The Hindu Business Line : Across-the-board decline amid low volumes

Pointers
Advance/decline ratio skewed in favour of declining shares
FIIs were net buyers according to provisional data
BSE mid-cap and small-cap stocks too ended on weak note

There was a sense of fatigue about the markets on the Monday following the Diwali weekend. Turnover was low on BSE at Rs 2,430.89 crore, way below the daily average of Rs 3,363.25.41 crore. Most of the market participants seemed to be away, enjoying an extended weekend.

The Sensex slipped in to the red early in the day and stayed there till the close, finally ending the day down with 113.54 points.

Click here for table

The NSE's S&P CNX Nifty ended the day at 3657.30, down 0.71 per cent. The selling was broad based, spreading to the mid-cap and small-cap stocks as well. The BSE mid-cap sector ended the day down 0.70 per cent while the BSE small-cap sector ended the day lower by 0.33 per cent. As per the provisional data released by BSE, the FIIs were net buyers to the tune of Rs 58.04 crore in the cash segment on the BSE and the NSE on Monday.

They sold shares worth Rs 14.14 crore in the Muhurat session held on the Diwali evening.

Market breadth was skewed in favour of the declining shares. There were 1,428 declining shares to 981 advances on the BSE. All the sectoral indices ended the day in the red. The BSE Bankex ended the day down 1.41 per cent and the consumer durable index ended the day lower by 1.88 per cent. The BSE FMCG index and the metal index ended the day lower by 1.35 per cent each.

The turnover toppers on the BSE were Reliance Industries, Bajaj Auto, GMR Infrastructure and Reliance Communications Ltd.

The expiry of the October contract on the derivative segment on Thursday too had its effect on the market sentiment given the burgeoning open interest position. Many of the stocks that had been running up in recent weeks came in for some profit booking. Infosys Technologies lost 1.53 per cent, ICICI Bank lost 2.3 per cent and Hindalco lost 1.92 per cent.

Trend reversal

The reverse treatment was given to the stocks that had been beaten down in recent times after the quarterly performance announcement. Bajaj Auto gained 2.07 per cent and HDFC Bank gained 0.93 per cent.

Alstom Projects was up 8.83 per cent. The company has reported net profit of Rs 31.3 crore. The bottom line in the previous quarter was Rs 11.6 crore. The turnover recorded was Rs 267.7 crore against Rs 223.7 crore recorded in the quarter ended June 30, 2006.

Geojit Financials was in focus on Monday after its board approved the proposal of the company to allot 33.35 per cent of its share capital to BNP Paribas. The stock was up 9.82 per cent on Monday. Maruti Udyog gained 0.63 per cent after the announcement that the government was planning to sell its stake in the company to banks and financial institutions. IFCI closed the day 7.77 per cent higher at Rs 13.18 on the back of a strong set of results.

Stocks in the upper circuit filter on Monday included Ansal Infrastructure, GMR Industries and Godrej Industries. Stocks in the lower circuit filter on Monday were JK Industries and Eskay Knitting.