MUMBAI, February 19: Pivotals staged a modest rally on the Bombay Stock Exchange Thursday following fresh buying by the foreign institutional investors (FIIs) including back up support by local speculators. The BSE Sensitive gained 36 points. Resuming better, a few scrips advanced further as the session progressed. Sensex started better at 3414.59 and rose to the 3446.33, before finishing at 3437.64 points as compared to the previous closing of 3401.88 points. The BSE-100 index improved by 14.48 points to 1479.63 from previous close of 1465.15.Brokers said trading in Lakme and Indal has to be halted because both the scrips have breached the 25 per cent weekly ceiling of movement. While Lakme lost ground steadily with more than two lakh shares on offer, Indal has gone up following Sterlite's takeover offer of Rs 90. Brokers added the weekly sentiment was boosted in view of fresh interest shown by the foreign funds. The FIIs have reportedly purchased pivotals like L&T, BSES, MTNL, ITC, and P&G. Domesticinstitutions have also made fresh purchases in blue chips like Colgate, Telco, and Bajaj Auto. Analysts say the market will fluctuate in the range in the coming days till the formation of a new Government and most of operators were keeping their position with in the limits.
On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), prices improved further marginally on continued buying support from financial institutions and common investors. The NSE-50 opened at 988.95 and closed 997.55 showing a net gain of 8.70 points. The total turnover on the exchange was Rs 1,149.82 crore.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
