Mumbai, Jan 29: The impact of the worst-ever earthquake in the country was also witnessed in the stock markets on Monday with stock prices falling sharply. After opening low in the morning, some recovery was witnessed in the later part of the day due to some value buying, especially in cement counters. The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex opened sharply lower at 4158.86 but quickly recovered to 4262.76, which was the day's high, and later fluctuated narrowly before closing at 4234.57 as against last Thursday's close of 4330.22, netting a fall of 95.65 points or 2.21 per cent. At the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the S&P CNX Nifty also witnessed a similar trend and closed 28.05 points lower at 1,342.05.The worst affected were the stocks of companies which had their plants in Gujarat. Among the list included Ahmedabad-based detergant company Nirma. The share of the company fell by 6 per cent to Rs 640, GNFC was also down by 8.3 per cent to Rs 28.10, Gujarat Gas closed at Rs 646.5, fall of 4.5 per cent. Index-based Reliance Petro dropped by 4.55 per cent to end the day at Rs 62.95. Other Gujarat-based companies whose stock prices fell included denim major Arvind Mills, petrochemical company IPCL, Gujarat Industrial Power and Gujarat Lyka.
Dealers said the mood in the market was grim after the earthquake and until the exact loss is estimated the mood is expected to remain dull. In addition, the long positions from the Gujarat-based brokers had also dampened the mood, they said.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIS) suddenly broke their long string of net investments that had started from the very first day of the new year and remained silent spectators as the devastating quake was feared to have an adverse impact on the economy.
Though Indian financial institutions (IFIS) attempted to mitigate the damage by picking up select old economy stocks, speculators were reportedly squaring up positions by heavily selling off net outstandings.
Attributing the unloading to speculation about surcharge on direct and indirect taxes in the budget, dealers said operators lightened commitments considering major chunk of investments in forward trading was from quake-affected Gujarat.
On a dull day when the volume was also low, Crompton Greaves was the major gainer by 9.71 per cent to close at Rs 29.95 followed by Ashok Leyland by 7.83 per cent at Rs 49.55 in the wake of improved financial results. Other in the gainers list included HDFC, Nestle, CMC, Colgate Palmolive.
Copyright © 2001 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
