RBI's status quo, HUL numbers take toll

Sensex falls 0.28% to close at 15,331.94; Nifty down 0.18%.

Stock market indices declined marginally today after the Reserve Bank of India left the key rates unchanged in its Quarterly Review of Annual Monetary Policy and Hindustan Unilever (HUL) reported a 2.69 per cent drop in profits.

However, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's announcement that an interest subsidy of 1 per cent will be provided for home loans up to Rs 10 lakh cheered market sentiments.

The realty index rose 4.64 per cent. Unitech and Mahindra Life surged 8.81 per cent and 8.10 per cent, respectively, while HDIL and DLF rose 4.72 per cent and 3.40 per cent, respectively. The bankex fell 1.22 per cent, led by ICICI Bank, which slipped 2.37 per cent. State Bank of India and HDFC Bank fell 1.70 per cent and 0.66 per cent, respectively. Hindustan Unilever’s lacklustre results resulted in its share price drop 7.28 per cent, thereby dragging down the FMCG index by 1.33 per cent.

The Bombay Stock Exchange Sensitive Index, or the Sensex, fell 43.10 points, or 0.28 per cent, to 15,331.94. The NSE Nifty ended at 4,564.10, down 8.7 points, or 0.18 per cent.

Siddharth Bhamre, head, investment advisory and derivatives, Angel Broking, expected some profit booking to happen in the banking sector stocks, following the announcement of a staid credit policy. “Futures and options rollovers were subdued in the last few trading sessions, but there could be some action in the remaining two-three days of the expiry,” added Bhamre. The market breadth was largely positive. Out of 4,039 stocks, 2,519 advanced, 1,391 declined and 129 remained unchanged.

Volumes were also good. The combined value of trading in both BSE and NSE was Rs 105,969 crore today compared to Rs 75,707 crore yesterday.

US indices were flat on Monday in spite of a rise in home sales indicating that the housing market was beginning to improve.