Sensex ends down 97 points

Besides,brokers said reports that Goldman Sachs cut RIL stock to 8220;neutral8221; from 8220;buy8221; pulled down its scrip,which has the heaviest weightage in the 30-share Sensex.

They added that investors also booked profits ahead of monthly settlement tomorrow in the derivatives segment.

Selling was seen in realty,capital goods and metal stocks in view of increased capital outflows,extending losses for the third straight day.

RIL continued downslide for the third day in a row and was the major contributer to the Sensex fall. The scrip ended lower by 1.56 per cent today.

The Bombay Stock Exchange 30-share barometer started on a firm note and immediately touched a high of 19,633.63,but selling after mid-session pulled it down to 19,448.69,a fall of 96.66 points or 0.49 per cent.

The NSE 50-issue Nifty also declined by 34.50 points or 0.59 per cent to close at 5,833.90.

Brokers attributed two-way movements in share values to rolling over of positions ahead of the expiry of derivatives contract on Thursday.

Besides RIL,fall in other index heavyweights like ICICI Bank,Lamp;T,BHEL,SBI,Wipro and Tata Motors weighed down the market sentiment.

However,rise in ONGC,ITC,Infosys Tech,Mamp;M and Bharti Airtel mitigated the Sensex fall.

FIIs pulled out a total Rs 1,824.43 crore on April 25 and 26,as per Sebi data.

Bonanza Portfolio Senior Research Analyst Equity Shanu Goel said,8221;IT stocks were under pressure on weak FY8217;12 guidance from Wipro.8221;

Besides,Goel added,8221;Interest rate sensitives like banking,realty and capital goods witnessed selling ahead of RBI8217;s credit policy meeting on May 3. Hike in interest rates is anticipated in the meeting.8221;

Meanwhile,global markets displayed a mixed trend with upward bias.

Asian stocks finished mixed today with upward bias after a report showed US consumer confidence increased,boosting the outlook for Asian exporters. The key benchmark indices from Japan,Singapore,South Korea and Taiwan ended in the green while in China and Hong Kong closed in the red.

European markets too were trading higher in afternoon deals. The CAC was up by 0.48 per cent and the DAX by 0.64 per cent,while the FTSE was trading nearly flat.

Wipro was the top loser from the Sensex with a decline of 2.86 per cent following lower-than-expected Q4 earnings. It also proposed wage hike for its offshore employees which would have an impact on the operating margins.

In all,23 of the 30 index-based stocks closed with losses,while others finished with gains. Other Sensex-based losers were,Jaipra Asso 2.66 pc,BHEL 2.30 pc,REL Infra 2.22 pc,HeroHonda 1.67 pc,DLF 1.57 pc,Hindalco 1.50 pc,Lamp;T 1.49 pc,ICICI Bank 1.22 pc and Tata Motors 1.08 pc,Sterlite Ind 1.56 pc,Reliance Infra 1.55 pc,Mamp;M 1.48 pc,DLF 1.28 pc,HDFC Bank 1.24 pc,HDFC 1.20 pc,RIL 0.83 pc,TCS 0.78 pc and Lamp;T 0.52 pc.

However,ONGC rose by 2.57 per cent,Mamp;M 1.61 pc,Maruti Suzuki 1.10 pc,ITC 0.86 pc,Bharti Airtel 0.77 pc and Infosys Tech 0.52 pc.

From sectoral indices,BSE-Realty dipped by 1.55 per cent and BSE-CG by 1.20 per cent and BSE-Metal by 0.81 per cent.

The total market breadth remained weak as 1,558 stocks closed with losses,while 1,317 finished with gains on the BSE. The total turnover improved further to Rs 3,247.27 crore from Rs 3,114.10 crore on Tuesday.

STOCK THAT MOVED

Ambuja Cements declined 4.3 per cent to Rs 150.95,after the cement maker said late Tuesday its March quarter net profit fell 12 per cent.

Air express courier firm Blue Dart jumped 7.7 per cent to Rs 1,488.15,after its January-March profit rose 52 per cent from a year ago.

Indoco Remedies rose nearly 3 per cent to Rs 455,after the drugmaker said its quarterly net profit rose 48 per cent.

Clariant Chemicals firmed 2.8 per cent to Rs 728,after the specialty chemicals maker said its March quarter net profit soared to Rs 2.2 billion from Rs 325.3 million a year ago.

MAIN TOP THREE BY VOLUME ON NSE

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