New Delhi, Feb 10: It's infotech all the way on the bourses. The reach of the newfound investor craze is not just confined to the top few IT companies. It is evident in the small and the not-so-small. So much so, today bourse business means IT business. IT stocks dominate the business in the B1 and B2 group of the Bombay Stock Exchange. Currently, the IT scrips account for at least half of the turnover on the exchange in these two groups every day.In the B2 group nearly 75 per cent of the total turnover comes from this segment, which is attracting investors in hordes. On Wednesday, while there were 12 infotech stocks among the top 15 stocks in the B1 group, in the B2 group there were 11 stocks among the top 15 in terms of turnover.
On Wednesday the combined turnover of 12 IT stocks contributed 69 per cent of the B1 group's Rs 163.84 crore turnover. But for a few scrips, the entire trading in the B2 group came from the IT segment. They accounted for over 75.55 per cent of the group's Rs 15.13 croreturnover.
Though in group A the share of IT stocks is around a third of the total turnover, the toppers are usually from the software sector. On Wednesday the two software scrips alone, Pentafour Software and Satyam Computers, accounted for nearly one-third of the total turnover of the whole group. While the total turnover in group A was Rs 1380 crore, the two infotech stocks jointly contributed Rs 425.32 crore.
The BSE turnover figures for the last ten days reflects a more or less similar trend. In the B1 and B2 groups, the combined turnover of the IT stocks accounted for between 50 per cent and 75 per cent of the total group turnover on every trading day. This has been the result of the investor focus shifting to anything even distantly related to software.
During the last seven trading days, Silverline, Aptech and HCL Infosystems, all B1 stocks, have recorded substantial volumes figuring among the top 15 stocks from the group. Among the other IT regulars in the top 15 list were Rolta India, MaarsSoftware and RS Software.
Among the B2 scrips, PSI Data Systems, SRG Infotech and the new entrant Sonata Software frequent the top 15 turnover list. Sonata Software was listed on the bourses very recently and the investor apetite for the stock is quite clear in the fact that the scrip is registering large volumes on BSE everyday.
Citi Corp Securities, which is seen by the market as a new entrant to the software business, also turns in substantial volume on the bourse to feature in the list quite frequently. Sunstar Software and Minisoft also figure prominently in the top 15 turnover list.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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