The Hindu : Bank shares hog limelight

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Dec 23, 2003

Business

Business

Bank shares hog limelight

MUMBAI DEC. 22. Led by State Bank of India, share values rallied further on the stock exchange today lifting the Sensex by another 36.61 points to close at new 45-1/2 month peak of 5577.96 on hectic buying by foreign funds as well as short-covering by operators.

The rally in SBI was percolated to other banking shares, particularly public sector banks such as Corporation Bank, Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, Oriental Bank of Commerce, PNB, IOB, Union Bank, Vijaya Bank, IDBI Bank, State Bank of Mysore, State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur and State Bank of Travancore, finishing with sharp gains.

The spurt in banking shares was attributed to hopes of better prospects, higher treasury income, recovery of bad debts and increased buying by foreign institutional investors, a dealer said.

Index-based shares such as RIL, Infosys Technologies, Grasim, MTNL, Hindalco, Bajaj Auto, Bharti Tele, BHEL, BSES, Dr. Reddy's Lab, ONGC, Satyam Computer, Tata Power and Tisco also attracted heavy buying and aided the Sensex rise.

The BSE-30 share sensitive index opened moderately higher at 5547.68 against last Friday's close of 5541.35 and later improved further to a high of 5590.45 before concluding at 45-1/2 year high of 5577.96. Last time the Sensex had finished at 5589.85 on March 7, 2000.

Short coverings by operators just three days ahead of the expiry of December contract on Wednesday in the Futures & Options (F&O), in the light of a holiday on Thursday for Christmas, also partly boosted market sentiment, a broker said. — PTI

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Business

News Update

Stories in this Section

HCL divests stake to Perot Systems

SFL spreads wings, buys Dana unit for £1.5 m

Union Bank hikes home loan rates

Thulasidas' bid to make Air India strong

Bank shares hog limelight

Is this spring or Indian summer?