The market settled in the red after witnessing high volatility throughout the day’s trading session, moving between positive and negative zone. However, metal stocks were in demand led by Tata Steel.
The Sensex settled 41.80 points lower at 13,340.21. It swung sharp 335 points for the day from an intra-day low of 13232.56 and intra-day high of 13568.09.
The S&P CNX Nifty lost 16.45 points to 3815.55
The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 4383 crore, compared to Tuesday’s Rs 4183 crore.
The market breadth was negative on BSE, as selling emerged for small-cap and mid-cap stocks. On BSE with 1465 shares declined as compared to 1094 that advanced. 83 remained unchanged. The BSE Mid-Cap index was down 0.38% or 21.38 points at 5574.40 while the BSE Small-Cap index lost 0.21% or 13.94 points to 6,620.86.
Among the Sensex pack, 21 advanced while the rest declined.
Tata Steel was the top gainer, up 2.30% to Rs 465 on 15.75 lakh shares. It recovered from low of Rs 450.10. The stock advanced after Britain's takeover watchdog set a 30 January deadline on Tuesday for Tata Steel and Brazil's CSN to make revised offers for Anglo-Dutch steelmaker Corus Group.
Cipla (up 1.24% to Rs 244), Maruti Udyog (up 1.73% to Rs 925) and HDFC (up 1.97% to Rs 1580) edged higher.
Diversified conglomerate, ITC rose 1.13% to Rs 170.25 on 15.09 lakh shares after reports that it will expand its fruit and vegetable retail and wholesale business by opening 54 new outlets in select metros in next three years. The company would target metropolitan cities for these wholesale-cum-retail stores. Currently, there are 6,500 e-Choupal kiosks in over 38,000 villages in nine states.
PSU engineering company Bhel settled 0.46% lower at Rs 2276.10 on volume of 3.28 lakh shares after touching a low of Rs 2232. It had lost close to 10% in the past two trading sessions.
Tata Motors was the top loser, down 3.22% to Rs 835.10 on 5.46 lakh shares. It had hit a high of Rs 880.40 in early trade
HLL (down 3.14% to Rs 217.70), Grasim (down 2.29% to Rs 2655) and HDFC Bank (down 1.82% to Rs 1019) edged lower.
Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) finished 0.24% lower at Rs 1250.10 on high volumes of 13.29 lakh shares. It had recovered from low of Rs 1231.15.
Sobha Developers settled at premium at Rs 968.75 on BSE, compared to its IPO price of Rs 640 per share. The scrip debuted at Rs 1111.25 on BSE and hit a high of Rs 1179. Its low was Rs 918.10. The counter saw high volume of 73.38 lakh shares on BSE. Sobha Developers’ IPO was subscribed over 100 times.
Ruchira Papers finished at discount at Rs 20.95 on BSE, compared to IPO price of Rs 23 per share. The stock listed on BSE at 5.86% premium at Rs 24.35 per share, which was also its intra-day high. It touched a low of Rs 20.65. The counter saw volumes of 41.17 lakh shares on BSE.
The BSE Metal index gained 0.45% or 38.76 points at 8644.17 as buying resumed for metal shares. JSW Steel (up 5.41% to Rs 350), NALCO (up 0.43% to Rs 211), Hindustan Zinc (up 0.51% to Rs 835), Jindal Stainless (up 0.31% to Rs 112.50) and Jindal Steel & Power (up 1.03% to Rs 2180) advanced.
Telecom software provider Tech Mahindra jumped 7.18% to Rs 1238.10 on renewed buying in anticipation of strong financial performance for Q3 December 2006. The scrip hit a high of Rs 1285, which is a lifetime high for the counter. Also there are reports that the company has bid for UK operations of Tiscali with the bid amount pegged at over 600 million pounds. Tiscali has 1.4 mln broadband users in UK.
iGate Global Solutions surged 16.66% to Rs 305 after the company announced board meeting on 10 January 2007, to take on record Q3 December 2006 results.
A block deal of 20 lakh shares was struck on Reliance Petroleum at Rs 63.25 per share. The stock was down 0.16% to Rs 63 on total volumes of 22.66 lakh shares.
MRF rose 0.91% to Rs 4325 after surging to an intra-day high of Rs 4495. It reported net sales of Rs 4248.3 crore for the year ended September 2006 as compared to Rs 2966.20 crore last year. Net profit jumped to Rs 79.90 crore (Rs 40.30 crore).
Mid-sized software firm Four Soft jumped 4.33% to Rs 71.10 after the company’s board approved the acquisition of Denmark's Transaxiom Holdings A/S for $10 million in a cash and stock deal. The Danish company, which provides software services for transportation and logistics services providers, would help expand Four Soft's presence in Scandinavia, Australia and Hong Kong, Four Soft said. The integration of the acquired company would begin next month. Transaxiom's annualised revenues of its current operations would be around $8 million.
Peninsula Land plunged 7.91% to Rs 629 after the company priced placement of shares with qualified institutional buyers at Rs 600 a share, a discount of 12% to Tuesday's closing price of Rs 683.05.
Indiabulls Financial Services rose 0.57% to Rs 541.10 after it acquired 100% shareholding in Noble Realtors. Noble Realtors is engaged in the business of construction and development of real estate projects.
Essar Oil rose 1.85% to Rs 46.70 after the refiner said it had begun exporting oil products from its refinery in Gujarat.
Pioneer Embroideries surged 5% to Rs 229.35 after the company said it would invest Rs 100 crore over the next three years to widen its retail presence in the country. Around 30% of these stores would be company owned and the balance through franchisees.
Gitanjali Gems advanced 2.50% to Rs 219.30 after the company announced on Tuesday that it has acquired a majority ownership interest in Samuels Jewelers Inc. from funds managed by DDJ Capital Management. Samuels operates 97 retail jewelry stores in 18 states throughout the United States.
Volatility is expected to remain high in the next few days ahead of expiry of December 2006 derivatives contracts next Thursday (28 January).
The near term trigger for domestic bourses is Q3 December 2006 results. Market men expect December 2006 quarter to be another strong quarter in terms of earnings growth. The Q3 results would start trickling in from about 12 January 2007.
Asian shares rallied from the biggest drop in a month after Thailand scrapped day-old penalties on stock investments. Toyota Motor Corp. and NEC Corp. gained after the yen fell, boosting the value of Japanese exports. Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 1.4% to its highest since 9 May. Markets rose across the region, except in the Philippines and India. Benchmarks in New Zealand and Australia climbed to records.
PTT Pcl and Advanced Info Service Pcl led Thailand's SET Index to an 11% gain, rebounding from a 15% slump yesterday, its worst in 16 years. It spurred recoveries in emerging-market stocks after the Thai government abandoned rules imposed on 18 December to lock up 30% of foreign-currency deposits for a year on funds earmarked for equities. PTT, Thailand's biggest energy company, jumped 15% to 214 baht after plummeting 17 percent yesterday. Advanced Info, its largest mobile-phone operator, jumped 14% to 76 baht, recovering from a 21 percent drop.
The Nikkei share average topped 17,000 for the first time in seven months on Wednesday as shares of Toyota Motor Corp. and other exporters gained after the yen fell to a record low against the euro and neared a one-month low against the dollar. The Nikkei 225 index was up 1.40% at 17,011.04, breaking above 17,000 for the first time since 11 May.
Hang Seng index was up 1.45% to 19,240.12
European markets also opened positive, with Spain’s Madrid General being exception. The FTSE 100 index gained 0.44%.
FIIs were net sellers in three out of four trading sessions from 13 December to 18 December and that weighed on market sentiment. Their net outflow was Rs 182.70 crore on 18 December. As per provisional data, FIIs were net sellers to the tune of Rs 823 crore on Tuesday (19 December). They were also net sellers to the tune of Rs 831 crore in index-based futures on that day.
The Dow Jones industrial average finished at a record high on Tuesday, spurred by a rise in oil prices that boosted shares of Exxon Mobil Corp. But the Nasdaq fell as technology stocks dropped after disappointing financial results from industry bellwether Oracle Corp. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 30.05 points, or 0.24%, to end at a record 12,471.32. The Standard & Poor`s 500 Index advanced 3.07 points, or 0.22%, to finish at 1,425.55. But the Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 6.02 points, or 0.25%, to close at 2,429.55.
Oil continued to trade above $63 a barrel Wednesday with slight fluctuations as traders awaited a weekly report that was expected to show a drop in U.S. oil inventories. Light sweet crude for February delivery was down 15 cents at $63.31 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. At London's ICE Futures exchange, oil prices also moved slightly lower, with Brent crude for February delivery down 17 cents to $62.64 a barrel.