Mumbai, Nov 27: The 30-share BSE Sensitive Index jumped 93 points on Thursday on the back of strong demand by institutional investors, both foreign and domestic, coupled with shortcovering by local operators.

The Sensex breached the 3,600-mark to close at 3,628.07, up 92.55 points over its previous close of 3,535.52. The exchange recorded a 10 per cent increase in its turnover to touch a high of Rs 1,047.78 crore. The contribution from the cash group stocks continued to be poor at Rs 35 crore.

"The fall in the prices of pivotals in kerb trading on Wednesday failed to mirror the sentiment today, probably because the market received strong indications that the chances of the dissolution of the Lok Sabha were quite low," said a BSE broker.

Huge negotiated deals were reported at the counters of Apollo Tyres (11 lakh shares), BPCL (1.85 lakh shares) and SAIL (13 lakh shares).

FIIs were reported to have picked up shares of ITC, Bajaj Auto, Bhel, Castrol and Glaxo. Market sources attribute this buying to leading FII brokerage houses like UBS Securities, Morgan Stanley and Credit Lyonnais.

Among the index-based stocks, FIIs were reportedly placing purchase orders for shares of SBI at Rs 224. The stock closed at Rs 225.25, up Rs 7.75 on the BSE. Speculative activity was concentrated at the counters of ITC, Castrol, ACC, Bajaj Auto, Tata Tea and Hindustan Lever.

Local punters continued to build positions on the kerb market. ITC was traded at Rs 601/602, SBI was up at Rs 227 and Reliance was traded at Rs 169.

ITC Classic hammered

Local punters had a field day on Thursday, hammering the share price of ITC Classic. The stock recorded a sharp decline of 20.08 per cent to close at Rs 15.40 on the BSE, with 17,800 shares changing hands. On the NSE, the share opened on a weak note at Rs 21.30, the level at which the exchange had imposed a circuit to curb any further liquidation. However, continuous bouts of selling at the counter saw the stock fall by another seven per cent on the NSE, closing at a circuit price of Rs 19.85 with a huge volume of 11,500 shares.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.