The Hindu : Equities stage smart recovery

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jan 20, 2004

Business

Business

Equities stage smart recovery

MUMBAI, JAN. 19. After a sharp correction, stocks bounced back with a vengeance, lifting the Sensex by 118 points at close in hectic activity on Bombay Stock Exchange on Monday on revival of buying support from institutional investors.

The market had witnessed a sharp correction of 248 points in the last two sessions when FIIs, the key driving force, suddenly slowed down activity.

Riding piggyback on a dramatic re-entry of FIIs, the BSE benchmark 30-share index that had fallen to the intra-day low at 5870.99 at early stages, later rallied sharply and ended at 6064.10 against last Friday's close of 5946.19, netting a whopping rise of 117.91 points or 1.98 per cent.

FIIs were believed to have made all-round purchases with their focus on index-based stocks. FIIs reportedly were heavy net buyers in index-based counters in the third quarter of the fiscal having made 75 per cent of their net investments in Sensex stocks during October-December 2003. uying was so intensive that operators ignored reports about huge outstanding positions in the futures and options segment on the National Stock Exchange and rushed to cover their short positions.

FIIs inflow was mainly attributed to the market's very good value in terms of corporate earnings and strong economic fundamentals.

The broadbased BSE-100 index also flared up by 54.36 points to 3186.22 from 3131.86. Tata Motor, Tisco, ITC, ICICI Bank, HDFC, Hero Hondaand Bajaj Auto were prominent gainers. — PTI

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