Mumbai, Feb 25: A speculator-driven rally in the absence of fresh selling pressure from institutional investors saw the NSE-50 (Nifty) Index surge by 21.95 points to close at 1,036.05 points on Wednesday.The first day of the new trading cycle on the National Stock Exchange, which coincided with a holiday at the BSE, saw local punters take fresh positions in several counters, which in turn propped up the turnover of the bourse to Rs 1,263.90 crore.
The rally was kicked off at the counters of ITC, Tata Tea and Castrol. ITC touched a new 52-week high of Rs 648.45 and closed at Rs 646.90, with 55.98 lakh shares changing hands.
``ITC has once again caught the fancy of line operators. It should continue to hog the limelight during this week to touch new highs,'' said a BSE broker.
Castrol entered the no-delivery phase on the NSE which explained the market interest in the scrip. Continuous buying at the counter saw the scrip cross the technical barrier of Rs 698 to touch an intra-day high of Rs 709 beforeclosing at Rs 707.55 with 11.23 lakh shares changing hands.
Market participants argue that the jump of over Rs 20 in a single trading session is justified on the grounds of the dividend payout of Rs 8 and carryforward charge of Rs 3.
Tata Tea also flared up by over 1 per cent to close at Rs 438.25. The scrip accounted for a phenomenal turnover of Rs 14.54 crore.
Continuous bouts of buying and selling during the session saw Lakme move in a wide range. The stock continued to fall from Tuesday's close of Rs 158 to touch the lower end of the price band at Rs 138.10. However, sudden buying interest saw the counter flare up to touch a high of Rs 168.75, registering a huge volume of 6.86 lakh shares on the back of FII buying.
Similarly, LML registered a phenomenal volume of over 86 lakh shares. The buying has been attributed to orders placed by the government of Singapore. The stock, which opened on a weak note at Rs 115, touched an intra-day high of Rs 126.20 before closing at Rs 124.90, recording a gain of8.6 per cent over Tuesday's close.
The news of Wockhardt taking over Merind saw the latter's share price touch a new high of Rs 194.10 at which level it attracted a circuit filter. The scrip registered a trading volume of 2,450 shares. An outstanding buy order of 18,600 shares was recorded at the same price. Wockhardt rose by 7.3 per cent to close at Rs 209.80 with a volume of 51,900 shares. About 122 stocks hit their price bands on Wednesday.
Copyright(c)1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
