Mumbai, March 6: The index committee of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) is expected to meet this week to decide on the recomposition of the Sensex, which often acts as a barometer of the country's economic health.Sources say major changes are in the offing, with some of the cyclical scrips making way for new economy stocks from the infotech and media sectors to give the index a more contemporary look.
Among the scrips which are expected to be included in the index are Satyam Computers, Zee Telefilms, Himachal Futuristics, and Global Tele-systems. Scrips on their way out could be old economy stocks, like Bajaj Auto, Tata Power, and Tata Chemicals, among others.
BSE officials refused to comment on this issue. The sources said that in spite of the losing lustre of some of the multinational FMCG stocks, there would not be any move to take them out of the index, as they are highly liquid scrips, with high trading volumes and a wide investor base. The performance of these scrips have to be taken over a period, and in that respect, they have been quite consistent.
Whether NIIT would still form part of the index is a matter for debate, as also HCL Technologies. The sources said that HCL would become a part of the index at some point. "If not now, then later," they said. At present, Hindustan Lever has a 15 per cent weight in the index, and the apprehension in market circles is that with the introduction of consistent performers like Satyam and Zee, its weight would be diluted. The committee, which is working with Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) in this respect, is not expected to include scrips are ultra-sensitive to even slight market movements and could cause a huge shift in the index. On this ground alone, Wipro is not expected to be included in the index, the sources said. Another reason for not including this scrip is its low liquidity or availability floating stock, which could lead to a lot of volatility in the index itself.
The last time the index was recast was in early 1999, when Infosys Technologies became part of the Sensex. It now has a weightage of more than 22 per cent in the index.
At the last meeting of the BSE on February 17, Sebi had told the exchange officials to review the Sensex for a possible recast.
Copyright © 2000 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.