Sensex, Nifty retreat but midcap gains; FMCG rises, IT dips

Moneycontrol Bureau

Equity benchmarks on Tuesday retreated from record closing high seen in previous session but the broader markets outperformed with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices rising 0.5 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively.

There is enough risk appetite among investors for small and mid cap shares even after the recent rally, feels Amit Rathi, Managing Director, Anand Rathi Securities. He said these stocks still had enough steam left. That is because while frontline indices like Nifty and Sensex are up 30 percent from their 2008 peaks, the mid-cap index is still flat and the small cap index is 25 percent below its previous peak.

Overall it was a consolidation day with a negative bias due to profit booking. The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 54.53 points to close at 27265.32 while the Nifty stayed above the 8150 level, down 20.95 points at 8152.95.

Capital goods, realty, technology, oil & gas and two-wheeler stocks saw selling pressure while the support was seen from FMCG, power and Tata group stocks.

Shares of ICICI Bank, Infosys, L&T, ONGC, Hero Motocorp, Bajaj Auto and Wipro were prominent losers in the Sensex, down 1-1.5 percent.

However, FMCG majors ITC and Hindustan Unilever gained 1.3 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively.

Jindal Steel and Coal India gained 1-2 percent ahead of SC hearing that announced after market hours. Supreme Court reserved its order in coal block allocation case but has not given any date to pass the order. Steel and power producers sought for appointments of Judicial Committee for fact findings. However, Hindalco and Sesa Sterlite declined 0.7 percent each.

Tata Motors, the owner of Jaguar Land Rover, climbed 1.3 percent after JLR last night launched the new Jaguar XE targeting the entry level premium segment.

Drug maker Cipla was up 2 percent on announcement of a commercial collaboration with UK-based S&D Pharma to enter Czech Republic and Slovakia.

In the broader space, Ashok Leyland shot up 5.44 percent on bagging orders (for 4000 buses) worth Rs 1,500 crore from state transport undertakings while Sadbhav Engineering surged 8 percent on board approval for fund raising upto Rs 250 crore. Both stocks touched record high of Rs 41.30 and Rs 233.90, respectively.

Punj Lloyd gained another 8 percent, in addition to 10 percent upside in previous session after getting Rs 3,515 crore order from Petronas’ subsidiary in Malaysia.

Advancers beat decliners on the Bombay Stock Exchange by a ratio of 1668 to 1341.