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Thursday November 26, 12:40 PM
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BSE Sensex slips 0.3 pct in light trade
MUMBAI (Reuters) – The BSE Sensex (^BSESN : 16017.2 -24.98
) was trading 0.3 percent lower on Thursday in light volume, ahead of the expiry of monthly derivatives contracts and weighed down by weak Asian markets.
By 12:02 p.m. (0632 GMT), the 30-share BSE Index was trading down 0.3 percent at 17,147.70, with 14 of its components declining.
"Trade will be lacklustre until the second half when we will see more action as derivatives contracts expire today," said Vaibhav Sanghavi, director of Ambit Capital.
Reliance Industries (RELIANCE.NS : 991.15 -2.1), which has the most weight in the index, slipped 0.3 percent to 1,093.45 rupees as the energy major began trading ex-bonus. The company had set one bonus share for every held.
Outsourcer Mahindra Satyam (SATYAM.BO : 98.5 +0.95
) extended losses and was down 4.1 percent at 86.80 rupees, after India's federal investigation agency filed new charges over an accounting fraud that hit the company earlier this year.
The stock fell as much as 8.3 percent in early deals after sliding more than 10 percent on Wednesday.
V.K. Sharma, head of private client group at HDFC Securities, said he was advising clients to stay away from the stock until there was further clarity.
"Investors are playing a blind game until the audited numbers are out. There could be more skeletons hidden in the closet," said V.K. Sharma, head of private client group at HDFC Securities.
Earlier this month, Chief Executive C.P. Gurnani had told Reuters TV the restatement of company results for recent years would be made on or before June 30, 2010.
Cigarette-to-hotel business ITC was down 0.9 percent at 266.25 rupees, after 259,923 shares changed hands in block deals on the National Stock Exchange (^NSEI : 4778.15 -14.5) at 266.35 rupees.
ITC is open to raising its holding in EIH, which runs the Oberoi hotel chain, newspapers had reported on Thursday, citing ITC's chairman.
IT bellwether Infosys (INFOSYS.BO : 2468.1 -2.8), which had touched an all-time high on Wednesday, edged 0.5 percent lower at 2,421.40 rupees.
Private-sector HDFC Bank was down 1.2 percent at 1,780.80 rupees, after rising 4.8 percent over four sessions.
In the broader market, losers outpaced gainers in a ratio of 1.2:1 on low volume of 122 million shares.
The 50-share NSE index was down 0.3 percent at 5,090.80.
STOCKS ON THE MOVE
* Tata Steel (TATASTL.BO : 541.1 +7.65), the world's eighth-largest steel maker, was down 1.6 percent at 553.20 rupees ahead of its consolidated second-quarter results.
* Software services firm Tech Mahindra (TECHM.NS : 953 +11) fell 2.9 percent to 897.40 rupees on concerns about its unit Mahindra Satyam.
MAIN TOP 3 BY VOLUME
* Mahindra Satyam on 9.7 million shares
* Unitech on 2.8 million shares
* Vijaya Bank on 2.6 million shares
(Reporting by Ami Shah; Editing by Ranjit Gangadharan)
(For more news on Reuters Money visit http://www.reutersmoney.in)
