Notly only the the industry heavyweights like Infosys Technologies, Tata Infotech and Satyam Computers spurt on bourses, but other I-T companies also appreciated substantially. The daily trading volumes, too, saw a sharp rise.On July 16, the tax concessions for the industry came into effect. The prices, which were already witnessing an uptrend on the back of impressive first-quarter performances from the industry leaders like Infosys, Satyam and NIIT got a further fillip with these tax concessions.

On the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), Infosys went up by Rs 83 from Rs 2556 to Rs 2639 with a volume of 1.2 lakh shares. On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the scrip gained Rs 94, going up from Rs 2543 to Rs 2637. The volume of transaction was 1.59 lakh shares.

Satyam Computer appreciatedby Rs 37 to Rs 549 with a volume of 36.4 lakh shares. On NSE, the scrip gained Rs 41 to close at Rs 549 with a volume of 53.12 lakh shares.

Similarly, Tata Infotech gained Rs 97 to close at Rs 1600 on NSE and Rs 111 on BSE to Rs 1509. The volume of shares transacted in the scrip on NSE and BSE were, respectively, 6100 and 6876 shares.

Among the other IT stocks, Pentafour Software went up from Rs 751 to Rs 811 on BSE, while the volume of transaction was 6.68 lakh shares. Hardware major Digital Equipments gained Rs 12 on BSE to close at Rs 151 and the counter saw a massive 7 lakh shares traded during the day.

Aptech gained Rs 31 on BSE, going up from Rs 519 to Rs 550 with a volume of 22,180 shares. Similarly, DSQ Software gained Rs 19 to Rs 262 on NSE with a volume of 1.89 lakh shares. On BSE, the scrip closed at the same level with a volume of 45,000 shares.

According to one industry estimates, software exports during the current year is slated to touch atleast $2.7 billion againts $1.7 billion earnedthrough this route during 1997. Further, the recent sops by the finance minister to the IT industry, which include exemption of all computer software from import duty and removal of withholding tax, are expected to substantially bring down the prices of software in the country.

According to one industry analysts, the current sops will add to the revenue from the domestic sector of software companies and also boost software exports. According to Nasscom, these sops will help Indian software industry to reach a turnover of over Rs 16,000 crore during 1998-99, including the domestic market which will contribute around Rs 5,400 crore.

Software companies, of late, are in the forefront of a market rally. The trend is likely to continue with the softare sector poised to grow at more than 60 per cent during the next two years. Also, the attractive valuation they offer is another positive for the IT scrips. When the fantastic results from these tax sops are realised, these scrips are likely to rally past theirpre-budget tops.