Indian shares close flat; sentiment wary ahead of annual monetary policy review

Indian shares close flat; sentiment wary ahead of annual monetary policy review

	Published : Mon, 30 Jul 2007 12:10 By : Agencies Print this Story

MUMBAI (Thomson Financial) - Indian shares closed flat, after the Sensex recovered 200 points by afternoon, as sentiment turned cautious ahead of the central bank's first-quarter review of India's annual monetary policy tomorrow.

The Bombay Stock Exchange's benchmark Sensex, which had by afternoon recovered 200 points of Friday's 500-point fall, closed up 0.17 pct or 26.34 points, at 15,260.91. The National Stock Exchange's S&P CNX Nifty was down 0.12 pct at 4,440.05 points.

Among the BSE 30, 17 shares gained and 13 lost. In the broader market, 1,342 shares advanced, 1,256 declined and 61 were unchanged.

Shares of consumer goods maker Hindustan Unilever Ltd, which has announced a share buy-back programme, and State Bank of India, which reported healthy first-quarter results, provided impetus to today's session.

Hindustan Unilever closed 6.26 pct higher at 208.75 rupees, while State Bank of India gained 5.26 pct to 1,579 rupees.

Power utility Reliance Energy Ltd, which has won a bid for the Sasan power project in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, was up 1.45 pct to 774.50 rupees.

Cars and commercial vehicle maker Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd dipped 3 pct to 752.55 rupees after the company said its net profit for the first-quarter ended June 30 fell to 1.91 bln rupees from 2.04 bln rupees a year earlier.

M&M, however, maintained that its outlook for the rest of the year remained 'positive'.

Cement scrips, beaten lately on reports they were under the scanner of India's trade practices regulator for allegedly forming cartels, were lapped up on value-buying.

India's largest cement maker ACC Ltd rose 2.27 pct to 1,022.60 rupees, while Ambuja Cements Ltd gained 3.40 pct to 129.30 rupees.

Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd, which announced the commercialisation of its first authorized generic (AG) product, Isoptin (Verapamil Sit) in the US, closed 0.48 pct higher at 376.70 rupees.

The company's shares had also surged to a high of 385 rupees, but pared gains with the broader market.

The market for Verapamil,indicated for hypertension and angina, is worth 122.2 mln usd with limited competition primarily from two other players, Ranbaxy said.

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