Bank stocks lose steam
Mumbai: The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex ended 6.73 points higher at 4212.29 on Thursday, after banks and steel stocks faced selling pressure due to the expiry of August futures contracts.

Most positions in the futures segment had been built up in banking and steel shares, and the selling was a result of the unwinding of these positions.

At the National Stock Exchange, the S&P CNX Nifty index ended marginally (0.75 point) higher at 1341.05.

Losers outnumbered gainers 982 to 789, even as volumes touched 21.9 crore shares.

Among state-run banks, Bank of Baroda dropped 1.03 per cent to Rs 148.45, while SBI declined by 2.31 per cent to Rs 444.45. However, technology shares ended higher. Wipro jumped up by 5 per cent to Rs 1,071.75, Satyam Computer soared 7.1 per cent to Rs 233, while HCL Technologies was up 9.15 per cent at Rs 188.40. More than 11 lakh shares of HCL Tech were traded on the BSE.

Refinery stocks were also in demand, as fund managers churned their schemes' portfolios after the recent rally in steel and banking shares. Hindustan Petroleum rose 3.3 per cent to Rs 410.35, Bongaigaon Refinery closed 6.2 per cent higher at Rs 80.25, and Kochi Refineries added 3.6 per cent at Rs 165.15.
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Rupee tad weaker on steady dollar purchases by state-run banks
Mumbai: The rupee closed a tad weaker against the dollar on Thursday at 45.8550/8650 against the previous close of 45.84/85.

Opening the day at 45.85/86, the rupee went down a bit in early trades as banks resorted to heavy dollar to take advantage of weekend-swap differentials.

In later day trades, there were strong dollar inflows. But the rupee failed to gain above 45.80 levels on steady dollar purchases by state-run banks and month-end corporate demand; market sentiment though was bullish on the rupee.
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