Pharma Stocks Slip

The 30-stock Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) sensitive index (Sensex) ended 1.48 points lower at 3641.10, off the intraday high of 3692.53.

Dealers said, lack of fund support encouraged speculators to book profits during the fag-end.

On the National Stock Exchange, the S&P CNX Nifty Index ended 1.15 points higher at 1178.50.

Cigarette major, ITC (down 1.97 per cent at Rs 714.90) came off the day's high of Rs 740 on selling pressure from domestic financial institutions.

Among other old economy pivotals, Tata Engineering (Rs 130.90), Tata Steel (Rs 106), SBI (Rs 232.35) and Reliance Petroleum (Rs 28.25) slipped on selling pressure.

FMCG major, Hindustan Lever (Rs 247.55) also slipped on selling pressure at higher levels.

Hindustan Petroleum (up 5.37 per cent to Rs 325.90) and Bhel (up 1.73 per cent to Rs 187.70) gained ground on sustained buying interest.

However, MTNL (down 4.25 per cent to Rs 147.40) lost ground on fears of further competition from Bharti Tele-Ventures after BTVL commenced its basic telecom services in the Delhi circle.

Pharmaceutical stocks remained weak. Dr Reddy's Labs (Rs 1,051.95), Ranbaxy Labs (Rs 837.55) and Cipla (Rs 1,015.65) declined on selling pressure. However, GlaxoSmithKline (Rs 342.25) ended marginally higher Among auto stocks, Bajaj Auto (Rs 474.45) and Hero Honda (Rs 386.90) advanced on sustained buying following the announcement of impressive February 2002 sales figures.

Cement stocks remained weak on reports that the communal violence in Gujarat is likely to hit the despatches of cement companies by 15-20 per cent.

ACC (down 4.61 per cent to Rs 162.45), Gujarat Ambuja Cements (down 2.62 per cent to Rs 228.50) and Larsen & Toubro (down 2.30 per cent to Rs 193.05) finished lower.

Technology stocks, however, improved on Nasdaq gains. Infosys Technologies (up 5.19 per cent to Rs 3,837.25), HCL Tech (up 3.21 per cent to Rs 284.45) and Satyam Computer (up 1.31 per cent to Rs 282.15) rose on selective buying interest.

Even frontline stocks such as Polaris Soft (up 5.82 per cent to Rs 191), Wipro (up 3.21 per cent to Rs 1,768.45), Digital GlobalSoft (up 0.36 per cent to Rs 570.40) and NIIT (up 0.11 per cent to Rs 219.20) ended in the positive zone.