India Markets Thursday Wrap-Up:Caught In the Global Whirlpool

Markets closed well below the dotted line on account of persistent selling across the board till the final hour of trade. While selling pressure was witnessed across sectors, stocks from the realty, banking and energy sectors were worst hit. As regards global markets, while the Asian indices closed in the red, the European markets are also trading in the negative zone currently.

The BSE Sensex closed 322 points lower, while the NSE Nifty closed lower by 65 points. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices closed in the red, each down 3%. The rupee was trading at 50.38 to the dollar.

Taking a cue from its global peers, the Indian benchmark indices opened on a weak note and languished below the dotted line throughout the day. Growing fear over a deep global recession and worries that there could be another wave in the global credit crisis resulted into volatile trading at D street. Alternate bouts of buying and selling activities were witnessed throughout the day. The overall market breadth was negative with losers outnumbering gainers by a ratio of 3.5 to 1 on the BSE. While NTPC (up 1%) and ACC (up 0.5%) led the pack of gainers on the BSE Sensex today, DLF (down 10%) and ICICI Bank (down 9%) led the pack of losers.

Software stocks closed mixed. While the pack of gainers was led by HCL Tech (up 2%) and Satyam (up 1%), the pack of losers was led by Tech Mahindra (down 4%). As per a leading business daily, Wipro has forged an alliance with Axway to offer business-to-business (B2B) integration and electronic data interchange (EDI) managed services using a software-as-a-service (SaaS) model. The solution provided by Wipro and Axway will enable companies to outsource non-core business functions and improve efficiencies. This will also help in tracking critical events across their extended supply chains. The worldwide B2B gateways are expected to grow by 50% and B2B outsourcing is likely to grow by 100% to reach US$ 3 bn over the next four to five years, providing huge opportunity for Wipro. Wipro closed marginally lower.

As per leading business daily, Biocon is planning to launch drugs for the treatment of cancer, diabetes and auto immune diseases in India, Latin America and African countries in the next 18 months. The company is likely to file a separate investigative new drug (IND) applications for these three medicines very soon. The company also plans to roll out 10 biologics such as vaccines and blood components in these markets.

Biocon is expected to grow its revenue by 20% in FY09 by launching these products. Biocon’s consolidated revenue (excluding enzymes) for FY08 stood at Rs 10.4 bn. This will bolster revenues from its biopharmaceuticals business going forward. While Biocon closed marginally lower, its peers Cipla and Ranbaxy closed higher by 4% and 1% respectively.

Comments

[Natalie Le:]

Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange was closed on Thursday after the attacks, which killed 101 people and brought the security forces into two luxury hotels in south Mumbai.

Aaron Lee Smith, MD of Superfund Financial mentions a rally coming soon but downside risks are there and eventually stocks are a dangerous place to be in.

www.youtube.com/watch?...

2008 Dec 03 03:07 AM