Market pares losses

A recovery from lower level was witnessed on the bourses in mid-morning trade. Earlier, weak Asian markets and record high oil prices had pulled the domestic markets down in early trade. The market breadth was strong. Metal stocks rose while banking, capital goods and realty stocks declined.




At 10:23 IST, the 30-share BSE Sensex was down 88.63 points or 0.55% at 17,339.13. Sensex lost 178.65 points at day’s low of 17,256.29 touched in mid-morning trade.

The broader based S&P CNX Nifty was down 24.3 points or 0.47% at 5,133.40.

The market breadth was strong on BSE with 1333 shares advancing as compared to 998 that declined. 83 remained unchanged.

Among the 30-member Sensex pack, 22 declined while the rest gained.

India’s largest private sector firm by market capitalisation and oil refiner Reliance Industries declined 0.61% to Rs 2,619. It has reportedly formed a $1 billion joint venture with New York-based Vornado Realty Trust to set up a real estate fund.




Banking stocks declined. ICICI Bank (down 1.4% to Rs 928) and HDFC Bank (down 1.49% to Rs 1,479) edged lower.

India’s largest commercial bank State Bank of India declined 1.98% to Rs 1,670.30. It has reportedly decided to stop giving loans for the purchase of tractors and other farm equipment. Due to mounting non-performing assets in the farm equipment loan segment, the bank has decided to temporarily put on hold all future advances for farm equipment like tractors, power tillers and combined harvesters, the reports suggested.

Capital goods stocks declined. Larsen & Toubro (down 1.05% to Rs 2,966) and Bharat Heavy Electricals (down 2.24% to Rs 1,756) edged lower. However Suzlon Energy rose 0.39% to Rs 309.15.

Realty stocks declined. Indiabulls Real Estate (down 0.38% to Rs 535.20), DLF (down 0.72% to Rs 644.50) and Unitech (down 1.94% to Rs 281.15) edged lower.




Metal stocks were mixed. Sterlite Industries (up 4.95% to Rs 939.50), Tata Steel (up 1.54% to Rs 905.25) edged higher. However, Hindalco Industries (down 1.82% to Rs 200) and Steel Authority of India (down 0.38% to Rs 185.20) edged lower.

India’s second largest aluminium maker by sales National Aluminium Company declined 1.27% to Rs 517.15. It has raised prices of the metal by 5.8% a metric ton to about Rs 1.44 lakh to match a rise in prices in the global markets.

India’s largest tractor maker by sales Mahindra & Mahindra declined 1.39% to Rs 653. It is reportedly eyeing Italian motorcycle marque brands — Cagiva and MV Agusta. The Castiglioni family, which owns flagship MV Agusta and Cagiva motorcycle brands, has been facing financial troubles for some time and has been on the look out for a potential acquirer, the reports added.




India’s largest car maker by sales Maruti Suzuki India declined 0.1% to Rs 818.10. It has reportedly increased prices of cars by as much as Rs 18,000 because of higher raw material costs.

ACC (up 1.62% to Rs 691.10), Infosys (up 1.54% to Rs 1,900), Satyam Computer Services (up 1.01% to Rs 493.10), Ranbaxy Laboratories (up 1% to Rs 515.50), Tata Motors (up 0.63% to Rs 673.85) edged higher from the Sensex pack.

Jaiprakash Associates (down 2.7% to Rs 262.80), Reliance Infrastructure (down 2.29% to Rs 1,427.15), Bharti Airtel (down 2.04% to Rs 834), ONGC (down 1.46% to Rs 937), Wipro (down 1.37% to Rs 499.50), NTPC (down 1.15% to Rs 188.80) edged lower from Sensex pack.

HT Media rose 1.38% to Rs 143.05. The company’s net profit rose 73.6% to Rs 41.59 crore on 13.9% rise in sales to Rs 313.35 crore in Q4 March 2008 over Q4 March 2007. The company announced the result on Friday, 16 May 2008.




Kolte Patil Developers rose 7.15% to Rs 128.80. The company reported a net profit of Rs 40.09 crore on sales of Rs 118.82 crore in Q4 March 2008. Figures for the corresponding previous year period were not available. The company announced the result on 19 May 2008.

Karnataka Bank rose 0.41% to Rs 207. The company’s net profit rose 127.1% to Rs 60.78 crore on 20.5% rise in opearating income to Rs 475.18 crore in Q4 March 2008 over Q4 March 2007. The company announced the result on 19 May 2008.

Redington India rose 1.77% to Rs 376.30. The company’s net profit rose 68.5% to Rs 26.04 crore on 17.8% rise in sales to Rs 1,659.22 crore in Q4 March 2008 over Q4 March 2007. The company announced the result on 16 May 2008.