Thursday.

TCS shed 0.4 per cent to Rs 1,140.90. Microsoft has bought 10 per cent stake in TCS China, where Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) holds a majority 65 per cent stake. Chinese partners -- Uniware Co and two software parks -- will hold the remaining 25 per cent. TCS' Chinese operations will be merged with the new venture, brokers said.

UNI

Related Stories