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Partha Pratim Sinha
Mumbai, August 2: The markets on Monday were more-or-less listless with the Bombay Stock Exchange Sensitive Index losing another 48 points. The day's tradiing was marked by heavy off-loading in the public sector counters, led by MTNL. Given the Rs 1600-crore plus net positions and the high badla rates that prevailed during the last three weeks (which was rulling on the higher side of 20 per cent) operators were unwinding their positions on Monday. The supplies, on the other hand, were being met mainly by the domestic institutions. And the FII fund inflows were not very encouraging either - for Friday, the net FII inflow was close to Rs 65 crore.
The MTNL scrip closed the day at Rs 191.40, down Rs 16.60 from its previous close of Rs 208. One FII was reported to have sold close to 10 lakh shares of the telecom major. With general elections round the corner, brokers do not expect any fresh moves from the company. Hence the selling. The total turnover in the counter on the BSE was at Rs 69.55 crore from 35.09 lakh shares. MTNL apart, the other PSU counters which also came in for hammering were SBI, SAIL, HPCL, BPCL and Cochin Refiineries. However, IPCL was able to hold on to its ground and closed at Rs 121.50.
The software stocks, however, were in the limelight again on Monday with the Infosys scrip hitting the upper circuit on the BSE at Rs 5219.
During the day, the Sensex opened higher at 4571.36 points, which was also the day's high and touched the day's low at 4491.84 points. The index closed slightly higher at 4494.18 points, showing a net loss of 48.16 points. On the penultimate day of the current account, the S&P CNX Nifty on the National Stock Exchange on the other hand, opened lower at 1309.85 points and touched the day's high at 1310.80 points. Before closing with a net loss of 20.55 points at 1289.60 points, the index touched the day's low at 1282.85 points.
On the basis of the overbought sitaution, market players expect the Sensex to touch the 4450-level before any fresh buying comes in. ``At the current levels, the market looks overbought and we are expecting it to shed some more of its flab. In the process, the Sensex is expected to touch the 4450-level,'' says Nikunj Modi at Kisan Ratilal Choksey Shares and securities. According to Rajiv Sampat at Parag Parikh Financial Advisory Services, ``given the overbought situaton, we are going to see only selective buying on Tuesday.''
According to market players, apart from the software stocks, Ranbaxy was one of the pivotals which attracted good buying interest. Among others, Bombay Dyeing and Crompton Greaves also witnessed substantial buying interest. After the companies from the cyclical sectors rolled out not so impressive results for the quarter ended June 1999, the market is taking a second look at these stocks. On Monday, almost all the cement stocks, including ACC, L&T and Gujarat Ambuja Cement, came in for heavy selling pressure.
However, among the side counters, Sundaram Fastners, Cheminor Drugs, Rolta India, Silverline, Yogogawa Bluestar and Tata Honneywell attracted buying interests.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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