The bear run continued on stock markets on Monday. The BSE Sensitive Index (Sensex) ended at its new 52-week closing low for yet another session Monday following sustained selling pressure in FMCG heavyweight Hindustan Lever. Recording its sixth straight loss, the BSE Sensex ended with a loss of 41.12 points at 2,834.41 after touching a new 52-week low of 2,828.48 in intra-day trades. The NSE S&P CNX Nifty Index shed 9.51 points to end at 922.70. Sensex had fallen by 4.45 per cent last week following sustained selling. “The fall in Indian markets has come despite the rise in Wall Street stocks,” said a dealer.While the undertone of the market remained bearish, overall trading activity was earnings-driven and stock-specific. “Selling pressure continued in select Old Economy and FMCG sector stocks on fears that these sectors may post poor performances on account of the inadequate rainfall in several parts of the country this monsoon. Tech stocks displayed mixed trends. Selling pressure from FIIs still remains a major cause of concern,” said a broker.Concerned about the fate of the government’s reform process—mainly divestment —FIIs have turned net sellers of late. According to figures released by the Sebi, FIIs remained net sellers of shares worth Rs 192.40 crore last week. While operators and institutional investors remained sellers, a lack of buying support from just about any quarter led to a sharp decline in share prices.Hindustan Lever (down 5.06% to Rs 152.80) flopped to a new 52-week low of Rs 152 after the company’s quarterly performance—announced on Friday—turned out below expectations of the market. Other FMCG stocks ITC (down 2.02% to Rs 630), Nestle India (down 1.70% to Rs 559.60) and Colgate (down 0.68% to Rs 131) also declined. Zee Telefilms (down 4.94% to Rs 80.85). Reliance fell by Rs 4.05 to 219.30, ACC (down 3.94% to Rs 130.30) made a solid loss, down from the day’s high of Rs 142. The stock rose as much as 5% earlier in the day on hopes that the SAT order directing Sebi to look into the Gujarat Ambuja’s acquisition of the Tatas’ stake in ACC may result into an open offer to the ACC shareholders.Polaris Soft (down 14.92% to Rs 159.10) crashed further after the company announced disappointing quarterly results on Saturday. Other non-Sensex frontline tech stocks NIIT (down 6.65% to Rs 118.55), Mascot Systems (down 6.79% to Rs 107), SSI (down 5.86% to Rs 84.40), Wipro (down 2.12% to Rs 1,347.60), I-flex solutions (down 1.65% to Rs 593.15) and Digital GloablSoft (down 1.79% to Rs 506.45).
