Ahead of RBI Decision; Nifty in India Down 3%

Mayank Mehta
27 Jan, 2010
New York City

Mumbai stocks fell sharply ahead of interest rate decision on Friday. Banks and resource companies led the decliners. Rupee edged higher. Bank of Baroda quarterly net increases 17%. Century Textiles and Industries Ltd earnings triple.

[R]6:00 PM Mumbai, 8:30 AM New York – Mumbai stocks fell sharply ahead of interest rate decision on Friday. Banks and resource companies led the decliners. Rupee edged higher. Bank of Baroda quarterly net increases 17%. Century Textiles and Industries Ltd earnings triple.[/R]

Investors turned cautious ahead of rate decision on Friday and sold rate sensitive stocks. In highly volatile trade banks, IT services providers and resource stocks declined.

The Sensex index in India decreased 490.64 or 2.92% to 16,289.82 and CNX Nifty index fell 154.80 or 3.09% to 4,853.10. Among the Sensex 30 stocks, 2 rose and 28 fell.

On BSE trading, 335 stocks advanced, 2,580 declined and 26 were unchanged.

Rupee edged lower 15 paisa to 46.27 against one dollar.

Gainers & Losers

Bank of Baroda fell 2.1% to Rs 522.60 after the public sector lender reported a 17.5% growth in net profit at Rs 832.49 crore for the quarter ending in December quarter this fiscal.

Century Textiles and Industries Limited decreased 6.6% to Rs 478.10 after the textiles company said third quarter sales rose 21.4% to Rs 1,068 crore from Rs 879.8 crore a year ago. Net profit for the quarter rose 158% to Rs 59.6 crore compared to net profit of Rs 23.1 crore a year ago.

Dabur India Limited declined 1.6% to Rs 155.20 after the ayurvedic and natural health care company said third quarter sales rose 19% to Rs 926.2 crore from Rs 778.6 crore a year ago. Net profit for the quarter rose 27% to Rs 137.8 crore or Rs 1.58 per diluted share compared to net profit of Rs 108.5 crore or Rs 1.24 per share a year ago.

Edelweiss Capital Limited dropped 1.2% to Rs 444.10 an integrated financial services company said on Wednesday it has signed an agreement to acquire Anagram Capital for Rs 164 crore in cash.

Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation Limited dropped 7.0% to Rs 147.20 after the mining and mineral processing company said third quarter sales rose 5% to Rs 270 crore from Rs 257 crore a year ago. Net profit for the quarter fell 5% to Rs 71.2 crore compared to net profit of Rs 74.7 crore a year ago.

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited dropped 2.0% to Rs 344.25 after the oil refining and marketing company said third quarter sales fell 6% to Rs 27,662 crore from Rs 29,386.7 crore a year ago. Net profit for the quarter was Rs 31.4 crore compared to net loss of Rs 422 crore a year ago.

Hindustan Unilever Limited fell 1.7% to Rs 259.30 after the consumer goods company said third quarter sales rose 4.6% to Rs 4,504.2 crore from Rs 4,307.7 crore a year ago. Net profit for the quarter rose 5.5% to Rs 649.1 crore or Rs 2.97 per diluted share compared to net profit of Rs 615.7 crore or Rs 2.86 per share a year ago.

Infrastructure Development Finance Company Limited fell 2.7% to Rs 145.40 after the finance company said third quarter net interest income rose 8.1% to Rs 280 crore from Rs 259 crore a year ago. Net profit for the quarter rose 46% to Rs 269.7 crore compared to net profit of Rs 184.6 crore a year ago.

Lanco Infratech Limited decreased 2.2% to Rs 48.40 after the company entered into a contract with the government of Uttar Pradesh to set up two 660 MW coal fired power plants at Fatehpur and additional contract to enhance the current power plant.

Mahindra & Mahindra Limited declined 5.0% to Rs 1,018.50 after its quarterly earnings disappointed some analysts.

Punjab National Bank slipped 4.5% to Rs 860 after the bank said third quarter net interest income rose 18.4% to Rs 2,329.1 crore from Rs 1,967.3 crore a year ago. Net profit for the quarter rose 0.5% to Rs 1,011.3 crore compared to net profit of Rs 1,005.8 crore a year ago.

Steel Authority of India Limited slipped 3.1% to Rs 216.35 after the steelmaker said third quarter sales rose 12.4% to Rs 9,878.7 crore from Rs 8,792.7 crore a year ago. Net profit for the quarter rose 98.7% to Rs 1,675.5 crore compared to net profit of Rs 843.3 crore a year ago.