Reliance leads Sensex fall, ends below 14,000 level

MUMBAI, May 4: After Thursday’s 206-point rally, bears came back with a vengeance on Friday despite a fall in the Inflation rate. Led by losses in index heavyweight Reliance Industries Ltd, the benchmark BSE Sensex dropped by 144 points to close at 13,934.27.

RIL, the largest company in terms of market capitalisation, fell 2.5 per cent to Rs 1,582.55 as investors locked profits on the stock which had hit 12 record highs in the last 13 trading days. The stock opened on Friday at a record high of Rs 1,651.80, at which point it was up almost 21 per cent since the end of March. The index rose 0.18 per cent during a holiday-shortened week of three sessions, its fourth straight week of gains.

RIL shares fell after Mukesh Ambani was ordered by a court to sell gas to younger brother Anil at below-market prices, reviving a family feud that split India’s most valuable group. The Bombay High Court had on Thursday ordered Reliance Industries to honour a contract to supply gas to Reliance Natural Resources Ltd, controlled by Anil. Reliance Industries wants to charge more for the gas as prices have risen to a record and costs for hiring rigs, buying pipelines and construction material have surged.

“I think the market is stable at these levels, but I am hoping for more frontline participation, after all Reliance alone cannot keep pulling up the index,” said Jayant Pai, vice president of equity sales at Parag Parikh Financial Advisory services.

Infosys Technologies eased 0.4 per cent and Satyam Computer Services fell 1.7 per cent after the Government said a tax on employee stock options announced in February’s budget would stay with some changes. “I think Infosys should rise, provided the rupee stops taking performance-enhancing steroids,” said a dealer.

The Indian rupee has risen more 8 per cent against the dollar this year, and last week hit a nine-year high of 40.60 per dollar, raising concerns that earnings of the export-focused tech sector will be hurt.

-(With agencies)

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