Even as Asia?s stock markets continued their downward journey on Thursday in the wake of the Euro zone crisis, domestic bourses bucked the trend following a sharp rise in the share price of ONGC.
This helped the 30-share Sensex of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) to end the trading session at 16,519.68, gaining 111 points or 0.68%. Similarly, the broader 50-share Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) ended the day at 4,947.60 points, up 0.57% or 28 points. ONGC, which has a weight-age of 3.75% in the index, rose 8.7% contributing 52 points to the overall 111 point Sensex gain.
Bank of America ? Merrill Lynch in its note sent to its clients upgraded ONGC?s FY 2011-12 EPS by 10-13% after the government on Wednesday approved price hike in gas produced by ONGC from nominated field by 113% to $ 4.2/mmBtu. ?Some progress on reducing oil subsidies is also possible in FY 11E, which would mean even more upside to earnings,? the report said.
However, the broader market remained weak throughout the day with 57% of the stocks traded on BSE ending in losses as overseas investors continued to dump equities in emerging markets. Majority of Asian equity indices too closed in the red with Nikkei 225 sliding 1.5%, its lowest closing in last three months. While South Korea?s Kospi fell 1.83%, key benchmark equity indices in China, Indonesia and Singapore dropped 1.23%, 1.29% and 0.76% respectively. At 7.30 pm, even the US market was in the red ? Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.7%.
?It is just a technical bounce back,? said Gopal Agarwal, head of equity, Mirae Asset Management Company. ?The rally in the domestic market was following gas price hike by the government. signaling its commitment to reforms. However, the broader sentiment still remains weak on Euro zone developments,? he said. The provisional data by stock exchange shows that foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 657.23 crore on Thursday after selling over Rs 1,380 crore worth of shares the previous day.
The NSE derivative segment registered a turnover of Rs 1.02 lakh crore, down 25% from the previous day?s turnover of Rs 1.36 lakh crore. The NSE cash segment too witnessed a lower turnover of Rs 13,347 crore compared to Rs 15,542 crore registered the previous day.
SJVN shares down 3.9% on Day
Shares of state-owned SJVN made its debut on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) on a disappointing note on Thursday. The stock, after listing at a premium of over 4% on the NSE, finally ended the day at Rs 25; down 3.9% compared to its issue price of Rs 26 per share. Around 13.53 crore shares changed hands at the NSE, generating a turnover of Rs 344 crore.
