Market Briefing
FE NEWS SERVICE
FII buying in BoB shares hits 16% limit: The RBI said on Tuesday that no further purchases of shares of Bank of Baroda and LGB Brothers should be made on behalf of foreign institutional investors without its prior approval. Purchases by FIIs/NRIs/OCBs under the portfolio investment scheme has reached the ceiling of 16 and 20 per cent respectively for BoB and LGB Brothers.SEBI clears Balmer Lawrie's rights issue: SEBI received two letters of offer for rights issues amounting to Rs 6.55 crore in the week ended January 16. During the same week, SEBI also communicated observations and cleared the exclusive rights issue of Balmer Lawrie Van Leer amounting to Rs 11.85 crore. The letters of offer filed with SEBI include 12.50 per cent optionally convertible preference shares of Shriram Asset Management Company Ltd amounting to Rs 4 crore and equity shares of Sesa Seat Information Systems amounting to Rs 2.55 crore. Bulls offload Raasi Cement shares: The imposition of a special margin of Rs
45 on the equity shares of Raasi Cement on the BSE saw considerable bull liquidation at the counter on Tuesday. Sources said that rumours of a takeover had earlier seen continuous buying at the counter. However, having lost its charm, the stock attracted sales at the day's lowest bid of Rs 146.35 on the NSE. The BSE slapped a price band to curb further sales at Rs 145.50. Sensex sheds 25 points: Profit-taking by speculators at higher levels saw equities pare gains made on Monday. The 30-share BSE Sensitive Index lost 24.91 points to close at 3,455.95 on Tuesday. Despite thin volumes, the exchange recorded a 9 per cent jump in turnover at Rs 1,073.88 crore. Pivotals like Reliance, ACC, SBI, ITC, HDFC and Hero Honda lost about 2-3 per cent on an average. However, heavyweights like MTNL, BHEL and EIH continued to move up, gaining 1-2 per cent on an average. Scrips finish lower on CSE: Select scrips on the Calcutta Stock Exchange continued to attract buying support on Tuesday in early trading.
Subsequently, however, gains were pared by offerings, induced partly by end-account trade at NSE. The 50-share CSE index closed the session at 98.69 points, the day's high and low being 100.36 points and 98.60 points, respectively. MSE index loses 17 points: Equities moved down further and closed with marginal losses on the Madras Stock Exchange on Tuesday. The MSE share price index slipped by 16.83 points to close at 3,687.82. Raasi Cements moved down to Rs 153.85 from Rs 160.60 while ACC improved by Rs 7.85 to Rs 1,305.35. ITC lost Rs 2.50 to settle at Rs 594.30. OTCEI index down 0.21 points: Share prices eased marginally on the OTCEI on Tuesday on fresh selling pressure. The OTCEI Composite Index opened at 107.91 and closed at 107.70, losing 0.21 points over the previous close. The total turnover reported during the day was Rs 44.69 lakh in 30,752 shares and debentures. Skindia index up 2.52%: The Skindia GDR index increased by 2.52 per cent from 805.33 to 825.65 on January 19.
The Skindia GDR index p/e ratio was 17.29 on January 19 compared with 17.15 on January 16. The top gainers were MTNL, L&T and SBI which quoted at $15.00 ($14.00), $9.75 ($9.25) and $16.25 ($15.50). Losers included Grasim, Bajaj Auto and BSES. HK stocks close a touch firmer: Hong Kong stocks closed Tuesday higher following a roller-coaster ride during which Hongkong Telecom announced it had surrendered its exclusive international licence. The Hang Seng ended 33.28 points, or 0.35 per cent, higher at 9,433.70. KL shares finish down: Share prices ended down but the key index was off the day's low as blue chips received some local support and the ringgit remained steady after a mild recovery, brokers and analysts said on Tuesday. The Composite Index lost 0.63 per cent or 3.73 points to 585.35. Call rates soar to 50%: The overnight call money market continued to reel under pressure with rates soaring to 40-50 per cent at close on account of an acute shortage of funds following the
central bank's decision to tighten liquidity in the short-term. Call rates opened at 30-40 per cent and shot up to 40-50 per cent at close, with most of the lenders keeping away from the market. Gold, silver weaken: Bullion prices fell on Monday. Gold was weighed down by weak world prices despite demand, while silver suffered from expectations of imports arriving soon. 24-carat standard gold fell by Rs 15 to Rs 4,015 per 10 gm, and 22 carat fell by the same margin to Rs 3,715. Silver, .999 standard, dropped by Rs 55 Rupees to Rs 8,260 per kg, while silver .916 fell by the same margin to Rs 8,160 per kg. Mixed trend in cotton: Punjab varieties lifted further on Tuesday but Gujarat cotton lost the ground it had earlier gained, dealers said. Punjab cotton climbed amid lower than expected new crop supplies and active mill support. In spot deals, Bengal deshi rose by Rs 25/30 to Rs 1,550/1,585 per maund while saw-ginned cotton rose by Rs 15 to Rs 2,070/2,100 per maund. Groundnut oil
improves: Groundnut oil prices improved on Tuesday on increased local buying. Groundnut oil gained a rupee to close at Rs 365, while groundnut bold held steady at Rs 1,930. The price of palm oil also remained unchanged at Rs 305. Castor oil eased by a rupee to Rs 272. Tin prices rise: Tin prices rose further but prices of copper, brass and nickel declined at the local non-ferrous metals market on Tuesday. Tin prices moved up by Rs 3 per kg to Rs 335 on increased industrial buying. Copper scrap heavy declined to Rs 105 per kg on lack of buying support. Nickel at Rs 329 and brass sheets cutting at Rs 88 per kg also closed weak on poor demand. Black pepper prices ease: Prices of black pepper fell sharply while copra prices improved on the spices market on Tuesday. Black pepper prices fell by Rs 200 per 50 kg to settle at Rs 9,000 on increased arrivals and reduced offtake.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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