Markets have a nervous closing

The market proceedings ended on a jittery note as selling pressure towards close ahead of the impending weekend nullified the stability that had characterized most of the session. The Sensex ended at 16,785, lower by 151 points and the Nifty shut shop at 5041, down 41 points. The midcap index ended at 6111, lower by 41 points and the smallcap index ended at 6825, down 41 points.

The bourses worldwide seem to be in pause mode as investors await a weekend meeting of European leaders for signs of progress in resolving the region's debt crisis. Wall Street ended marginally in the green as worries remained whether European leaders could reach a deal on further strengthening the region's rescue fund. Dow Jones added 37 points and S&P 500 went up six points to 1,215. Asian markets, including Hang Seng, Nikkei and Taiwan (Straits Times and Seoul, however, went strong) also had a listless session. And there was not much to write about on the European front either, with the FTSE, CAC and DAX just about exhibiting modest gains in mid-day trades.

The markets have yo-yoed throughout the week, with the Sensex tanking by more than 300 points on Tuesday, retracing all the lost ground on the very next day and again surrendering the gains in the last two sessions.

Larsen and Toubro (L&T) weakened by 3.5% at Rs 1,336, losing 6% from the day’s high of Rs 1,417, to top the losers list on the BSE after cutting down its order flow forecast to 5% from 15% for FY12. Meanwhile, the company reported a net profit growth of 15% at Rs 798 crore in Q2FY12 over the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Gross revenues grew 20% to Rs 11,375 crore on a year-on-year basis.

Godrej Consumer Products Ltd (GCPL) shed 1.4% at Rs 403 after posting consolidated net profit of Rs 127.71 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, compared to Rs 131.07 crore in the corresponsing quarter last year. GCPL, however, said the results were not comparable on account of some acquisitions.

Cairn India slid by 1.6% at Rs 289 after reporting 51% year-on-year (y-o-y) drop in its consolidated net profit to Rs 763 crore for the quarter ended September 2011 on accounting one-time payment of royalty on mainstay Rajasthan oilfields after market hours on Thursday.

Idea Cellular lost 1.9% at Rs 91 after Q2 net dipped 41% to Rs 106 crore from Rs 180 crore in the corresponding quarter last fiscal.

The realty pack had a bad session of trade. HDIL weakened by 2.7% at Rs 91 and DLF lost 2.6% at Rs 225. And HCC slid by 3% after posting a net loss for the second quarter ended September, 2011, at Rs 40.5 crore. 

The metal shares also saw selling pressure, with Hindalco weakening by 2.4% at Rs 121, Tata Steel shedding 1.8% at Rs 432 and Sterlite losing 0.9% at Rs 115.

On the other hand, Maruti Suzuki jumped 1.5% to Rs 1,092 to top the gainer's list on the Sensex after workers called off their two-week long strike at the Manesar plant. Other auto stocks also had a good session; Bajaj Auto gained 1.5% at Rs 1640 and Hero MotoCorp added 1.1% at Rs 2052.

The market breadth was weak. Out of 2920 stocks traded on the BSE, there were 1122 advancing stocks as against 1674 declines.