[R]11:30AM Drug companies Merck and Pfizer led the S&P 500 down.[/R]
Worries about the impact of the U.S. election results, kept stocks under pressure on Wednesday. Among pharmaceutical stocks, shares of drug maker Merck & Co. (MRK: chart) dropped 3.3% after the drug maker revealed that it faces a tax liability of $5.58 billion due to four tax disputes in the U.S. and Canada. Rival company Pfizer Inc.''s (PFE: chart) fell 1.9%.The two Dow components were the biggest drags on the S&P 500. Health insurance stocks also moved to the downside, led by Molina Healthcare (MOH: chart), with the managed care company falling 8.3% after the company reaffirmed full-year outlook below estimates. The weakness in the health insurance sector also came amid concerns that a Democrat-controlled congress could have a negative impact on the industry. Shares of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT: chart) also came under pressure, falling 0.6%.

On the other hand, companies in the mortgage business posted gains on the notion that Democrats would push plans to broaden access to housing. Fannie Mae (FNM: chart) rose 2.3%, while Freddie Mac (FRE: chart) advanced 2.4%. Rising oil prices and a broker upgrade helped shares of Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM: chart) gain 1% to $73.26. The stock was a leading gainer in both the Dow and S&P 500. Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. (SIRI: chart) rose 2% after posting a narrower-than-expected loss on improved revenue. In late morning trading, the Dow Jones industrial average moved off earlier lows and was down 12.88, or 0.11%, at 12,143.89. The Standard & Poor''s 500 index was down 1.31, or 0.09%, at 1,381.53, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 1.79, or 0.08%, to 2,374.09. Bonds showed little movement, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note flat at 4.66% from late Tuesday


[R]10:30AM The Sensex falls for a second day in a row on selling pressure.[/R]
The Sensex on BSE finished 84.15 points, or 0.64%, lower to 13,072.51. The market-breadth positive at the start of trading turned weak in late trading. As 1,1628 shares declined on BSE, only 881 advanced and 64 stocks were unchanged. For every 2 decliners there was 1 advancer. From the Sensex stocks, 22 declined while the rest advanced. The turnover on BSE was Rs 4,305 crore, lower than Rs 4,688 crore on Tuesday. The turnover on NSE was Rs 8,572.66 crore, lower than Rs 9,066.78 crore on Tuesday.

Decliners

The auto sector was in decline today. The costs of materials such as nickel, aluminium, rubber and steel is rising. Hero Honda led the decline, down 3.77% to Rs 715, on 2.16 lakh shares. It slid to a low of Rs 705.45, after hitting a high of Rs 744 in early trade. Advancing input costs and intense competition forced investors into selling shares of auto firms. Bajaj Auto fell 3.37% to Rs 2,630 and TVS Motor was down 5.16% to Rs 102.

Maruti Udyog dipped 1.1% to Rs 933.50, following the Heavy Industries Minister Santosh Mohan Deb announcement that he had formally proposed the selling of the remaining 10% government stake in the company. Tata Motors also declined 2.36% to Rs 799.

Index heavy Reliance Industries plunged 2.93% to Rs 1,252.50 on a volume of 22.32 lakh shares on major sell-off by funds along with profit-taking by retail investors. It traded in the range of Rs 1,240 and Rs 1,295.

The energy sector was also hit today. Indian Oil Corp fell 1.3% to Rs 499.35 as it said that the state-run Indian Oil Corp is losing Rs 50 crore a day on retail fuel sales despite making a profit of Rs 3.5-4 per litre on petrol sales. Reliance Communications also dipped 1.82% to Rs 380 and HDFC lost 2.88% to Rs 1,515.

Hindustan Zinc experienced high volatility, trading in a range of Rs 1,008.90 and Rs 943.35. It closed 1.47% lower, at Rs 966.85.

Advancers

Bank stocks rallied from their lows, in the final hours of trade. ICICI Bank led the advancers, up 2% to Rs 785. IndusInd Bank gained 5.20% to Rs 46.45, UTI Bank added 2.87% to Rs 437.50, ICICI Bank jumped 2% to Rs 785, ING Vysya Bank was up 1.71% to Rs 178. State-run banks also took part in the rally. SBI was 1.76% higher to Rs 1,124.50, Allahabad Bank gained 2.30% to Rs 91 and Bank of Maharashtra advanced 1.31% to Rs 34.85.


Software exporter Infosys gained 1.07% to Rs 2,125. It had soared to a 52-week high of Rs 2,151 in early trade. The stock advanced for the second day in a row after shareholders of Infosys on Tuesday approved an issue of up to 30 million sponsored American Depositary Receipts.

Advancers from shares not part of the Sensex stocks included Hyderabad Industries surging 20% to Rs 298, Ashok Leyland jumping 4% to Rs 46.20 on on renewed buying and UTV Software soaring 6.55% to Rs 248.80.

Other news

Foreign funds inflows keep rising. As per provisional data, foreign funds were net buyers to the tune of Rs 316.66 crore on Tuesday.

The Government is planning to apply a tighter control on the number of IT special economic zones. It will initiate changes to the SEZ Act, which will be implemented in about 3 months.


[R]9:45AM Stocks opened lower after the Congressional elections.[/R]
Stocks opened lower on Wednesday, as investors reacted negatively to the election victory by the Democrats who are known as less business friendly than the Republicans. In early trading, significant weakness emerged among pharmaceutical stocks. Despite an increase by the price of oil, some oil service stocks also came under pressure. The downward move by the markets also reflects considerable weakness among health insurance, airline, and housing stocks.

On the earnings news front, Federated Department Stores Inc. (FD: chart), owner of the Macy''s and Bloomingdale''s chains, posted $3 million profit loss in Q3 due to costs related to its acquisition of May Department Stores. The loss amounted to a penny per share compared with a profit of 90 cents per share last year, missing analyst estimates of 25 cents per share. Revenue grew 6% to $5.89 billion, while same-store sales rose 5.9%. The stock dropped 2.26%.