Sensex opens weak at 14,314 today

Mumbai, Feb 12: The BSE Sensex today opened lower at 14,314 points on sustained heavy off-loading by FIIs and domestic mutual funds, brokers said.

The market witnessed a sell-off in opening trade after data showing substantial FII sales in index-based futures on Friday and on weak Asian markets.

Hindalco Industries plunged after its large all-cash acquisition of US-based Novelis raised concerns about a short-term strain on financials.

Reliance Communications dropped after it lost bid to acquire fourth largest cellular provider Hutch-Essar with Vodafone emerging as the top bidder with its USD19 billion bid.

The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensitive Index (Sensex) was down 224 points at 14,314.

Hindalco Industries was down 10.5 per cent to Rs 155. The stock lost on high early volume of 18.6 lakh shares on BSE. Hindalco Industries and Novelis, on Sunday, signed a definitive agreement for Hindalco to acquire Novelis in an all-cash transaction, which values the US firm at approximately USD6 billion, including approximately USD 2.4 billion of debt.

Reliance Communications shed 4 per cent to Rs 455. A strong 4.9 lakh shares changed hands in the counter on BSE.

Cement shares drifted lower for the second day in a row. ACC lost 2.9 per cent to Rs 1,005, Grasim shed 1.3 per cent to Rs 2,790 and Gujarat Ambuja Cements shed 1.3 per cent to Rs 137.

L&T lost 2.3 per cent to Rs 1,674.90 on profit-taking after a recent surge. The stock declined for the second day in a row.

Auto shares edged lower. Bajaj Auto shed 1.7 per cent to Rs 2,994, Tata Motors lost 1.5 per cent to Rs 892 and car major Maruti Udyog shed 0.6 per cent to Rs 935.

Asian stocks fell today with Samsung Electronics and other tech shares under strain after top US memory chip maker Micron Technology forecast bearish prices. Key benchmark indices in Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan were down between 0.14 - 1.3 per cent. The Japanese markets were closed, brokers added.

UNI