Following the sharp surge in equity markets over the past few days, there are indications that the government may now examine the role of promoter groups. Top officials of the government have described the rise in the benchmark index as too steep. ?Maybe promoters are behind it,? one official commented on Wednesday in New Delhi.
The official refused to disclose what steps could be in store. Meanwhile, finance minister P Chidambaram refused to comment on the markets? movements.
The markets in Mumbai, however, shrugged off these concerns and continued to surge on the back of positive global cues and strong liquidity from FIIs. The 30-share Sensex of the BSE followed up yesterday?s record-breaking session by surging another 378.01 points, or 1.90%, to close the day at a new high of 18,658.25 points, after touching an all-time high of 18,703.67 points.
The broader S&P CNX Nifty of the NSE ended the day at 5,441.45 points, gaining 114.2 points, or 2.14%. Clearly, the Sensex has now set its sights on the 20,000 mark.
Among the sectoral indices, the BSE IT index rose 3.25%, or 158.82 points, to 5,049 points ahead of Infosys Technologies? second quarter results due on Thursday.
?Though concerns still remain on the rupee front, earnings may not be that bad as was expected previously. The market would be certainly looking for guidance from technology companies from their second quarter results. Easing of political tensions and the expectation of a further interest rate cut by the US Fed had buoyed overall sentiment,? said a dealer with a leading domestic brokerage firm.
BSE Capital Goods index was the biggest gainer, up 696.91 points, or 4.37%, at 16,631.35 points. Market breadth was marginally negative, with 1,417 stocks declining compared to 1,325 stocks that had advanced. Among the Sensex pack, 24 stocks advanced while six ended the day in the red.