The Sensex and Nifty ended down on the last trading day of 2006 as investors trimmed positions ahead of the extended weekend. Equity market will be closed on Monday for 'Bakr Eid'. The indices erased early gains as investors booked profits in heavyweights Hindustan Lever [Get Quote] and Oil and Natural Gas Corp.Metal shares gained the most as prices remained firm on the London Metal Exchange, while shares of fast moving consumer goods were the worst hit.
The Bombay Stock Exchange Sensex ended at 13786.91, down 59.43 points or 0.4 per cent from Thursday. It touched a low of 13770.06 and high of 13929.10 intraday.
The National Stock Exchange Nifty settled at 3966.40, down 4.15 points or 0.1 per cent. It moved between a low of 3960.45 and high of 3991.60 in the session.The combined turnover of both exchanges was Rs 11,500 crore, down marginally from Thursday.
The CNX Midcap Index ended up 0.8 per cent, while S&P CNX 500 Index gained marginally.On the BSE, 1,407 stocks advanced and 1,218 declined.
Sentiment was also slightly dampened as India's headline inflation rate rose to 5.43 per cent in the week to December 16 against expectations of a fall to 5.28 per cent.The Sensex, in 2006, rose 46.7 per cent against a rise of 42.3 per cent in 2005. Nifty added 39.8 per cent versus 36.3 per cent a year ago.
Videsh Sanchar Nigam [Get Quote] gained 5 per cent to end at Rs 425.15 on talk the company may soon announce an acquisition.
Other big Nifty gainers were ABB, up 4 per cent at Rs 3,720.65, Steel Authority of India, up 2.7 per cent at Rs 89.05, and Mahindra and Mahindra, higher by 2.5 per cent at Rs 908.45.
Among non-frontliners, Gammon India [Get Quote] ended up 9.3 per cent, while LML added 13 per cent on hope the company may soon resume production at its Kanpur plant.