• PAGE ONE
• INDEX
• HOME

Wipro falls on lay-off fears

Virendra Verma

There was panic selling in the Wipro stock on Thursday. The rumour in the market was that the software major was laying off around 200-300 employees.

This led to selling from both foreign institutional investors (FIIs) and domestic institutions. At the end of the day, the scrip was down at Rs 1,455.15 at the Bombay Stock Exchange with volumes of around 19 lakh shares.

At the National Stock Exchange, it ended 13.65 per cent down at Rs 1,470.35 with trading volumes of 32.79 lakh shares, a substantial rise from the previous day.

Cement stocks shaken

After being in the limelight, cement sector stocks are facing a tough time now. It is expected that the dispatch figures for the third quarter will be lower compared to the corresponding quarter of last year.

Some analysts expect this to lower by as much as 25-30 per cent. As a result, most of the top cement manufacturers -- ACC, Grasim, Gujarat Ambuja Cement and Larsen & Toubro remained depressed.

Dealers said in the last few trading sessions, all these stocks were closing lower. There is also an expectation that the lower dispatch figures will reflect on the bottomlines of these companies despite the increase in cement prices.