It was another volatile day for the stock markets today. The benchmark BSE Sensex finished with a loss of 21 points, recovering 126 points from the day’s low on strong support by institutional players at lower levels and short covering by traders in the derivatives segment ahead of its settlement cycle. A host of factors like surging oil prices, rift among members of the new government, the imminent expiry of May futures and profit booking after gains in the previous two sessions colluded to pull down Indian markets today. Once the impasse over the DMK portfolios was solved, the market recovered smartly from the low levels. After moving in an intra-day range of 168 points, the 30-share Sensex ended with a loss of 21.01 points at 5,102.22. The benchmark index had gained 191.12 points in the previous two trading sessions on hopes that economic reforms would continue following the appointment of P Chidambaram as the new Finance Minister.The NSE S & P CNX Nifty Index ended with a loss of 2.15 points at 1,606.70, up from the day’s low of 1,566.40. SBI Mutual Fund Managing Director PGR Prasad said: ‘‘Confidence in the stability of the government is the reason for this trend. The markets are looking at the common minimum programme (CMP) and the budget. I expect the index to be around the current range at least till Wednesday.’’The BSE Sensex opened in the red with a gap of 6 points at 5,117.52 and sank to the day’s low of 4,976.01 late morning amid fears that rising oil prices may affect the global economy. However, political worries dissipated in the afternoon after the Congress agreed to give DMK the charge of the revenue department and the shipping ministry. The easing of political concerns lifted the market to the positive territory for a while, with the Sensex touching the day’s high of 5,143.93. However, stocks pared gains in the last half-hour’s trading.Old economy stocks finished lower amid high oil price worries. Benchmark US light crude oil prices, which have risen nearly 40 pc this year, are hovering above $41 a barrel, near record highs. Power sector pivotals Reliance Energy (down 4.71 pc to Rs 552.90) and Tata Power (down 2.93 pc to Rs 299.85) surrendered most of their Monday’s gains on selling pressure amid worries about high global oil prices. PSU pivotals HPCL (down 4.10 pc to Rs 320.45), Bhel (down 1.47 pc to Rs 458.35) and MTNL (down 0.40 pc to Rs 124.45) were all in the slipstream after the UPA government did not appoint any minister for the disinvestment ministry, indicating its discontinuation. Automobile pivotals Maruti Udyog (down 4.04 pc o Rs 454.95) and Tata Motors (down 3.50 pc to Rs 428.95) dropped amid fears of a revision in petrol and diesel prices.ICICI Bank declined further from Rs 267.85 to Rs 255 before settling at Rs 258.20, down 2.93 pc from its previous close. New Economy pivotals Bharti Tele-Ventures (down 2.69 pc to Rs 149.90), Satyam Computer (down 1.84 pc to Rs 322.25) and Zee Telefilms (down 0.84 pc to Rs 124.80) were the subject of selling pressure.Other heavyweights Hindustan Lever (up 2.46 pc to Rs 141.65), ITC (up 0.64 pc to Rs 924.35) and Reliance Industries (up 0.50 pc to Rs 455.85) finished with positive stakes on last-minute buying interest after trading in the red for the most part of the session.
