Sensex slips after 8-day consecutive rally

Mumbai, Sep 5: Snapping its eight-day winning streak, the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex today lost a nominal 19.25 points to settle in the red at 15,446.15, as profit-booking emerged at higher levels in line with bearish Asian and European markets.

''Though the fundamentals of the Indian economy are robust and US indices have advanced in its last trading session, the Left partners of the UPA government here have made their opposition to the Indo-US nuclear deal more shrill today. Although they have made it clear that they would not withdraw support and force a mid-term poll, they have taken their differences onto the streets, thereby eroding the credibility of the Central government. This development might have shaken investor confidence,'' market analysts opined.

The barometer Sensitive Index had earlier opened weaker at 15,535.35 from it's previous close of 15,465.40 and oscillated between 15,580.86 to 15,407.00 during trading hours.

Similarly, the National Stock Exchange (NSE) S&P CNX Nifty also slipped by a meagre 4 points to settle lower at 4,475.85 after opening marginally higher at 4,479.60 from its previous close of 4,479.25 and moving between 4, 507.75 and 4,458.55 during the day's session.

The BSE market breadth, which was strong throughout the day, eased in late-afternoon session, with 1,403 shares advancing as compared to 1,331 that declined, while 65 remained unchanged. The total turnover here amounted to Rs 5,146 crore. From the 30-stock Sensex pack, 18 slipped while the rest gained, BSE data shows.

Cipla, Ambuja Cements, NTPC, ICICI Bank, Grasim, Wipro, Infosys and TCS were the day's leaders, while the prominent laggards include Satyam Computers, RIL, Maruti Udyog, Ranbaxy Laboratories, ACC, Bharti Airtel and Larsen&Toubro (L&T.

European markets were trading lower as key benchmark indices in Germany slumped 0.48 per cent to 7,684.32, France sank 0.53 per cent to 5,642.74 and United Kingdom slipped 0.20 per cent to 6,364.30.

Among Asian markets, Hong Kong's Hang Seng advanced 0.77 per cent at 24,069.17, China's Shanghai Composite surged 0.31 per cent to 5,310.76 and Singapore's Straits Times soared 2.04 per cent at 3,445.08 , Japan's Nikkei slumped 1.60 per cent at 16,158.45, Taiwan Weighted was down 0.10 per cent at 8,913.85 and South Korea's Seoul Composite shed 0.49 per cent at 1,865.59.

US stocks advanced in it's last trading session. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 91.12 points, or 0.68 per cent, to 13,448.86. . The Standard&Poor's 500 index added 15.43 points, or 1.05 per cent, to 1, 489.42, and the technology-dominated Nasdaq Composite index surged 33.88 points, or 1.30 per cent, to 2,630.24.

India's third largest pharma company by sales, Cipla gained 2.17 per cent to Rs 183.50 on 9.27 lakh shares. It was the top gainer from the Sensex pack. Ambuja Cements, India's third-largest cement maker, gained 1.98 per cent to Rs 138.80 after the company said during trading hours today that its cement shipments rose 3 per cent to 1.15 million tonnes last month over the corresponding period last year.

India's largest power generation company by sales NTPC advanced 1.74 per cent to Rs 184.50. It is looking at the possibility of acquiring Karnataka-based public sector firm Tungabhadra Steel Products (TSPL), which is a supplier of hydraulic gates, radial and vertical gates for hydel power plants, equipment for sponge iron and thermal power plants, and even oil rigs.

Information technology (IT) pivotals gained on fresh buying.

Wipro surged 1.08 per cent to Rs 471, Infosys was up 0.20 per cent to Rs 1892.30 and TCS advanced 0.87 per cent to Rs 1075. However, India's fourth largest software company by profit, Satyam Computers slipped 0.72 per cent to Rs 446 on high volumes of 14.26 lakh shares after a block deal of 11.61 lakh shares was struck on the counter on BSE at Rs 453.30.

India's largest private sector entity and oil refiner Reliance Industries (RIL) slipped form an all-time high of Rs 1,999.30. It shed 1.28 per cent to Rs 1,946.20 on 6.56 lakh shares, after CPI (M) yesterday joined the row over pricing of gas to be produced from RIL's Krishna Godavari basin, asking the government to reject what it feels is an artificially inflated price proposed by the company.

India's top small car maker in terms of net profit Maruti Udyog slipped 2.68 per cent to Rs 869.95 on 1.36 lakh share after it hinted that it may continue to offer discounts on its car models to boost sales in the upcoming festive season. It was the top loser from the Sensex pack.

India's largest listed cellular services provider in terms of profit, Bharti Airtel slipped 1.51 per cent to Rs 846.40. Analysts say that in the Karnataka circle, Bharti Airtel cannot acquire any operator as it already has a 39.7 per cent market share. The 40 per cent market share cap suggested by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is likely to make mergers between existing telecom operators extremely tough.

Crude oil rose towards USD 75 today, after predictions of more hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean raised concern over potential oil and gas outages. US crude was up 70 cents at USD 74.74 while London Brent crude was up 45 cents at USD 73.86.

UNI