An interim stay preventing Reliance Industries (RIL) from selling natural gas to a third party cast a shadow on the stock market, which ended 144 points lower amid the government`s decision to relax excise duty on cement.
After a strong beginning, the market turned volatile and gradually moved downwards on selling pressure in reaction to an interim order from the Bombay High Court, restraining RIL from entering into any contract for supplying to a third party the 28 million standard cubic metres of gas per day.
RIL was hit hard by the unexpected development and fell sharply by 2.5 per cent.
Initially touching a high of 14,189.21, the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) 30-share sensitive index (Sensex) later turned weak and ended at 13,934.27, a loss of 143.94 points or 1.02 per cent from Thursday`s close of 14,078.21.
The broader S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) dropped by 33.50 points or 0.81 per cent to close at 4,117.35 from previous close of 4,150.85.
Attributing firm trend at outset to the government`s decision to replace the specific excise duty of Rs 600 per tonne on cement with an ad valorem duty of 12 per cent, brokers said, the rally short-lived as investors preferred to book profits at the weekend session.
Investors seemed unwilling to hold any long outstanding positions following the interim order against the petro giant, they added.
The market discounted the positive factors, including firm Asian cues and a fall in inflation to 5.77 per cent in the week ended April 21.
Market breadth was negative. 1,453 counters closed with losses, while 1,130 ended with gains of the total 2,667 traded shares.
The trading volume was relatively low at Rs 4,268.39 crore compared to Rs 4,432.11 crore yesterday. Indian Bulls clocked the highest turnover of Rs 377.28 crore followed by RIL (Rs 242.28 crore), IFCI (Rs 185.64 crore), Tech Mahindra (Rs 159.65 crore) and Ind Bull Real Estate (Rs 141.68 crore).
The broad-based BSE-100 index fell by 47.36 points to 7,095.95 from previous close of 7,143.31.
The BSE-200 index was quoted lower at 1,681.61 compared to 1,691.78 and the BSE-500 moved down by 29.96 points to 5,359.14 from last close of 5,389.10. The Dollex-200 ended up at 684.60 from previous close of 683.81 but the Dollex-30 eased by 8.66 points to 2,797.41 from 2,806.07.
RIL dipped by 40.55 to 1582.55, BHEL by 40.15 to 2495.65, L&T by 43.50 to 1697.85, Infosys Tech by 9.05 to 2072.25, TCS by 15.85 to 1274.35, Satyam Comuter by 8.15 to 470.55, Wipro by 3.20 to 567.40, HDFC by 44.75 to 1634.45, ICICI Bank by 16.75 to 855.35, Grasim by 18.95 by 2473.60, Bharti Airtel by 16.30 to 817.80, GACL by 1.30 to 120.35, Hero Honda by 6.85 to 697.80, Maruti by 8.00 to 806.45, NTPC by 1.20 to 158.00, Rel Com by 1.60 to 470.15, Ranbaxy by 2.10 to 381.95, Tata Motors by 1.50 to 732.60 and Tata Steel by 3.90 to 552.90.
However, ACC rose by 6.80 to 859.05, Bajaj Auto by 16.05 to 2567.10, Cipla by 5.75 to 217.45, Dr Reddy by 2.15 to 719.35, HDFC Bank by 1.95 to 1008.00, Hindalco by 2.25 to 148.15, REL by 3.30 to 515.70 and SBI by 6.50 to 1128.75. - DDnews India
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