Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Post-Market Commentary. Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Sensex slips 425pts; Ranbaxy tanks over 11%


All BSE sectoral indices suffered losses with IT, realty and banking leading the fall. However state-run oil marketing firms bucket weak market trend. The market breadth was weak. Ranbaxy Labs slumped over 11%.

The BSE 30-share Sensex was down 424.65 points or 3.03% to 13,570.31.

Nifty was down 96.15 points or 2.28% to 4,126.90.

Ranbaxy Laboratories declined 11.05% at Rs 308.85 on reports the Canadian drug regulator, Health Canada, issued a notice to Ranbaxy saying it will be particularly cautious about drug marketing applications from Ranbaxy after the US drug regulator blocked the sale of more than 30 generic medicines made in two factories by the company. The stock had declined 2.70% in the previous session.

Hindalco Industries fell 1.59% at 108.10 after hitting a 52-week low of Rs 106.20 on BSE. The company's Rs 5,050 crore rights share offering for subscription Monday, 22 September 2008. The sale in a ratio of three shares for every seven held at Rs 96 a share will close on 10 October 2008. The company aims to use the funds to repay a bridge loan it had taken to buy Canada's Novelis in 2007.

Software shares tumbled on growing worries about outsourcing prospects amid a global financial turmoil. Satyam Computer (down 5.98% at Rs 331.65), TCS (down 5.91% at Rs 720.75), Wipro (down 5.77% at Rs 390.45), and Infosys Technologies (down 5.19% at Rs 1,543.35), slipped. The BSE IT index underperformed the Sensex, falling 5.07% at 3,455.05. Export-driven Indian software firms earn more than half of their revenue in dollar terms.

Realty shares extended previous session's fall. Indiabulls Real Estate (down 6.93% at Rs 209.50), Housing Development & Infrastructure (down 5.97% at Rs 209.60), and Unitech (down 3.66% at Rs 123.80), slumped.

DLF fell 6.25% at Rs 394.60. As per recent reports, the company is retrenching around 300 employees across all its centres and subsidiaries as it decides to slow down its project execution, especially in Tier II cities, in the face of shrinking demand and expensive borrowing.


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