Market ends weak ahead of US Fed meet

The 30-share index, Sensex opened marginally higher by 28 points at 18,120.22 and soon slipped into the negative in the early trades.

Accordingly, the index made further inroads into the negative on the back of intense selling pressure in frontline stocks. The index ended the day on a weak note after touching an intraday low of 17,683.51.

BSE Sensex plunged 333.30 points, or 1.84%, to close at 17,758.64; while the broad-based NSE Nifty closed at 5,175.15, down 105.65 points, or 2%.

Midcap Index shed 192.18 points (2.40%) and Small Cap Index dropped 230.81 points (2.22%) on Tuesday.

Global markets

Asian markets ended down on Wednesday (Jan. 30, 2007) after UBS AG reported a record loss and BNP Paribas posted earnings below analysts` expectations.

Market Statistics

Out of the total 2,787 stocks traded at the BSE, 726 advanced, 2,018 declined while 43 remained unchanged.

Amongst the sectoral indices, BSE Auto declined 2.26%, FMGC dipped 1.76%, Bankex was down 1.98%, Realty shed 2.43%, IT declined 0.60% and Power dipped 2.88%.

Movers and Shakers

Top gainers at the BSE Sensex were BHEL, which advanced 1.82% to close at Rs 2089.25, HDFC rose 1.53% to Rs 2894.05 and Tata Steel rose 1.02% to end the day at Rs 723.50. Ambuja Cement, ACC, TCS, Bharti Airtel and HDFC Bank also rose.

Laggards at the BSE Sensex include REL, which plunged 5.44% to close at Rs 1992.30, HUL dipped 5.14% to Rs 196.60 and ONGC was down 4.94% to finish at Rs 968.50. RComm, NTPC, Bajaj Auto, RIL, ICICI Bank, Tata Motors, DLF and Hindalco were among the other losers.

Top Volumes

Ispat Industries topped the volume chart with 10,460,521 shares followed by RPL with 9,423,514 shares and NTPC with 4,417,933 shares.

Top Turnover

REL topped the turnover chart with Rs 1,782.7 million followed by RPL with Rs 1,554.3 million.

Results

Lanco Infratech, engaged in the business of construction and infrastructure development, disclosed phenomenal jump in net profit for the quarter ended December 2007. During the quarter, the company experienced a 91.64% rise in profit to Rs 389.13 million from Rs 203.05 million in the quarter ended December 2006. Total income increased 2.83 times to Rs 3,892.80 million for the quarter ended December 2007 from Rs 1,375.31 million for the same period, last year.

Bharti Airtel, India`s top mobile operator, reported 41.74% increase in consolidated net profit, as per United States Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (US GAAP) rose to Rs 17,224.00 million for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2007 as against Rs 12,151.30 million in the corresponding quarter, last year. Total income for the period in comparison rose 41.74% to Rs Rs 69,639.00 million, compared with Rs 49,129.20 million, last year.

Simplex Projects posted a 16.34% growth in net profit at Rs 52.41 million for the quarter ended December 2007 as compared with Rs 45.05 million for the previous quarter ended September 2007. Total Income has increased 7.33% to Rs 589.97 million for the quarter ended December 2007 from Rs 549.70 million in the last quarter.

Godrej Industries posted a marginal 2.54% increase in net profit to Rs 330.60 million for the latest quarter ended December 2007 as compared with Rs 322.40 million for the corresponding quarter in the last fiscal.

Total income for the quarter rose 4.12% to Rs 2,027.30 million from Rs 1,947.00 million in the same quarter, last year.

Public sector lender Bank of Baroda (BOB) posted 52.23% growth in net profit to Rs 5,010.50 million for the quarter ended December 2007 as compared with Rs 3,291.30 million for the corresponding quarter in the last fiscal. Interest earned for the latest quarter rose 25.77% to Rs 30,021.90 million as against Rs 23,870.00 million for the corresponding quarter, a year ago.

Bajaj Auto, on consolidated basis, registered 16.60% drop of in net profit for the quarter ended December 2007. During the quarter, net profit stood at Rs 2,738.20 million as against Rs 3,283.50 million in the quarter ended December 2006. Net Sales & Income rose marginally 2.83% to Rs 26,960.30 million for the quarter ended December 2007 from Rs 26,332.60 million for the same period, last year