Sensex down for 2nd day, Kingfisher, USL soar, SAIL, Sterlite fall

The BSE Sensex ended lower for a second straight day while the broader Nifty closed below the key 5,650 mark. The rupee, however, traded with strong gains against the dollar at 53.24.

Markets were choppy on account of derivatives expiry today. Investors ignored sharp gains in Asian stocks. European markets
also traded higher.

The Sensex traded higher for most part of the day, but it slipped into the red just before the Supreme Court delivered its judgment on whether all natural resources must be auctioned by the government. The court clarified to the government that its February judgment on following a competitive bidding process for allocating national resources applied only to 2G spectrum in the current context and not necessarily to all natural resources. That sent stocks higher in the afternoon session. However, gains were short-lived and markets ended in the red.

The Sensex declined 53 points or 0.3 per cent to 18,579 while the Nifty shed 14 points to 5,649.

Energy and IT stocks were the big losers on the BSE, falling over 1 per cent. The rally in defensives continued though, with FMCG stocks rising over 1.5 per cent. Consumer durables also jumped over 1 per cent.

On the Nifty, 27 of the 50 stocks closed lower. State-run steel maker SAIL was the top loser, down 4 per cent. The stock has been replaced on the Nifty index effective tomorrow. Sterlite Industries, the other stock that will no longer trade on the Nifty from tomorrow, ended 3.3 per cent lower.

Iron ore miner Sesa Goa, state-run explorer ONGC, two-wheeler major Hero MotoCorp, Vedanta Group refiner Cairn India, and state-run power equipment maker BHEL were the other stocks that ended with over 2 per cent losses.

IT major HCL Tech was the top Nifty gainer, rising 2.6 per cent. Engineering and construction major L&T and FMCG major HUL were the other two big gainers on the Nifty.

Shares in firms promoted by Vijay Mallya extended their gains. Kingfisher Airlines was the top traded stock on the BSE 500. The domestic carrier’s management met the banking consortium today. Mr Mallya had yesterday said that he was in talks with foreign airlines for a possible state-sale. Kingfisher gained 8 per cent while United Spirits closed 10 per cent higher.

The market breadth was even with 50 per cent stocks rising on the BSE 500.


Global cues:

Asian shares rebounded but sentiment was vulnerable due to uncertainty over a bailout for Spain and signs of Europe struggling to find a unified approach to tackling its debt crisis as global lenders wrangled over Greek restructuring. European stocks also traded with strong gains.


(With inputs from Thomson Reuters)