MUMBAI, March 16: The market cheered the formation of a BJP-led government at the centre on Monday with the 30-share BSE Sensitive Index crossing the psychological barrier of 3,800 to touch an intra-day high of 3,832.15 points. Although, brokers described the hectic buying as the beginning of a bull run, the absence of institutional participation has prompted experts to describe the rally as one which was driven by local punters."Speculation on the key portfolio of finance is still disturbing the market players. Setting aside these speculations a section of marketmen believe that it would be a pragmatic decision to depute a bureaucrat to the important position," said a BSE broker. Profit-booking by both local and foreign players during the last phase of the session saw the Sensex fall back to 3,785.23, registering a gain of 68.73 points over Thursday's close.
The Nifty index gained 12.95 points to close at 1,090.45, with 101 stocks hitting the circuit filter on the exchange. According to market sources,the gains made during the earlier stages on the first day of the current trading settlement on the BSE was due to the transfer of positions from the kerb to the official market. The swap ratio of three shares of HLL for four shares of Pond's failed to evoke a positive response from the market with some suggesting that a 4:5 ratio would have been more apt.
During the day's session, Pond's traded in the upper band of Rs 1,127 to Rs 1,194 before closing at Rs 1,138.75, gaining 3 per cent over Thursday's close of Rs 1,105.50 on the BSE. On the NSE the stock closed at Rs 1,135.90 with over 2 lakh shares changing hands. The HLL stock was traded in the band of Rs 1,572 to Rs 1,605 before closing at Rs 1,579, registering a gain of 0.06 per cent on the BSE. However, at the NSE the stock closed at Rs 1,582.35, losing 0.18 per cent. Rumours that RBI had allowed select FIIs to increase their stake in HDFC and Infosys saw the prices of these shares jump by over 7 per cent on an average. HDFC closed at Rs 3,164.50 andInfosys at Rs 1,408.50 on the NSE.
Huge bulk deals at the counter of SAIL on the BSE saw the volume touch over 80.94 lakh shares.
Although the BJP government is considered to be pro-swadeshi, marketmen continued to build positions in select MNC scrips like Pfizer, SmithKline Pharma and Britannia.
Sources said local institutions were reportedly placing sell orders at the Reliance counter on the demat segment, which was evident by the fact that the stock was traded at a Rs 5 discount to its price on the physical segment. Raasi Cement closed on a positive note at Rs 223.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
