Markets came under pressure today as most Asian markets ended lower following the decline in US indices yesterday. Most of the pressure was on heavyweights like ONGC, Reliance, Infosys and HLL.

Indices started on a modestly positive note, but slipped into the red soon after. They recovered and initiated a modest rally which lasted till noon. Weak opening by European markets triggered another decline which gathered pace in the afternoon.

Sensex closed with losses of 88 points at 12366 and the Nifty lost 18 points to close at 3570. Nifty October futures closed at a discount of 4 points to the spot index.

HDFC was the worst performer among index stocks, with losses of nearly 3.5 per cent. The stock was one of the better performers among large caps last week.

Index heavyweights ONGC and Reliance Industries lost close to a per cent each.

HLL corrected substantially and lost 3 per cent.

Among pharma stocks, Ranbaxy and Cipla ended with losses of around 2.5 per cent each.

L&T was the biggest loser among engineering stocks, declining more than 1.5 per cent. BHEL gave up close to 1.5 per cent and Siemens lost more than a per cent.

Maruti lost close to 1.5 per cent despite good sales volumes for September.

Infosys was the worst performer among tech stocks, losing more than 1.5 per cent. Wipro lost more than a per cent and TCS declined nearly a per cent.

Tata Power also corrected after last week's rally and closed nearly 2 per cent lower.

Suzlon Energy opened strong and held on to its gains before rallying in afternoon trades. The stock was the biggest gainer among index stocks, closing nearly 5 per cent higher.

Auto stocks were in favour after good sales volumes for the month of September. Bajaj Auto and Tata Motors gained around a per cent each while M&M added more than 0.5 per cent.

Dabur was another major gainer, adding more than a per cent.
Nalco was the best performer among metals, gaining a per cent.

BPCL, HCL Tech, Reliance Communication and Reliance Energy were the other gainers.

Global markets / crude oil
US markets declined yesterday, mostly on weakness in technology shares following a sector downgrade by a leading investment bank. Profit taking was also seen after last week's gains while economic data continues to be mixed.

The Dow lost more than 0.05 per cent while S&P 500 ended nearly 0.35 per cent lower. The NASDAQ index gave up more than 0.9 per cent.

Most Asian markets closed with modest losses today. Thailand lost nearly 0.3 per cent while Singapore declined 0.25 per cent. Malaysia lost more than 0.2 per cent and Japan ended modestly lower.

Among the gainers, Indonesia added nearly 0.6 per cent and Hong Kong gained 0.35 per cent.

European markets opened lower and slipped further as the session progressed. Major indices are trading with losses of between 0.3 and 0.6 per cent.

Crude oil prices tumbled yesterday on hopes of strong US inventory of crude and refined products. Near month NYMEX futures lost around 3 per cent to settle at $61.03 per barrel yesterday.

Large-cap news flow

• has acquired Irish pharma company Pinewood for $150 million in an all-cash deal. Pinewood had reported sales of $70 million for the latest reporting year and would raise Wockhardt's total European sales to over $200 million. The acquisition would strengthen its branded generics business in Europe.
  
  
• IDBI said the amalgamation of United Western Bank would be effective from today and shareholders of United Western Bank as of today would be paid Rs28 per share as upfront payment. All branches of United Western Bank would start functioning as IDBI branches.

Mid-Cap Action

Mid-caps and small caps resisted the weakness in large caps and closed higher. They opened the day on a firm note and built up good gains around noon. The afternoon saw them giving part of their gains as some of the prominent mid-caps came under pressure.

The CNX Mid-Cap index ended with gains of just one point, or 0.03 per cent, to finish the day at 4693. BSE mid-cap index gained 0.25 per cent and the BSE small cap index ended with gains of 0.54 per cent.

Rama Newsprint was locked in 20 per cent upper circuit today as well.

Sakuma Exports, Maharashtra Scooter, KPIT Cummins, Shree Precoated Steel, Rajvir, Bhushan Steel, Kinetic Motors, Sesa Goa and GVK Power were among the other major mid-cap gainers.

Sugar stocks corrected after last week's rally. Dharani Sugar, Rajshree Sugar and Ponni Sugars were the major losers.

Prime Securities, Shreyas Shipping, Educomp, Indoco and Sical were among the major mid-cap losers.

Mid-cap news flow

• Pantaloon Retail has announced a stock split in the ratio of 5 shares of Rs2 each for every Rs10 share held. The company has also announced a JV with a leading operator of duty free shops in airports.
  
  
• IndiaBulls has raised Rs302.33 crore from a preferential issue of equity shares at a price of Rs417 per share to a foreign investment company.
  
  
• Saksoft has acquired the whole of a UK-based provider of business intelligence, data warehousing, data integration and testing services for $17 million in cash. The acquired company had reported revenues of $20 million in the last reporting year.
  
  
• The boards of Visual Soft and Megasoft have approved the merger of the former into the latter. The merger would be subject to valuation by independent agencies. The deal is expected to be an all-stock transaction with Visualsoft valued at around Rs170 crore.
  
  
• would form an equal JV with The Times of India group to launch a new newspaper in Delhi. Other details have not been disclosed.
  
  
• i-Flex has completed the acquisition of US-based Mantas. The company paid $122.6 million for the buy-out.
  
  
• The board of Aptech has approved the issue of 47 lakh convertible warrants on a preferential basis. The warrants are convertible at a price not exceeding Rs113 per share.
  
  
• Sandesh Limited would issue 10.38 lakh equity shares on a preferential basis to Bennett, Coleman and Company at a price of Rs262.82 per share.
  
  
• has bought out its partner Boots Company from the JV Boots Piramal Healthcare which markets OTC drugs. The move follows the acquisition of Boots' parent company by Reckitt Benckiser, who would pay Rs17.8 crore to Nicholas Piramal for transferring the marketing rights of Boots products to Reckitt India.
  
  
• Carborundum Universal has commissioned its new coated abrasives factory built at a cost of Rs50 crore.
  
  
• Kpit Cummins has set up a dedicated offshore development centre for a foreign company specialising in chip design. The facility would have around 500 employees in 3 years.
  
  
• Dabur Pharma said its UK subsidiary has received US FDA approval for a new drug.
  
  
• Jyoti Structures has received a new order worth Rs180 crore from Dubai for an overhead electricity transmission line.
  
  
• Moser Baer said its technology, developed in house, has been selected as one of the standard media to be used for blue-ray disks. Blue-ray disks are next generation storage media with capacity many times that of DVD.
  
  
• Petron Engineering has received a new order worth Rs12.44 crore from Madras Cements.
  
  
• Finolex Industries has been given permission by the Supreme Court to off-load ethylene from a ship berthed in Ratnagiri. Earlier, the Bombay High Court had ordered the company not to use the jetty at Ratnagiri.
  
  
• Champagne Indage has allotted 31.25 lakh convertible warrants on a preferential basis. The warrants are convertible at a price of Rs335 per share.
  
  
• Oudh Sugar would increase the capacity of its distillery unit by 100 kilo litres per day at a cost of Rs100 crore. The company would raise Rs100 from an overseas or domestic issue.
  
  
• Grindwell Norton has completed the acquisition of bonded abrasives business from Orient Abrasives.
  
  
• South Indian Bank would explore the possibility of acquiring other small and mid-sized banks.
  
  
• Indo Count Industries has started commercial production at its home textiles unit.
  
  
• Rasandik Engineering has invested Rs1 crore in its auto-comp subsidiary to make it a wholly owned subsidiary.
  
  
• Rajesh Exports has opened 2 jewellery retail outlets in Gujarat.
  
  
• Birla VXL has divested its entire holdings in VXL Technologies and Masuzawa Punjab Silk. The company would also sell its holdings in OCM India Limited in the near future.
  
  
• The board of Crompton Greaves would meet later this month to consider a bonus issue.
  

*Disclaimer: The author may have positions in some of the stocks specifically mentioned above at the time of writing this article. This analysis / report is only for the purpose of information and is not an investment advice. Readers are advised to consult a certified financial advisor before taking any investment decisions. While efforts have been made to ensure the accuracy of the information provided in the content the author or publisher shall not be held responsible for any loss caused to any person whatsoever.

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