Sensex continues on downslide
Mumbai: For the second successive day, the Sensex ended in the negative territory, shedding 17.37 points (or 0.34 per cent) to close at 5047. 54 points. In contrast, the S & P CNX Nifty closed in the positive territory, appreciating by 3.05 points (or 0.19 per cent).

The Sensex opened on a strong note at 5080.05 points and witnessed an intra-day swing of 88.04 points. It remained strong in the early part of the day, touching a high of 5118.08 before slipping to a low of 5030.04 points in the later part.

Among the Sensex constituents, only 12 out of the 30 stocks advanced in value. The index heavyweights namely Reliance Industries, Infosys Technologies, Hindustan Lever, Ranbaxy Labs and Tata Steel figured among the gainers. Barring these key stocks, other heavyweights such as ITC, ICICI Bank, HDFC and State Bank of India shed value during the day's trading.

Most of the action during the day's trading was concentrated in mid-cap and small-cap counters. Among the significant gainers were Silverline Technologies, Eicher, Essar Shipping, Voltas, Hotel Leela Venture, Sesa Goa and Flex Industries.

Riding on strong trading volumes, the Silverline Technologies stock was up by Rs. 1.08 or 20 per cent to close for the day at Rs. 6.48. The trading volumes in the stock soared from 5.60 lakh shares on Wednesday to 17.49 lakh shares during the day.

The Eicher stock also appreciated by Rs. 12 ( or 20 per cent) to close for the day at Rs. 72. The trading volumes in the stock jumped from 7698 shares on Wednesday's trading to 91959 shares during the day. About a week ago, Eicher had announced that it has appointed Advisors / Consultants to review the current structures of its various business and also the business of Eicher Motors, in which it has major investments. Buoyed by strong trading volumes, the Essar Shipping stock appreciated by 3.15 (or 19.7 per cent) to settle for the day at Rs. 19.1. Compared to 9.95 lakh shares traded on Wednesday, the trading volumes in the stock soared to 61.41 lakh shares during the day.

The Sterlite Industries stock breached the Rs. 1000 mark, settling at Rs. 1062.75. The stock appreciated by Rs. 96.6 or 9.99 per cent during the day. The trading volumes surged from 80456 shares on Wednesday to 1.89 lakh shares during the day. The uptrend in the stock has to be seen in the light of the decision of Sterlite Industries to make a $ 500 million foreign currency convertible bond issue and list on the London Stock Exchange.

Apart from an appreciation in the Tata Steel stock, the other stocks in the steel sector which jumped during the day was Jindal Iron and Steel. The stock appreciated by Rs. 17.45 or 9.99 per cent to settle at Rs. 192.10. The trading volumes have also 11.95 lakh shares on Wednesday to 14.96 lakh shares during the day. The stock has been firm following reports that it plans to consolidate the steel business with Jindal Vijayanagar Steel.

The Moser Baer stock also firmed up by Rs. 46.35 to close for the day at Rs. 556.90. There was heightened trading activity in the stock, with the trading volumes surging from 56375 shares on Wednesday to 2.19 lakh shares during the day. The uptrend has to be viewed in the context of the Reserve Bank of India approving the increase in the foreign institutional investors holding to 40 per cent of the company's paid up equity.
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Voltas surges on fundamentals strength
Mumbai: Sustained investment based buying, saw the stock of Voltas Ltd surge sharply amidst good volumes on the bourses on Thursday. Brokers said that fundamentals have been driving market interest in the counter in the recent past. Perceived as a turnaround story, the stock has appreciated by 14 .28 per cent from around Rs 105 levels as on October 7. The stock stood at Rs 120.50 up 14.22 per cent with around 3.77 lakh shares traded on the Bombay Stock Eschange. On the NSE, the stock ended the day at Rs 119.65 up 11.87 per cent with around 6.18 lakh shares traded. The stock is currently quoting at an EPS of Rs 12.
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Institutions drive up Escorts
Mumbai: Two big domestic mutual funds were seen accumulating the shares of two-wheeler and tractor maker Escorts Ltd. Later in the day a foreign fund also stepped in at the counter, market sources said. According to dealers, the funds are betting on the company's business restructuring plans paying off. Besides, tractor sales are also expected to pick up. The stock stayed at the 20 per cent upper circuit on Thursday. Trading volume at the Escorts counter on the BSE was 6.5 lakh shares while on the NSE, it was a little over 10 lakh shares. A week ago the combined volume on the two exchanges barely touched 1.5 lakh shares. The stock closed at Rs 65.55 on the BSE compared to a level of about Rs 52-53 a week ago.
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Reliance Capital designs new MF scheme for NRIs
Kolkata: Reliance Capital Mutual Fund has worked out a diversified equity scheme that will invest in stocks of companies mainly drawn from the BSE 200 index. Christened Reliance NRI Equity Fund, the scheme is expected to target non-resident Indians in a significant manner. NRIs have lately emerged as a big source of inflows into domestic mutual funds.

While the entire corpus may be invested in equity and equity-related instruments, a small portion, subject to a maximum limit of 20 per cent, may be invested in debt and money market instruments. Investors will be offered a trigger option - value- or NAV-based - to pave the way for what the offer document (sent to SEBI for clearance) describes as `gain cap' and `stop loss'.

Reliance MF may also invest in listed companies that are in the top-200 list by way of market capitalisation on the Bombay Stock Exchange. Further, it may pick up large IPOs where the market cap of the companies making their initial offers (based on the issue price) will take them into the top-200 bracket.

Reliance NRI Equity Fund will be free to invest in a broad range of companies with the view to maximising returns and minimise risks by reasonable diversification, the offer document has mentioned. "The selection of companies will be done so as to capture the growth in the Indian economy. The fund will be focusing on companies with relatively higher market capitalisation and having good liquidity in the stock market," it is pointed out.

The fund is expected to follow in general a strategy marked by higher portfolio reshuffling to leverage short-term movements in the markets as well as to utilise opportunities that may be driven by events. It will add to the MF's other equity products, including the two diversified schemes, Reliance Growth and Reliance Vision, as well as the more recently-launched banking sector-specific scheme.
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Rupee turns weak; gilts reverse trend
Mumbai: The rupee on Thursday ended three paise weaker despite good supplies of the greenback. Dealers attributed this to central bank intervention. The domestic currency ended at 45.31, down from Wednesday's close of 45.2850/2950.
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