Volatile Sensex ends down 106pts; TCS, L&T shed 7%

The Sensex opened with a positive gap of 266 points at 12,068 following the two positive moves by the regulators. The Sebi chief yesterday removed crubs on P-notes, and the RBI head cut cash reserve ratio by 50 basis points.

The index soon touched a high of 12,181, but could not hold gains. Selling pressure at higher levels forced the index slip into the negative zone. The index, thereafter, exhitbited high volatility throughout the day amid alternate bouts of buying and selling. The index touched an intra-day low of 11,502 - down 679 points from the day's high.

The Sensex finally ended with a loss of 106 points at 11,695.

The market breadth was fairly negative - out of 2,682 stocks traded, 1,820 declined, 789 advanced and 73 were unchanged.

INDEX SHAKERS...

TCS and Larsen & Toubro slumped 7% each to Rs 576 and Rs 1,008, respectively. Sterlite shed 6.4% at Rs 314.

HDFC Bank and Mahindra & Mahindra plunged around 6% each to Rs 1,128 and Rs 473, respectively.

Satyam dropped over 5% to Rs 279. Wipro ad Tata Power slipped around 4% each to Rs 307 and Rs 768, respectively.

ITC declined 3% to Rs 175.

...AND THE MOVERS

NTPC and Ranbaxy surged around 4% each to Rs 176 and Rs 256, respectively.

BHEL soared 3.3% to Rs 1,497, and Bharti Airtel rallied 2.7% to Rs 749.

Reliance, Tata Steel and Reliance Infrastructure gained 2% each at Rs 1,675, Rs 357 and Rs 650, respectively.

Grasim and Maruti moved up 1.7% each to Rs 1,618 and Rs 671, respectively.

VALUE & VOLUME TOPPERS

Reliance Capital topped the value chart with a turnover of Rs 390 crore followed by Reliance (Rs 344.75 crore), Larsen & Toubro (Rs 204.30 crore), SBI (Rs 178 crore) and ICICI Bank (Rs 177 crore).

Reliance Natural Resources led the volume chart with trades of around 1.41 crore shares followed by Idea Cellular (1.19 crore), Chambal Fertilisers (1.02 crore), Reliance Petroleum (82 lakh) and IFCI (77.70 lakh).