Mumbai, Dec 1: Trading on Wednesday was marked by wild intra-day swings anda surge in volumes in the absence of any direction from key Sensex-basedscrips. Punters marked the leading software stocks for trading resulting insharp volatility in these counters. The turnover on BSE shot up to anall-time high of Rs 4204 crore, jumping up from yesterday's Rs 3098 crore.Fluctuations in Satyam Computers and Infosys Technologies were pronouncedduring the day. The Satyam counter saw a sudden gain pulling the stockcloser to the upper circuit. This was followed by a Rs 500 gain in theInfosys counter. Some other software scrips too followed suit. But duringthe end of the day's trading, most of these counters were down, some evenclosing with net loss over their respective previous closes.
However, during the day the benchmark indices moved in a narrow band, withthe BSE Sensex closing 7 points down at 4614.96. But the S&P CNX Nifty onthe NSE went up by 12.60 points to close at 1388.75 points on the first dayof the new settlement on the NSE. According to market players, marketvolatility during Wednesday's trading has also resulted in some decline inthe net outstandings which had crossed the Rs 3000 crore mark on Tuesday.
According to dealers, the first half an hour witnessed huge selling pressurein the software counters like Satyam and Pentafour. However, the scenariochanged completely when Satyam showed a Rs 200 rally between 10.20 am and11.30 am. Around five lakh shares changed hands during this period. Theimpact on the other counters was predictable. Pentafour, Digital Equipment,Infosys, NIIT, Silverline, Himachal Futuristic, and Global Tele alsowitnessed good buying. However, during the last one hour of the day, most ofthe software scrips lost their earlier gains.
In fact, a large number of stocks showed a lower close. The impact onsmaller stocks was severe. For instance, Advent Computers, LCC Infotech,Aftek Infosys, Lee&Nee Software, Citicorp, KLG Systel, Zenith Computers,BSEL Info, and Mastek showed remarkable losses. Aptech, SSI, and KaleConsultants were the few counters which showed impressive gains.
However, Sensex-based counters remained dull. On the closing basis, HLL,Infosys, NIIT, ITC, Reliance and SBI showed marginal moves. The Sensexopened at 4609.66, and touched a high of 4667.02 points.
The low for the day was at 4593.47 points while the close was at 4612.81points, showing a net fall of 7.25 points. However, advances outnumbereddeclines; 998 stocks were up, while 834 declined. Around 144 stocks remainedunchanged.
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