The market lost ground in the mid-afternoon trade as frontline stocks declined on account of weekend profit booking. Selling pressure was witnessed in auto, banking, capital goods and IT stocks. Reliance Industries declined. 17 out of 30 stocks from the Sensex pack were in red.

European markets, which opened after Indian markets, were trading in red. Asian markets, which opened before Indian market, were weak after the assassination of Pakistans opposition party leader Benazir Bhutto in nuclear-armed Pakistan increased geopolitical uncertainties. Bhutto was killed on Thursday, 27 December 2007, at a rally in Rawalpindi, raising fears of instability in Pakistan.

India's wholesale price index rose 3.45% in the 12 months to 15 December 2007, lower than the previous week's rise of 3.65%, government data showed on Friday, 28 December 2007. The annual inflation rate was 5.73% during the corresponding week of the previous year. The wholesale price index is more closely watched than the consumer price index, which is published monthly, because it covers a higher number of products and is published weekly.

At 14:20 IST, the 30-share BSE Sensex was down 108.70 points or 0.54% to 20,108.02.

The market witnessed a bout of volatility at the onset of the trading session. Sensex hit a low of 20,022.88 in the mid-afternoon trade. At day's low, Sensex lost 193.84. Sensex hit a high of 20,259.45 in early trade. At day's high, Sensex rose 42.73.

The broader CNX S&P; Nifty was down 33.65 points or 0.55% to 6047.85.

Market breadth was strong. On BSE, 2150 shares advanced and 761 shares declined. 30 shares remained unchanged.

Indias largest private sector firm by market capitalization & oil refiner Reliance Industries fell 0.56% to Rs 2878.10, off days high Rs 2932.

The BSE Capital Goods index was down 0.58% to 19,527.62. Larsen & Toubro fell 1% to Rs 4118.90, Bharat Heavy Electricals declined 0.49% to Rs 2544.90, Jaiprakash Associate shed 2.28% to Rs 415.95, BEML gave away 1.70% to Rs 1680.10.

The BSE Auto index was down 0.57% to 5,574.49. Bajaj Auto dropped 2.34% to Rs 2609.80, Tata Motors fell 1.59% to Rs 725, Maruti Suzuki shed 1.22% to Rs 982.50, and Amtek Auto slipped 1.39% to Rs 422.55.

The BSE Banking index was down 0.64% to 11,298.07. Indias largest private sector bank by assets ICICI Bank fell 1.72% to Rs 1220.65, HDFC Bank dropped 2% to Rs 1710, State Bank of India fell 0.32% to Rs 2375.10, and Indian Overseas Bank fell 0.31% to Rs 175.

The BSE IT index was down 0.97% to 4,524.86. Indias third largest software exporter by sales Wipro declined 3.23% to Rs 531.55. The stock fell after some reports suggested that Europe-based computer services firm Capgemini has denied takeover talks with Indian rival Wipro. Earlier some reports suggested that Wipro was preparing a 7 billion bid for taking over Capgemini.

Indias second largest software exporter by sales Infosys Technologies fell 0.90% to Rs 1788. The company said during market hours today, 28 December 2007, it would unveil Q3 December 2007 results on 11 January 2008.

TCS declined 1.48% to Rs 1083.90 and Satyam Computers fell 1.20% to Rs 446.

The December 2007 derivative contracts expired yesterday, 26 December 2007. As per reports, Nifty rollover from December 2007 series to January 2008 series stood at 81% while total marketwide rollover stood at 85%, as on Thursday, 27 December 2007. This compared to Nifty rollover 76% from November 2007 series to December 2007 and marketwide rollover of 83% from November 2007 series to December 2007 series.

In Europe, key indices in France, Germany and UK were down by between 0.44% to 0.59%.

Asian stocks were trading lower today, 28 December 2007. Key indices in Japan, China, Singapore, South Korea and Hong Kong were down between 0.60% to 1.70%. However, Taiwans Taiwan Weighted index was up 1%.

US markets declined on Thursday, 27 December 2007, on news of Benazir Bhutto's assassination. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 192.08 points, or 1.42%, to 13,359.61. Broader stock indicators also fell. The Standard & Poor's 500 index declined 21.39 points, or 1.43%, to 1,476.27, and the Nasdaq Composite index fell 47.62, or 1.75%, to 2,676.79.

Back home, the 30-share BSE Sensex rose 24.20 points or 0.12% to 20,216.72 on Thursday 27 December 2007. The broader CNX S&P; Nifty rose 10.75 points or 0.18% to 6081.50 on that day.

As per provisional data, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 702.64 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers of shares worth Rs 787.92 crore on Thursday, 27 December 2007.

FIIs were net sellers to the tune of Rs 3.56 crore in the futures & options segment on Thursday, 27 December 2007. FIIs were net buyers of index futures to the tune of Rs 350.02 crore and bought index options worth Rs 966.32 crore. They were net sellers of stock futures to the tune of Rs 1,318.11 crore and sold stock options worth Rs 1.80 crore.

Crude oil was unchanged today, 28 December 2007 around $97 a barrel as an Energy Department report showed that US inventories fell more than expected. Crude oil for February delivery was at $96.91 a barrel, up 29 cents, on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for February settlement was at $95.11 a barrel, up 33 cents in London.

Powered byCapital Market - Live News