The market made a clear reversal today. The fall in prices recorded on Tuesday were more or less recovered today in most of the scrips. Market operators appear to have turned bullish. The question now is will the reversal continue uninterrupted and how far up, in view of the expected announcement of the petro-product price hike.

The Sensex opened at 4167, close to the previous close of 4165. Prices of several scrips shot up in the initial hours, which was however followed by a decline. At one point it looked like the initial bullish signal could turn deceptive. But later, the market picked up and many scrips regained the losses suffered in the previous session.

At the end of the day the signal was clear. The market has made a decisive reversal. In the process, those who were bold to enter the stocks in the earlier part of the trading, stood handsomely rewarded.

The uptrend can now be expected to continue. The stock market is passing through such tumultuous times that it becomes necessary to decide your actions based on market movement from hour to hour monitoring. High rewards go with high risks. This was amply evident today. MTNL had earlier fallen with a gap, which could unnerve most. Today the scrip bounced back giving a gain of 4.73 per cent! This was the reward for being bold to make an entry. Same is the case with HLL which recovered by 6.26 per cent.

Other counters, which rewarded those who were bold to make an early entry, were SAIL (2.33 percent), HPCL (2.8 per cent), Bajaj Auto (2.93 per cent), BHEL (3.37 per cent), and GE Shipping (4.49 per cent). It only goes to prove that without taking measured risks at appropriate time, it will be difficult to make gains.

One would also have to choose the right scrips. ICICI and IDBI slipped down when others were moving up. This could well be due to high gains already posted over the last few weeks. M&M too slipped on similar note. IPCL's slide shows its inherent weakness, though it is steadying for long term investors. SBI too appears tempting to make an entry as it can move up now. Tisco has invited investment support, but Telco continues to drift down. ITC refused to be cowed down futher and is stabilising. BSES is on a steady note. Colgate appears to be removing the apprehension of further slip and could start moving up.

It is buying time once again. Bears have reversed their roles to bulls - if one goes by today's recovery. Will they still make another assault on petro news is something which you have to keep in mind. But there is no way you can hold your action now.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.