Indian market tumbles on profit taking

Selling was broad-based across the sectors with the exception of IT stocks. IT stocks bucked the declining trend with modest gains on hopes of better revenue following a firming dollar. Realty, metal and consumer durable stocks bore the brunt of the selling pressure.

The BSE Sensex finished near the day's lows at 14,666, down 438 points or 2.90% from its previous close and the S&P CNX Nifty fell 157 points or 3.42% to 4,430.

Among the major decliners, Jaiprakash Associates, DLF and Tata Steel plunged more than 10% each, Reliance Communication plummeted 8.68%, Reliance Infrastructure slumped 8.55%, State Bank of India tumbled 6.76% and Ranbaxy fell 6.45%. Tata Motors, Hindalco, ONGC, Grasim Industries, ACC and ITC were the other prominent losers.

On the other hand, outsourcers Wipro advanced 3.36%, Infosys gained 2.52%, TCS added 2.29% and defensive FMCG stock Hindustan Unilever edged up 0.14%.

Indiabulls Financial Services tumbled 4.62% on reporting a 82.68% decline in its consolidated net profit for the FY09. Dish TV plunged 16.39% after its founders raised Rs.269.5 crore by selling around 5.8% stake in the company via block deals on the stock exchanges at Rs.49 a share.

Oil-explorer Reliance Industries slipped 1.04%, Cairn India tumbled 5.29% and ONGC fell 5.59% after crude oil fell by more than $1.50 to below $67 a barrel in Asian trading on Monday State-run oil-marketing companies such as HPCL, BPCL and IOC also ended down deep in the red.

Cable television firm Wire and Wireless plunged nearly 10% after it decided to raise Rs.192 crore via issue of non-convertible debentures on a private placement basis from institutional investors. Trailer maker ANG Auto closed up 0.18% after it entered into a joint venture with TowerWorx USA to produce and market mobile tower solutions in the country.

Camlin Fine Chemicals slipped 0.09% on reports that it has floated three new subsidiaries to diversify into the power, alternative medicines and industrial-grade specialty chemicals businesses.

Shipping Corporation of India slumped 9.44% after the company singed a contract with Cochin Shipyard for acquisition of two 120 tons bollard pull anchor handling, towing and supply vessels. KGN Industries was locked at the 5% upper circuit limit after its board approved a 10-for-1 stock split.

Cranes Software International rose 1.86% after its subsidiary Proland Software entered into a strategic partnership With VirusBuster, a Hungary-based security solutions provider, to provide a wider selection of security solutions to its customers.

Sadbhav Engineering fell 2.94% despite reporting a 21% rise in its FY09 net profit. eClerx Services jumped 5% on reporting a 38% rise in its FY09 net profit. Gwalior Chemical Industries rallied 4.17% after it entered into an agreement to sell its chemicals business to German chemicals maker Lanxess for an estimated net consideration of Rs 380 crores (Euro 58.4 Million).

After ending sharply higher on Friday on news about resolution of a dispute with Bollywood Hindi producers, multiplex operators such as Pyramid Saimira, INOX Leisure, PVR and Cinemax India tumbled nearly 5% each on profit taking

On the BSE, Unitech topped the traded value chart with a total turnover of Rs 307.84 crore followed by Suzlon Rs (300.29 crore), Reliance (Rs 233.30 crore), Reliance Capital( Rs 221.18 crore) and Aban Offshore (Rs 193.77 crore).

Dish TV topped the volumes chart with trades of 73.27 million shares followed by Unitech (34 million), Suzlon (23.29 million), Reliance Natural Resources (20.51 million) and Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemical(19.65 million).

Elsewhere, the other Asian markets ended mixed on concerns about the pace of economic recovery in the world's largest economy, European stocks lagged behind amid political uncertainty after European election results showed a shift to the right of the political spectrum and U. S. stocks were poised to take a step back Monday morning in New York on renewed concerns that equities may have gotten raced ahead pre-maturely and that economic weakness may linger.

Meanwhile, crude oil futures dropped below $67 a barrel in Asian trading, tracking a decline in world equities. The reduced investment appeal of commodities following the strengthening of the U.S. dollar against the euro for a second day to its highest in more than a week, also weighed on the commodity.

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