Intermittent bouts of buying and selling sent the share prices on a tailspin on the Cochin Stock Exchange during the week under review. The week also saw many new scrips entering the active segment of the market following the appointment of market makers by the exchange. Stocks from the banking and IT industry were the punters' favourite during the week while the market leaders RIL, Reliance Capital and Tisco lost momentum.

The week opened on a bearish note on Monday but bounced back on Tuesday only to lose the gain on the subsequent day. Since Wednesday, market remained subdued with share prices moving on a narrow range and volume remaining thin.

The mood was mirrored in the movement of the CSE sahre price index which closed the opening day lower at 199.7 compared to the last week's closing of 201.6. However, the index gained a whopping three points on Tuesday on the back of heavy buying support but fall by little less tha two points on Wednesday. The index remained steady at the 200 level for the remaining days and closed the week with a net less of approximately 0.60 points at 200.70

The major gainers of the week include Federal Bank, ICICI, Satyam Computers and HDFC Bank. Cochin Refineries was another scrip which attracted good buying interest during the week. Though RIL, TISCO and SBI continued to garner good volume on the back of heavy speculation the prices of the scrips remained relatively steady.Dealers said a major problem hindering the activity was the sever liquidity crunch in the market. They said the market has discounted the political factor and now moving in tandem with the fundamentals of the scrips.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.