Nifty closes sub 6K, midcaps butchered; Sun Pharma up 4%

Moneycontrol Bureau

Bad corporate results, poor global cues and weak domestic economic situation kept investors in the sidelines once again, leading to a very sluggish Tuesday. The Sensex closed 91.37 points at 19659.82, and the Nifty ended the day 30.35 points lower at 5956.90.

Jaiprakash Associates, BHEL, Bank of Baroda, Sterlite Industries, Tata Motors, ITC, Bhart Airtel and BPCL stand as biggest losers of the day. The stocks lost between 1.5 percent to 4 percent.

Specifically, Jaiprakash Associates lost 4.4 percent today, and 22 percent year-to-date. Bank of Baroda lost 10 percent in two days. BHEL fell for the third consecutive session, down 3 percent due to disappointing Q3 results.

NTPC, which is expected to announce its OFS on Thursday in order to mop up Rs 12000-Rs 13,000 crore, fell marginally to 0.06 percent on the NSE.

Sun Pharma closed as the biggest gainer on the indices. It rose 4 percent after posting better-than expected numbers, backed by Taro's results. Realty major DLF too supported the markets today with nearly 1 percent gains. Despite seeing occasional bad days, the stock has made newer tops and bottoms.

A host of midcap stocks lay butchered due to extremely poor quarterly numbers. Jubilant Foods, Jain Irrigation and UCO Bank tumbled 5-8 percent on lower-than-expected numbers. Jindal Stainless fell 5 percent as losses more than doubled in the third quarter to Rs 257 crore year-on-year. Havells India slid 2 percent following a block deal of 5.25 percent equity worth Rs 390 crore. Indo Tech Transformers sank 5 percent after its delisting offer failed.

Meanwhile, United Spirits rose nearly 2 percent after Sebi approved Diageo-USL open offer. It now awaits clearance from the CCI.