Bank stocks edged lower on profit taking after recent strong gains. State Bank of India fell on reports that the bank has committed around R 1200 core to beleaguered Kingfisher Airlines. Shares of oil exploration firms rose as oil rose to a nine-month high on Tuesday. PSU OMCs edged higher on reports the prices of auto and cooking fuels are likely to shoot up steeply in the first week of March 2012 once the assembly elections are over.
The market pared gains after hitting 30-week high at the onset of the trading session. The market reversed direction and slipped into the red to hit fresh intraday low in morning trade. The market trimmed losses after sliding to hit fresh intraday low in mid-morning trade.
High volatility is expected on the bourses in the immediate future as traders roll over positions in futures & options (F&O) segment from the near-month February 2012 series to March 2012 series. The near-month February 2012 F&O contracts expire on Thursday, 23 February 2012.
At 11:20 IST, the BSE Sensex was down 45.05 points or 0.24% to 18,383.56. The index jumped 95.17 points at the day's high of 18,523.78 in early trade, its highest level since 27 July 2011. The index fell 89.46 points at the day's low of 18,339.15 in mid-morning trade.
The S&P CNX Nifty was down 18.15 points or 0.32% to 5,589. Nifty hit a high of 5,629.95, its highest level since 26 July 2011. The index hit a low of 5,573.35 in intraday trade.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, turned negative from positive. On BSE, 1,509 shares fell and 975 shares rose. A total of 105 shares were unchanged.
Among the 30-share Sensex pack, 17 fell while rest of them gained. DLF, Sterlite Industries and Jindal Steel & Power dropped by between 1.92% to 3%.
Shares of oil exploration firms rose as oil rose to a nine-month high on Tuesday on Greece's bailout. Cairn India rose 0.29% to R 392.45. The stock hit a record high of R 400.95 today. Oil India gained 0.15%. Higher crude oil prices will result in higher realizations from crude sales for oil exploration firms.
ONGC rose 1.27%, with the stock extending Tuesday's 3.7% jump. Last week, a ministerial panel approved auctioning a 5% stake in the state-run explorer.
PSU OMCs gained on recent reports the prices of auto and cooking fuels are likely to shoot up steeply in the first week of March 2012 once the assembly elections are over. BPCL, HPCL and Indian Oil Corporation rose by between 1.05% to 1.88%. The hike could be R 4 per liter for petrol, R 3 for diesel and R 50 per cylinder for cooking gas.
Oil marketing companies -- Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum -- are currently losing R 4 a litre on petrol, R 14 on diesel and R 390 on every cylinder of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), report said. Oil marketing companies (PSU OMCs) incur under-recoveries on domestic sale of diesel, LPG and kerosene at controlled prices. The government has already freed pricing of petrol.
Sun Pharmaceutical Industries rose 1.48% after the US drug regulator reached a limited, temporary arrangement to import Lipodox from the company and its distribution subsidiary, Caraco Pharmaceutical Laboratories. Lipodox is a generic of Johnson & Johnson's cancer drug Doxil. According to reports, Doxil has been in short supply since about mid-2011. Caraco, a generic-drug maker based in Detroit, will temporarily import the drug Lipodox from its India-based parent, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, the FDA said.
Bank stocks edged lower on profit taking after recent strong gains. India's largest private sector bank by branch network ICICI Bank declined 2.41%.
State Bank of India fell 3.49% on reports that the bank has committed around R 1200 core to beleaguered Kingfisher Airlines, including working capital of R 400 core, bank guarantee of R 500 core and loan repayment extension worth R 250-300 core. Shares of Kingfisher Airlines rose 0.19%.
India's second largest bank by net profit HDFC Bank rose 0.26% to R 532.50. The stock had hit a record high of R 537.50 in intraday trade on Thursday, 16 February 2012.
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