The Hindu : Business : Sensex ends flat in volatile trade

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Tuesday, May 26, 2009
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Business

Sensex ends flat in volatile trade

Weak trend in Asian stock markets

MUMBAI: The Bombay Stock Exchange sensitive index, Sensex ended with a moderate gain of 26 points in a choppy trade on Monday following weak global cues. Traders turned cautious ahead of allocation of portfolios by the new Government at the Centre.

The Sensex settled at 13913.22, a gain of 26.07 points over the last Friday’s close of 13887.15. It moved in a range between 13819.25 and 14028.06 during intra-day.

The wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty closed marginally lower at 4237.55. The market wiped off early gains following a weak trend in Asian markets, which fell after the announcement that North Korea has conducted a nuclear test, marketmen said.

Among Sensex stocks, Ranbaxy recorded a gain of 21 per cent at Rs. 266.70, a day after its Chief Executive Officer, Malvinder Mohan Singh stepped down.

On the other hand, shares of Bharti Airtel suffered 5.41 per cent loss at Rs. 811.40 on fears of earning dilutions, after the company said it was planning to buy a stake in South Africa’s MTN.

Sterlite has risen by 5.94 per cent to Rs. 538.10 on gains in prices of metals traded on the London Metals Exchange.

Buying activity was seen spilling to small and mid-cap stocks available at attractive low levels. With the sudden change in trading pattern, the small-cap index surged 5.01 per cent to 5789.43 and the mid-cap index by 2.83 per cent to 4890.15.

Rupee ends lower

Snapping its six-day winning streak, the rupee ended lower by 18 paise to 47.28/30 a dollar on Monday aganst 47.10/12 on last Friday due to month-end dollar demand.

Firming up of dollar against major global currencies in overseas market also affected the rupee sentiment. The rupee resumed lower at 47.34/36 a dollar and hovered in the range of 47.21 and 47.50 intra-day. — PTI

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