Tech Losses Offset Mondays Gains

The sensex finished flat on Tuesday as gains by two Reliance group companies were offset by losses in select technology and old-economy stocks, which had rallied in the run-up to the quarterly earnings season.

While the sensex rose by just 0.92 points to 3,358.58, after moving in a tight range of 18.8 points, the S&P CNX Nifty Index closed lower by 1.75 points at 1,080.30. Overall, market breadth was negative as losers outnumbered gainers.

Brokers said overall activity in the market remained lacklustre amid mixed trends in stock prices.

Meanwhile, sustained buying interest from foreign institutional investors (FIIs) continued. They bought shares worth Rs 42.30 crore on Monday, taking net purchases to Rs 432 crore during the last ten sessions.

Reliance Industries (up 1.99 per cent to Rs 276.80) and Reliance Petroleum (up 1.43 per cent to Rs 24.75) gathered momentum in the latter half of the session, on sustained buying.

Other bluechips such as ITC (up 1.14 per cent to Rs 708.30) and Hindustan Lever Ltd (up 0.21 per cent to Rs 194.80) recorded modest gains on selective buying.

Bajaj Auto (up 1.04 per cent to Rs 541.55) settled with modest gains on selective buying interest on hopes of an impressive June quarter due to improved motorcycle sales.

Tata Engineering (down 2.52 per cent to Rs 160.50) settled lower, coming off the day's high of Rs 165 on selling at higher levels. Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (up 1.03 per cent to Rs 290.70), Grasim (up 0.43 per cent to Rs 339.20) and BSES (up 0.11 per cent to Rs 222.25) and Nestle India (up 0.05 per cent to Rs 509.35) also finished in the positive territory.

In the information technology segment, Satyam Computer Services bounced back from a low of Rs 247 to Rs 256.80 before settling at Rs 255.95, up 2.32 per cent over its Monday's close on rumours that the company may sell stake in its Internet subsidiary Satyam Infoway.

But other key infotech stocks such as HCL Technologies (down 1.52 per cent to Rs 245.95) and Infosys Tech (down 0.91 per cent to Rs 3,391.85) lost ground on selling pressure following the overnight fall in the tech-heavy Nasdaq.

Media major Zee Telefilms slipped from the day's high of Rs 128.30 to Rs 124 before settling at Rs 124.20, down 1.55 per cent from its Monday's close.