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Sanjiv Shankaran

DEPRESSED sentiment in the Indian market and a crisis of confidence in the US market combined to drive down equities on Wednesday. The promoter of the Reliance group, Mr Dhirubhai Ambani battled for life in a Mumbai hospital, and sentiments in the equity market went into a tailspin. To compound the situation, another accounting scandal in the US — the culprit is the telecom company WorldComm Inc on this occasion — led to jittery feeling among investors.

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The BSE Sensex closed at 3,180.89 points, down by 33.45 points (1.04 per cent) in relation to Tuesday's close. The Sensex opened on a relatively firm note in the morning — the opening value was 3,214.34. Subsequently, equities slid and the Sensex closed on a weak note.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in June, the third straight month of net sales. The net selling by FIIs is worrisome because of the impact their investment has on market movement.

A look at the daily technical indicators revealed a mixed picture. The ratio of advances to declines was negative, about 495 stocks advanced as against 1,107 stocks that declined. On the other hand, the ratio of new highs to new lows conveyed a positive picture. As many as 188 stocks reached new highs as against 25 stocks that fell to new lows. The aggregate market volume was 9.65 crore shares.

A few media stocks displayed a firm trend on Tuesday on the heels of the Government decision to allow partial foreign direct investment (FDI) in the print media. However, on Wednesday most print media stocks lost steam and ended on a weak note. Mid-Day Multimedia ended the trading session at Rs 30.45, down by Rs 0.80. Trading volumes in Mid-Day were 16.72 lakh shares.

Navneet Publications too did not find favour among investors. The stock closed lower by Rs 10.65 at Rs 184.25. The accompanying volumes were 31,463 shares.

One media stock that bucked the weak trend was Sandesh. The stock closed at Rs 126.90, higher by Rs 4.80. Sandesh's share price rose on the back of a volume of 21,247 shares.

Another company that witnessed activity on the heels of the possibility of a change in shareholding pattern is Hughes Tele.com. A few days earlier, media reports indicated that Hughes Tele and Tata TeleServices were discussing the possibility of an alliance. The equity market seems convinced that something significant is in the offing and bid up Hughes' share price by Rs 0.15. The stock closed at Rs 7.60 in the backdrop of a volume of 46.06 lakh shares.

Parke-Davis' share price increased significantly. The company is likely to merge with Pfizer soon, and the swap ratio for the merger is to be announced shortly. Traders in the market seem to be fairly confident about the ratio, and bid up Parke's share price by Rs 8.10. The stock closed at Rs 197.25 in the backdrop of a volume of 14,568 shares.

Titan's share price fell even though the company announced that its net profit registered a 22-per cent jump, year-on-year, in the last quarter of fiscal 2002. The stock dipped by Rs 3 to close at Rs 77.60 today, and the accompanying volumes were 3.16 lakh shares.

Infosys Technologies' share price dropped to a level not seen in seven months. The stock closed at Rs 3,065.75, declining by Rs 126.10 since the previous close. Traded volumes in the stock were 3.47 lakh shares.

Reliance was among the losers. Selling by investors shaved Rs 6.55 off Reliance's share price. The stock closed at Rs 267.10 amidst a volume of 14.19 lakh shares.

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