Sensex off 0.9%, Singapore Buys Stake in BSE

Ivaylo
07 Mar, 2007
New York City

The Sensex opened with a positive bias but profit taking at higher levels together with heavy selling in cement stocks made the index slip into the negative zone. The market regained some territory in late afternoon trade on buying interest at lower levels but still ended with a loss. Gujarat Ambuja and ACC led the decline, while Cipla and Reliance Comms rallied. Singapore Exchange to buy a stake in BSE.

[R]8:00AM NY-7:00PM Mumbai Sensex tumbles Tuesday on heavy selling.[/R]
The Sensex on BSE finished 117.34 points, or 0.92%, lower at 12,579.75. The market saw a very volatile session as it traded within a range of 512 points. The market-breadth was very weak with more than three decliners for every advancer. For 1,959 stocks that declined, 579 advanced and 41 were unchanged. Of the 30 stocks in the Sensex, 21 declined, while the rest advanced. The turnover on BSE was Rs 4,327.59 crore, compared with Rs 3,816 crore on Tuesday. On NSE, the turnover was Rs 8,881.84 crore, higher than Rs 8,361.27 crore on Tuesday.

Economic news

The Bombay Stock Exchange Ltd announced on Wednesday that it was selling a 5% stake to Singapore Exchange for $42.7 million, following a similar deal with Deutsche Boerse last month.

Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath said on Wednesday that India may consider banning cement exports if such a move will help cool prices.

The government on Wednesday hinted at a reduction in tariffs on imported wines and spirits in view of demand from trading partners such as the EU who have threatened to activate the dispute settlement mechanism at the WTO.

Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday said he was in favor of withdrawal of most tax exemptions in future except for those given to promote R&D, knowledge areas and for the welfare of senior citizens.

Advancers

Indian drug large-cap Cipla led the gainers, up 4.99% to Rs 232.7, on a volume of 3.45 lakh shares. The stock had also surged to an intraday high of Rs 236.50. Dr Reddy’s was up 2.2% to Rs 634.4, Tata Motors gained 2% to Rs 740.6, and Reliance Communications advanced 2.5% to Rs 411.

Engineering and construction large-cap L&T added 1.9% to Rs 1,454.3, on reports that the company was in talks with Japanese Toshiba Corporation for a joint venture for power plants and equipments in India.

Decliners

Cement stocks were the worst hit in the wake of the government announcement of a possible cement export ban. Gujarat Ambuja crashed 8.5% to Rs 104, and ACC tumbled 4.7% to Rs 814. Other cement stocks also followed suit. UltraTech Cement Company was down 1.86% to Rs 805.55, Shree Cement was off 2.51% to Rs 1,138, India Cements lost 5.75% to Rs 152.50) and Birla Corporation dipped 2.60% to Rs 219.

Wipro and Ranbaxy plunged around 4% each to Rs 557 and Rs 310, respectively. ICICI Bank shed 3% to Rs 827. The State Bank of India shed 2.7% to Rs 965. The State Bank of India on Wednesday announced it will soon lift car and other personal loan rates, excluding housing and education, by an average of 0.75%.

Hindalco and ITC slipped 2.5% each to Rs 127 and Rs 158, respectively. HDFC Bank and HLL declined over 2% each to Rs 916 and Rs 168, respectively. Maruti and Tata Steel dropped around 1.5% each to Rs 777 and Rs 413, and Infosys and Grasim were down 1% each at Rs 2,092 and Rs 2,104.