Sensex loses 64.89 points in volatile trade

Mumbai, Feb 21: The 30-scrip Sensitive Index of the Bombay Stock Exchange today crashed by 64.89 points and closed at a low of 14,188.49 points amid concerns over a further hike in the cash reserve ratio (CRR) and the Bank of Japan's (BoJ) decision to hike interest rate by 25 basis points.

Participants were seen reluctant to build up positions ahead of expiry of February series derivatives contracts, brokers said.

Shrugging off a volatile start and a subsequent setback, the market spurted to higher levels in early afternoon trade, thanks to a good rally in metal, capital goods and auto stocks.

But the bears, having turned quite stubborn a little past mid afternoon, thwarted whatever little resistance the bulls offered and dragged the benchmark indices, Sensex and the Nifty to a negative close in the end.

Information technology, FMCG and a few oil stocks were among the major losers in today's sell-off. Even as select auto, metal and consumer durables stocks held on to their gains, bank and capital goods stocks caved in on selling pressure and surrendered most of their gains. Not much buying was seen in the midcap and smallcap space in afternoon trade.

The Sensex, which touched a high of 14,312.88 in intra-day trades, ended the day with a loss of 64.89 points or 0.46 per cent at 14,188.49, around 31 points off its low of 14,157.72.

The Nifty index of NSE, which swung in an intra-day range of around 52 points, hit a high of 4132.80 and a low of 4080.90 points, before closing at 4096.20, netting a loss of 10.75 points or 0.26 per cent, market analysts said.

Ranbaxy Laboratories, the biggest loser in the Sensex today, went down by 3.25 per cent to Rs 382.50. Satyam Computers and Infosys Technologies lost 3.15 per cent and 2.25 per cent respectively. Hindustan Lever, which had another weak outing, lost a little over 2 per cent.

BHEL, HDFC Bank and Reliance Communications drifted down by 1.85 per cent, 1.3 per cent and 1.2 per cent respectively. Grasim Industries, Tata Consultancy Services, ITC, Larsen&Toubro, Reliance Industries, ACC, Bajaj Auto and ONGC also closed with sharp losses during the session.

GAIL India, Jet Airways, Tata Power, MTNL, Sun Pharmaceuticals and Oriental Bank of Commerce were among the major losers in the Nifty index.

Hero Honda rallied sharply in afternoon trade and recorded a handsome gain of 3.3 per cent as it settled at Rs 739.50. Tata Steel and Hindalco, the metal majors, closed stronger by around 2.5 per cent and 1.45 per cent respectively.

Telecom stock Bharti Airtel gained 1.9 per cent. Housing finance major HDFC notched up a gain of 1.2 per cent.

Gujarat Ambuja Cements recovered after a negative start and ended the day with a sharp gain of 0.85 per cent.

Wipro, ICICI Bank and Tata Motors registered modest gains. NTPC, Reliance Energy, Maruti Udyog, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, Cipla and State Bank of India finished with small gains.

Suzlon Energy bounced back after the recent fall and ended with an impressive gain of 3.8 per cent. Dabur India spurted by 3.65 per cent. Zee Telefilms, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation, BPCL, Mahindra&Mahindra, SAIL, ABB, IPCL and HCL Technologies also posted strong gains.

Among midcaps, Astrazen Pharma, NDTV, Bosch Chassis Systems (the stock spurted on bonus announcement), TV 18, Sintex Industries, Yes Bank, Blue Star, Entertainment Network of India, Everest Kanto Cylinder, Graphite Industries, JM Financial Services, HT Media, Geodesic Infosystems, Allcargo Global, Apollo Hospitals, Asian Hotels, SKF India, Shree Precoated Steels, Ruchi Soya and Sundaram Fasteners gained significant ground.

Aptech was the biggest gainer in the smallcap space. The stock zoomed to a high of Rs 249.40 before settling for the day at Rs 245.35 with a 16.5 per cent gain.

Nucleus Software, Godawari Power and Maxwell gained 10 per cent each. Super Spinning, Navneet Publications, Zodiac Clothing, Wanbury, Shringar Cinema, Thiru Arooran Sugars, Ramsarup Industries, IFGL Refractories, Agro Tech Foods, Zensar Technologies, IFCI, Suashis Diamond and Bayer Crop also posted strong gains today.

IFCI clocked a huge volume of 115.75 million shares on NSE today.

Global Broadcast News (7.4 per cent), India Bulls (down 2.2 per cent) and Aptech were also among volume and value toppers on NSE, traders added.

UNI