Volatile session: Sensex 95 Points Down & Nifty 14 Points dn

Another volatile session ended with modest losses as market players preferred booking profits at higher levels. Further, weak global cues proved to be another sentiment dampener for Indian markets.

Oil & Gas and the Metal stocks were among the major gainers. The Capital goods and select Power stocks also attracted some buying. Also the Small-Cap stocks managed hold on to their gains. However, on the other hand Banking and realty stocks were offloaded.

Finally, the BSE benchmark Sensex ended 95 points lower to close at 15,695 and the Nifty index ended 14 points lower to 4,733. Overall about 1,715 stocks advanced; 948 stocks declined while 67 stocks remained unchanged. Among the 50-Nifty 31 stocks ended in red and 19 stocks ended in green.

Among the 30-scrips of Sensex RIL, REL, L&T, TCS and Tata Steel were among the major gainers. On the other hand, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel, Infosys and SBI were the major laggards.

Among the BSE Sectoral indices, the BSE Bankex index (down 3%), BSE Teck index (down 1.2%), BSE Realty index (down 1%), BSE Pharma index (down 1%) and BSE IT index (down 1%). Among the gainers were, the BSE Oil & gas index (up 1.5%) and BSE Metal index (up 0.5%).

National Aluminum edged lower by 1% to Rs428 after the company said that they would raise 70mn Euros this month via overseas borrowing. The company had initially planned to raise 150mn Euros but cut its fund raising plans. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs438 and a low of Rs424 and recorded volumes of over 7,00,000 shares on BSE.

NTPC dropped by over a percent to Rs186 after media reports stated that the company’s net profit was at Rs7,100cr (prov) vs estimations of Rs7663cr. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs189 and a low of Rs183 and recorded volumes of over 37,00,000 shares on BSE.

Reliance Industries surged by over 2% to Rs2467 after media reports stated that the company may sell 10% stake in Krishna-Godavari field. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs2523 and a low of Rs2409 and recorded volumes of over 15,00,000 shares on BSE.

L&T gained by 1.5% to Rs2678 after the company announced its plans to double its offshore equipment sales. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs2735 and a low of Rs2625 and recorded volumes of over 4,00,000 shares on BSE.

Orchid Chemicals was down by 1.5% to Rs228. The company announced that it has formed its wholly owned subsidiary in Japan called Orchid Pharma Japan K K. Orchid Japan, headquartered in Tokyo. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs236 and a low of Rs217 and recorded volumes of over 98,00,000 shares on BSE.

HPCL slipped by 1.5% to Rs244. According to reports, HPCL’s Visakhapatnam refinery expansion project will not be taken up before three years. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs253 and a low of Rs244 and recorded volumes of over 1,00,000 shares on BSE.

Financial Tech declined by a percent to Rs1688. The company said that it would acquire stake in ICX Platform for US$1.5mn. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs1739 and a low of Rs1682 and recorded volumes of over 43,000 shares on BSE.

BPCL dropped by 2% to Rs387. The company announced that it restarted its Kochi refinery in southern India after a maintenance shutdown. The closure started on March 13 to enable the company to begin work on expanding the Kochi refinery capacity by 2 million tons to 9.5 million tons a year. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs412 and a low of Rs384 and recorded volumes of over 3,00,000 shares on BSE.

Geodesic Information was up by a percent to Rs175 after the company said that it has decided to establish a subsidiary Company in Mauritius to streamline the Company's stake in its subsidiaries and for a better integration and a smoother flow of information and operation. The scrip touched an intra-day high of Rs178 and a low of Rs172 and recorded volumes of over 2,000 shares on BSE.