Sharekhan Post-Market Report dated April 23, 2008

Sharekhan's daily newsletter April 23, 2008 Index Performance Index Sensex Nifty Open 16,823.99 5,044.35 High 16,871.27 5,083.50 Low 16,589.45 5,003.55 Today's Cls 16,698.04 5,022.80 Prev Cls 16,783.87 5,049.30 Change -85.83 -26.50 % Change -0.51 -0.52   Market Indicators Top Movers (Group A) Company Price  (Rs) % chg Gainers Spice Tele 41.30 15.85 Ashok Leyland 41.80 9.71 MRPL 106.00 8.55 Hindustan Zinc 625.30 7.23 Welspun Gujarat 439.00 7.23 Losers Indian Bank 145.10 -7.08 Idea Cell 103.05 -5.33 SAIL 173.70 -5.26 MMTC 28,001.25 -4.95 United Spirits 1,594.05 -4.67 Market Statistics - BSE NSE Advances 1,426 567 Declines 1,297 624 Unchanged 57 20 Volume(Nos) 45.95cr 78.44cr  Market Commentary  Sensex drops 86 points amid high volatility Wide spread selling in Bankex and other major indices saw the Sensex slip from higher levels and end below 16,700. Continuing the volatile trend, the Sensex rose sharply in the first half due to hectic buying to touch an intra-day high of 16,871 (up 87 points over the last close), before     the emergence of selling pressure send the market tumbling in the second half. Sustained selling pressure in Bankex, PSU (public sector unit), CD (consumer durables) and CG (capital goods) stocks saw the index plunge deep in red and touch the day's low of 16,589, down 195 points from its last close. The Sensex, after witnessing an intra-day swing of 284 points, ended the session with a drop of 86 points at 16,698, while the Nifty declined by 27 points to close at 5,023. Movers & Shakers Biocon moved up marginally on reports that the company has introduced global suite of security services. Satra Properties India, which acquired property at Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, witnessed selling pressure. PBA Infrastructure rose on report that the company has won contract worth ~Rs44 crore. The breadth of the market surprisingly was positive. Of the 2,780 stocks traded on the BSE 1,426 stocks advanced, 1,297 stocks declined and 57 stocks ended unchanged. Barring the BSE Realty, IT, Auto, Teck and Metal indices, other sectoral indices ended in negative territory. The BSE Bankex led the slump and lost 1.89% followed by the BSE PSU index (down 1.55%), the BSE CD index (down 1.25%) and the BSE CG index (down 1.13%). However the second-rung benchmark indices, the BSE mid-cap index (up 0.41%) and the BSE small-cap index (up 0.02%) ended at higher levels. Leading the crash, HDFC Bank tumbled nearly 3.01% at Rs1,442.85. Among other major losers, Hindalco slumped 2.56% at Rs188.05, BHEL dropped 2.40% at Rs1,826.90, SBI lost 2.10% at Rs1,695.90, ICICI Bank 2.07% at Rs864.15 and Ranbaxy slipped by 2.00% at Rs477.40. Bharti Airtel, Satyam Computer, RIL, ONGC, Jaiprakash Associates, Reliance Communications and ITC were down over 0.50-1% each. Select front line counters shrugged off the downward trend and registered decent gains. ACC rose 3.05% at Rs844.45, Infosys added 2.94% at Rs1,645.90, Wipro jumped by 2.88% at Rs443.10, Grasim gained 2.18%at Rs2,656.30 and Tata Steel moved up 2.14% at Rs797.60, while HUL and DLF ended with steady gains. Bank stocks lost ground on sustained selling pressure. Oriental Bank of Commerce dropped 3.55% at Rs194.45, Canara Bank shed 2.59% at Rs229.60, Union Bank lost 2.53% at Rs161.90 and Bank of Baroda slipped by 2.14% at Rs306.50. Federal Bank, Centurion Bank of Punjab, Yes Bank, Axis Bank and Andhra Bank declined around 1-2% each. Select PSU stocks also edged lower. Indian Bank fell by 7.08% at Rs145.10, SAIL lost 5.26% at Rs173.70 and MMTC was down 4.95% at Rs28,001. Neyveli Lignite, BPCL and Bank of Maharashtra were down around 2-3% each. Over 4.19 crore IFCI shares changed hands on the BSE followed by ISPAT Industries (2.73 crore shares), Reliance Natural Resources (1.79 crore shares), IB Securities (1.49 crore shares) and Tata Teleservices (1.44 crore shares). European Indices at 16:29 IST on 23-04-2008 Index Level Change (pts) Change (%) FTSE 100 Index 6024.30 -10.40 -0.17 CAC 40 Index 4877.39 4.75 0.10 DAX Index 6733.23 -53.32 -0.79 Asian Indices at close on 23-04-2008 Index Level Change (pts) Change (%) Nikkei 225 13579.16 31.34 0.23 Hang Seng Index 25289.24 350.09 1.40 Kospi Index 1800.79 13.30 0.74 Straits Times Index 3344.53 - - Jakarta Composite Index 2314.30 25.20 1.10