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Sensex
in bearish mode
After cheering the finance minister's two-day much-hyped
trip to Mumbai to reiterate the reformist credentials
of the UPA Government the markets perceiving a lack of
firm direction in the government's pronouncements ran
out of steam. The BSE dropped 105.70 points (or 2.15 per
cent) to close at 4817.99 points on Thursday. The Sensex
opened at 4972.27 points, touched a high of 5012.52 points
and a low of 4789.63 points, before closing marginally
higher. Only 3 stocks of the 30 BSE Sensex stocks registered
gains, while 27 declined. The three stocks ICICI Bank,
HDFC and BHEL.
Three sectoral indices - BSE - IT, BSE - Healthcare and
BSE-PSU Index shed 2.97 per cent, 2.43 per cent and 2.57
per cent, more than the decline in the Sensex while the
Bankex and BSE- Capital Goods gained 0.19 per cent and
0.22 per cent respectively. The S&P CNX Nifty also
turned bearish, shedding 40.1 points (or 2.61 per cent)
to settle below 1500 points, at 1495.10 points. The Nifty
Junior and CNX Midcap-200, however, declined by only 0.68
per cent and 1.48 per cent respectively. The top five
gainers in the Nifty were ABB, ICICI Bank, BHEL, HDFC
and VSNL. While the top five losers were National Aluminium,
Punjab National Bank, HCL Technologies, MTNL and Reliance
Energy.
The top five gainers in the Nifty Junior were Canara Bank,
CMC, Union Bank of India, Vijaya Bank and Siemens. The
top five losers were Cummins India, Polaris, MRPL, Jindal
Vijayanagar Steel and Wockhardt. Blue Dart, Asian Electronics,
Canara Bank, Amforge Industries, ABB and CMC logged significant
gains. The Blue Dart stock appreciated by Rs13.7 (or 7.88
per cent) to close for the day at Rs187.35 on rumours
of stake sale. The trading volumes soared from 44,163
shares on Wednesday's trading to 2.21 lakh shares during
the day.
The Asian Electronics stock also gained with the stock
going up by Rs3.55 (or 6.59 per cent) to close at Rs.57.35.
Amforge Industries on a sharp decline since May 17, perked
up by Rs3.8 (or 4.86 per cent) to close at Rs81.95. The
trading volumes, however, dipped marginally from 81,986
shares on Wednesday to 76,175 shares during the day. The
ABB stock price appreciated by Rs26.15 (or 4.12 per cent)
and thereafter stayed at Rs660.50. The trading volumes
marched up from 2,087 shares on Wednesday to 19,022 shares
during the day. Among significant losers were National
Aluminium, IDBI Bank, HCL Technologies, Punjab National
Bank, MTNL, Grasim, Cipla and Rolta.
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Blue
Dart up
Mumbai: The stock of courier company, Blue Dart
Express has appreciated by 23 per cent from around Rs151.95
(BSE) a week ago to around Rs 187 on the bourses. This
is on expectations that the international courier company
DHL might take a stake in the company. Brokers said there
is a perception that DHL might pick a stake at a price
higher than the ruling market price.
Another rumour going around was that that foreign fund
Schroder has sold a large chunk of the company's stock
at around Rs 190-plus levels. The buyer is rumoured to
be Citigroup. Intra-day the stock touched Rs 204 levels.
The stock price of the company gained 7.89 per cent at
Rs187.35 on the BSE on Thursdays trading and a volume
of 2.21 lakh shares were traded on the NSE. The stock
closed at Rs186.70, up 8.04 per cent with volume of 6.60
lakh shares.
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FM
says capital gains tax for FIIs may be reviewed
Mumbai: The Finance Minister said he would review
capital gains tax laws concerning foreign institutional
investors in the forthcoming Union Budget. The source
Minister was prepared to review capital gains tax laws
vis-à-vis foreign institutional investors to curb
chances of sudden capital flight. Currently, FIIs pay
capital gains tax of only 10 per cent irrespective of
whether they are long-term or short-term. In comparison,
individual investors and companies pay short-term capital
gains tax at a rate of 30 per cent and 35 per cent respectively.
On long-term gains, however, they too pay tax at the rate
of 10 per cent.
Rumours are doing the rounds of a sub-account of a foreign
fund having taken a massive bearish position on the Nifty
on Thursday. The fund is said to have sold Nifty futures
worth between $54 million and $70 million. The abrupt
sell-off in mid-day trade, around the time the Finance
Minister was wrapping up his series of meetings in Mumbai,
triggered a slide in major indices. Dealers with a large
institutional broking firm said that many hedge funds
and absolute-return funds continue to be in a `sell mode'.
``They are selling whenever there is an opportunity. None
of them are even thinking of buying anything at the moment.
Their medium-term view on Indian equities is negative,''
he said.
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