Sensex ends flat on food inflation worries
A dramatic fag-end selling in select counters pulled the benchmark Sensex down from a new six-week high notched up earlier in the day to end almost flat, notwithstanding firm global cues and rising optimism about the sustainability of high economic economy.
The Bombay Stock Exchange 30-share bellwether index touched a high of 17,361.27 in mid-afternoon trade before succumbing to heavy sell-off, on worries about rising food inflation which touched 17.47 per cent during the third week of November from 15.58 per cent a week ago.
The markets ended choppy session at 1,7185.68 points, a paltry gain of 15.77 points or 0.09 per cent.
At the day's high, the Sensex was up by over 191 points, on back of strong Asian trends and the rising optimism about the economic recovery as forecast by Goldman Sachs today.
Brokers said the market lost the momentum as cautious operators and investors took to profit selling at higher levels by for the second straight day.
With the economy on an upswing, analysts said the rising food prices should prompt the government and the Reserve Bank to shift their focus on controlling inflation, otherwise it would increase manufacturing inflation too.
The market ignored strong trends in global markets. In Asia, besides China which ended in the red, other leading indices like Hang Seng, Nikkei, Singapore Straight Times, Korean Kopsi and Taiwan closed in the positive terrain between 0.1 per cent and 3.8 per cent gains at close.
European markets were also trading higher by nearly one per cent in their morning deals.
The 50-issue Nifty of the National Stock Exchange ended better by 8.45 points or 0.16 per cent to 5,131.70 points from its last close, stretching gains for the fourth straight day.
Pharma and metal counters attracted good buying support while some auto stocks fell on profit selling.
The Healthcare index was up 1.66 per cent, the metal index grained 1.19 per cent, realty by 0.58 per cent, PSUs by 0.56 per cent and oil and gas by 0.51 per cent on the BSE, while the top losers were the auto index that shed 0.31 per cent after a smart rally in the past two days and capital goods lost 0.06 percent.
Second-line shares too were in demand on buying support by retail investors
.
From the Sensex pack, RCom rose by 2.54 per cent, Hindalco by 2.42 per cent, ACC by 2.05 per cent, Grasim by 2.04 per cent, SBI by 2.02 per cent, Maruti Suzuki by 1.40 per cent, Tata Steel by 1.38 pct and Sterlite Industries closed up by 1.37 per cent.
However, after three days of stupendous rally, Tata Motors today dropped by 3.34 per cent, HUL by 1.89 per cent, Jaipra Asso by 1.11 per cent and ICICI Bank by one per cent. Tata Motors had gained close to 10 per cent since Monday.
The market breadth remained strong with 1,653 counters ending with gains against 1,114 in the red on the BSE.
The trading volume declined to Rs 5,227.82 crore from Rs 5,763.60 crore on Wednesday. SBI was the top traded share with the highest turnover of Rs 153.61 crore followed by Jet Airways (Rs 129.97 crore), Satyam Com (Rs 124.34 crore), Tata Steel (Rs 123.65 crore) and Unitech (Rs 118.46 crore).
