BSE Sensex in the red; Settles down at 13,823.39

Mumbai, Apr 30: The Sensex today settled in the red on the Bombay Stock Exchange with a nominal loss of 36.21 points at 13,872.39, ahead of two public holidays and subdued Asian markets.

After opening lower at 13,823.40, the barometer Sensex had hit a high of 13,901.12 and a low of 13,693.59 during intra-day trade.

However, the broader Nifty Index settled in the green on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) with a modest gain of 4.40 points at 4,087.90 from its previous close of 4,083.50 points.

It had opened lower at 4,081.60 and touched a high of 4,096.90 and a low of 4,028.90 points during intra-day trade.

The BSE Midcap Index ended at 5,795.72 up 62 points or 1.08 per cent. The Smallcap Index ended at 6,993.84, down 52 points or 0.8 per cent, while the Bankex was up 2.9 per cent at 6,882.89. IOB, Oriental Bank, Centurion BoP, SBI moved upwards.

The Capital Goods Index was up 0.6 per cent at 9,880.45.

Dredging Cor, Praj Industries, Carborundum, Alstom Projects closed higher. The BSE Health Care Index was up 0.2 per cent at 3,702.69.

Aventis Pharma, Ipca Labs, Aurobindo Pharm, Glenmark, Nicholas Pirama closed higher.

The Auto Index closed at 4,998.71 up 1.1 per cent. Cummins, TVS Motor, Escorts, Tube Investment, Hero Honda surged. The BSE Metal Index closed at 9,835.72 up 1.1 per cent. Jindal Steel, Hind Zinc, Sterlite Ind, Welspun Guj closed higher.

The IT Index closed at 5,053.29 up 2 per cent. Patni Computer, Moser Baer, TCS, HCL Tech, Mphasis advanced, the BSE Oil and Gas Index closed at 7,135.34 up 0.8 per cent. GAIL, Reliance Natura, MRPL, Chennai Petro ended higher. Besides, the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) Index lost 1.1 per cent at 1,800.55. HLL, Britannia, ITC, P&G closed lower, marketmen disclosed.

The NSE cash turnover was at Rs 7,561.99 crore and the NSE F&O turnover was at Rs 25,629.5 crore and the BSE cash turnover was Rs 3,266.44 crore. Hence, the total marketwide turnover was at Rs 36,457.93 crore, experts said.

Market analysts pointed out that the market staged a solid intra-day rebound in the second half, as Reliance Industries (RIL) rebounded after an initial slide. Reliance Communications (RCL) also shot back up on the back of strong fourth quarterly (Q4) results. A recovery in State Bank of India and HDFC Bank also came about in the latter part of trading. IT stocks were in demand right from the onset of the trading session.

But FMCG giant Hindustan Lever (HLL) came under selling pressure soon after its Q1 results hit the market in early afternoon trade, experts observed.

Reliance Communications (RCL) gained 3.3 per cent to Rs 475.50, off the session's low of Rs 447. A strong 34.3 lakh shares changed hands in the counter on BSE. RCL reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 1024.41 crore in Q4 March 2007.

Reliance Industries (RIL) rose 2 per cent to Rs 1571, off an early low of Rs 1505. RIL had on Thursday reported stronger-than- expected 14 per cent growth in net profit in Q4 March 2007.

Information Technology (IT) firms rose as anxious marketmen awaited changes, if any, with respect to a proposal in the Union Budget 2007-08 for bringing employee stock options plans under the fringe benefit tax. Infosys rose 2 per cent to Rs 2050.50, TCS added 2.5 per cent to Rs 1265, Satyam Computer gained 1.4 per cent to Rs 474, Wipro advanced 1.4 per cent to Rs 574 and Tech Mahindra surged 9 per cent to Rs 1612.90.

Tata Steel gained 2.5 per cent to Rs 55.10. The stock has been witnessing alternate bouts of buying and selling since unveiling a funding plan for the acquisition of Corus, which may lead to substantial equity dilution in phases.

Cement shares were in demand. ACC rose 2.2 per cent to Rs 840 and Grasim gained 0.5 per cent to Rs 2435. Hindustan Lever (HLL) plunged 5 per cent to Rs 199.05. The stock declined on high volume of over 17 lakh shares on BSE. HLL's net profit, excluding extraordinary gains, rose 13.6 per cent to Rs 334 crore from Rs 294 crore.

ICICI Bank was down 7 per cent to Rs 867, after announcing a large equity issue along with a dismal financial performance in Q4 March 2007. The stock hit a low of Rs 844.10. A whopping 9.8 lakh shares changed hands in the counter on BSE. Analysts said that concerns of huge equity dilution also weighed on the stock.

Housing finance major HDFC lost 1.8 per cent to Rs 1655. Oil exploration major ONGC lost 2 per cent to Rs 910.50.

European shares were mixed in early trade today. London's FTSE 100 Index was down 0.06 per cent, whereas key benchmark indices in Germany and France were up 0.2 - 0.5 per cent.

Chinese stocks today shrugged off a central bank announcement at the weekend that it will raise bank reserve ratios to help restrain loan growth. The Shanghai Composite Index was up 2.1 per cent.

However, other Asian markets were subdued, as exporters were hit by a weak US gross domestic product (GDP) growth data. A report last week showed that the US economy grew by just 1.3 per cent in the first quarter.

Strong earnings helped lift the Dow to another record close above 13,000 last week. The Standard&Poor's 500 Index was down just 0.18 of a point, or 0.01 per cent, to finish at 1,494.07. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 2.75 points, or 0.11 per cent, to close at 2,557.21.

Brent crude oil prices hovered above USD 68 a barrel following sharp gains last week, with investors still on the edge over a foiled terror plot to attack oil facilities in top-exporter Saudi Arabia.

UNI