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Bear run mauls Infosys, Wipro and Satyam

N.S.Vageesh

MARKETS were in a bearish mode on Wednesday. The sensitive index at the Bombay stock exchange was mired at 3862 point levels coming off earlier highs of 3947.98 points.

The index was down 1.62 per cent or 63 points on Wednesday after ending on a flat note during the past two days. Reports attribute the slide to FII selling in key infotech companies.

Wednesday's weak sentiment comes against the backdrop of the Supreme Court seeking the accounts of 6 top brokers in the BSE following a complaint from SEBI that they were not shown to it for determining registration fee.

Top stocks in the IT sector - Infosys Technologies, Wipro, HCL Technologies, Satyam Computers and SSI registered decline. The volume of business done on the exchange on Wedensday was of the order of Rs 3747.71 crore compared to Rs 3728 crore on Tuesday. While there were 584 gainers, there were 779 losers, while prices of 129 stocks remained unmoved.

The NSE's nifty index was down by 1.15 per cent to end at 1220.25 points. The BL-250 index was down by 13.4 points or 1.1 per cent to end at 1158.9 points.

The capital goods sub index was the worst hit. It was down by 14.5 per cent to 414.9 points. The index had lost 1 per cent on Tuesday. The technology index was down 2.5 per cent to close at 3334.4 points.

Only the agri-business index and the banks & financial institutions index survived unscathed, gaining 0.2 per cent and 0.1 per cent respectively.

The Infosys Technologies stock which has been on the ascendant during the past fortnight reversed direction in Wednesday's trading. The stock lost Rs 257.60, to end at Rs 7416. The stock had gained over Rs 800 during the past fortnight.

Selling pressure seemed to be heavy as 7.02 lakh shares were traded on Wednesday compared to 3.23 lakh shares on Tuesday.

The Wipro stock was down by Rs 107 to end at Rs 2458.95. The stock had gained Rs 184 over the past fortnight. Traded volumes on Wednesday were a shade lower at 8.29 lakh shares compared to 10.04 lakh shares on Tuesday.

The Satyam Computers stock which had registered a gain of Rs 80 over the past fortnight, declined on Wednesday by Rs 28.15 and ended at Rs 349.80. Traded volumes on Wednesday were at 98.33 lakh shares compared to 65.51 lakh shares on Tuesday.

The SSI stock was down by Rs 47.15 to end at Rs 1766.75. Traded volumes on Wednesday were at 13.67 lakh shares compared to 11.71 lakh shares on Tuesday.

The HCL Technologies stock fell Rs 43.75 to end at Rs 1287.80. Traded volumes were lower at 1.95 lakh shares compared to 2.98 lakh shares on Tuesday.

The HFCL stock was down by Rs 30.80 to end at Rs 1254.75. The traded volumes were at 37.05 lakh shares compared to 48.06 lakh shares on Tuesday. The stock was at Rs 1384 a few days ago.

Zee Telefilms was another prominent loser on Wednesday. The stock lost Rs 9.60 to end at Rs 277.45. The traded volumes increased to 113.68 lakh shares from 100.86 lakh shares on Tuesday. The Zee Telefilms stock was at a level of Rs 547 in September decli ned to a level of Rs 329 a fortnight earlier and has continued downwards.

Among those who bucked the bearish trend on Wednesday were the stocks of Hughes Software, Mastek, Novartis and Carrier Aircon.

The Hughes Software stock climbed Rs 24.25 to end at Rs 1029.40. Traded volumes today were at 68917 shares compared to 63831 shares on Tuesday. The share was at a level of Rs 1450 in mid september but declined to Rs 1050 in early October and has since ho vered around those levels.

The Mastek share was up by Rs 14.15 to end at Rs 560. Traded volumes remain almost flat on Wednesday at 7321 shares. The Mastek share was at Rs.678 a fortnight earlier

The Kesoram Industries stock was up marginally to Rs 25.30 on Wednesday on the back of a sharp increase in traded volumes. Around 8.26 lakh shares changed hands on the day compared to 2.70 lakh shares on Tuesday.

The stock has attracted some attention in the backdrop of a claim by Cemindia Investments Private Ltd that it had acquired 6.5 per cent stake in the company. The company secretary had however refuted the claim.

Another stock which has been in the limelight in the recent past - Gesco Corporation moved up marginally to Rs 47.90. Traded volumes remained almost flat at 57617 shares on Wednesday.