Sensex dips by 14 pts, closes at 14,114.73 pts

Mumbai, Jan 16: After the bullish phase during the last three days, the Sensex today was down by 14.91 points on the Bombay Stock Exchange and closed lower at 14,114.73 on profit booking by Foreign Institutional Investors (FII's) and mutual funds.

The trend among pivotals was divergent, with heavyweights Reliance Industries and Infosys remaining subdued for almost the entire day.

Cement pivotals firmed up expecting strong Q3 results.

The benchmark index had recovered from a lower level after having dropped as many as 58.99 points, to 14,070.65, in intra day before it opened firm at 14,146.00 points. Barring the dip in late-afternoon trade, the market remained ranged for a better part of the day. Earlier, the Sensex struck an all-time high of 14,211.15 at the onset of trading.

The market-breadth was positive, but had weakened compared to that in the early-afternoon. For 1,334 shares rising on BSE, 1321 declined. As many as 50 shares were unchanged. The BSE clocked a turnover of Rs 3976 crore.

The BSE METAL and OIL&GAS indices declined steeply by 108.67 points and 45.00 points respectively and closed at 9162.74 points for METAL index and for OIL&GAS index at 6565.55 points, followed by PSU index by 21 points and touched 6204.31 points. IT index was down by 17.48 points and closed at 5378.89 points.

However, the BSE CG and AUTO indices shot up by 94.83 points and 47.18 points and closed at 9361.10 points for CG index and for AUTO index at 5699.73 points, followed by MID CAP by 26.59 points and touched 6081.10 points. CD index was up by 26.08 points and quoted at 3874.25 points and BANKEX index by 16.74 points and closed at 7419 points.

Meanwhile ,the S&P CNX Nifty index of NSE resumed high at 4090.70 points. The index recorded a new high at 4,107.45 points in intra day. But it came down at 4067.90 points during the session. The Nifty index closed high at 4080.50 with a modest gain of 2.10 points compared to 4078.40 points the previous day.

European markets were subdued. Key benchmark indices in London, Germany and France were down between 0.03 - 0.15 per cent.

Asian markets were mixed. Key benchmark indices in Hong Kong, Japan, and South Korea were down between 0.04 - 0.2 per cent. Key benchmark indices in Singapore and Taiwan were up between 0.09 - 0.1 per cent. US markets were closed on Monday.

Oil prices edged lower below USD 53 a barrel on Tuesday, pressured by warm weather and ample supplies. US crude was down 14 cents at USD 52.85 a barrel.

Bajaj Auto witnessed post results volatility. The stock rose 0.3 per cent to Rs 2776. The scrip had declined as much as 1.8 per cent to a low of Rs 2715 in intra day. Earlier, the stock held firm ahead of the results. It had gained as much as 3.3 per cent to a high of Rs 2859 during the session. Bajaj Auto's net profit rose 24 per cent in December 2006 quarter to Rs 345 crore from Rs 279 crore. Net sales rose 28.3 per cent to Rs 2568.23 crore (Rs 2000.94 crore).

Reliance Industries lost 1.4 per cent to Rs 1345.50. As per reports, the company had picked up large tracts of land in Delhi for Rs 980 crore for its retail venture.

Infosys shed nearly 1.4 per cent to Rs 2211. Infosys and RIL have a combined weightage of 23.2 per cent in the Sensex.

Hindalco lost 1.3 per cent to Rs 170, tracking weak global metal prices. Global copper was down 1.7 per cent and zinc 3 per cent on Tuesday.

State Bank of India lost nearly 1 per cent to Rs 1211, after SBI chairman said the Bank's loan growth in April-December 2006 period was 16-17 per cent compared with a nearly 30 per cent rise for the banking sector.

Wipro firmed up ahead of its Q3 results, which will hit the market tomorrow morning. The stock gained 1.5 per cent to Rs 637.

TCS dropped 0.5 per cent to Rs 1321.15. In early trade, the stock hit a lifetime high of Rs 1399. After trading hours on Monday, TCS reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 1104.68 crore in December 2006 quarter, a growth of 11.4 per cent sequentially, brokers added.

UNI