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Our Market Bureau
MUMBAI, DEC 9: Profit booking towards the last phase of the trading session by local institutions and punters saw the BSE-30 share sensitive index shed the gains made during the initial phase of the session.
Although, the index closed at 2,950.21 points registering a net gain of 4.57 points, the initial phase of the session saw the index rally in the band of 2,979.51 points, the intra-day's high.
Interestingly, the strong undertone of the market was attributed to the huge fresh purchases done by FIIs on Wednesday. FIIs were net buyers on the local bourses to the tune of Rs 67 crore. While on the BSE, FII purchases were pegged at Rs 66 crore, sales were marked at Rs 19 crore.
However, on the NSE the FIIs were net buyers to the tune of Rs 20 crore. Hindustan Lever, ITC and HDFC played a vital role in pulling the index above the 2,950 mark, explained market observers. HLL was the star performer of the day. The counter touched an intra-day's high of Rs 1,704 after having dipped to the day's low of Rs 1,638during the initial phase of the session.
Profit booking towards the last 15 minutes saw the stock close a shade lower at Rs 1,687.10 registering a net gain of 3.65 per cent. The counter clocked a huge volume of over 4 lakh shares on the local bourses.
Domestic institutions continued to be net sellers for the third consecutive session. FIs sold stocks worth Rs 13.5 crore on the local bourses. "Markets are showing signs of strength. However one cannot expect a run away boom because of political factors," said Apurva Shah, BSE broker highlighting the role played by institutional participants along with some front-running by speculators.
Large negotiated deals were indicative of the institutional participation. Over Rs 10-12 crore of the FII business, according to market sources, was routed on the BSE through the negotiated channel. While Pond's India accounted for nearly Rs 6 crore turnover on the negotiated segment, the counter saw a cross deal of 27,700 shares transacted at Rs 1,210.
Similarly, VSNLclocked a phenomenal volume of 20,000 shares at Rs 720, Procter & Gamble 5,000 shares at Rs 764. ABB was the prominent feature of the day, with the counter registering a single deal of one lakh shares reported at Rs 539.50 on the BSE.
It is learnt that FIIs were net buyers at the counters of HLL, Castrol, Infosys Technologies, MTNL, Reliance and Telco. Market was rife with rumours that some brokers have started warehousing Glaxo for a leading FII. However, FIIs were reported to have sold huge chunks of Zee Telefilms. Market sources attributed the sales to the rumours that the much talked about tie-up between Zee and Star TV would not materialise. The stock was hammered down to Rs 549, registering a net loss of 4.68 per cent.
"The market is poised for a decent rally. Historically, the markets move up by end-December and this year also such indications are already in place," said Ajit Sanghvi, of Malini Sanghvi Securities, in the light of the wide spread buying interest by institutional participants."However uncertainties will continue until the IRA bill is passed," he added.
Among the pharma stocks, Parke Davis and Pfizer registered sharp declines of 7.38 per cent and 3.16 per cent respectively.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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