The Hindu : Business : Stocks close with net gains

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Apr 26, 2004

Business

Business

Stocks close with net gains

THE BOURSES witnessed sustained purchases by domestic mutual funds and financial institutions last week on the back of the exit poll predictions. The market overcame early pressures in the form of profit booking by investors ahead of the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections on April 20 and later witnessed a smart rally. The rally was also aided by encouraging quarterly performance of some major companies. However, at the fag end of the week profit taking by operators and retailers pared earlier gains in blue chip stocks.

The Sensex extended its winning streak to the fifth week in a row and gained 1.09 per cent. In the week to April 24, the BSE benchmark 30-share index fluctuated in a wide range between 5979.25 and 5765.38 before ending at 5925.58 against the previous weekend close of 5861.63, a net rise of 63.95 points. The broadbased BSE-100 index shot up by 40.12 points to close at 3181.59.

On the National Stock Exchange, the S&P CNX Nifty and CNX Nifty Junior rose by 24.35 points and 11.10 points respectively to close at 1892.45 and 1485.90.

During the week, the volumes on the BSE and the NSE were relatively high at Rs. 11,115 crores and Rs. 25,655 crores against Rs. 10,687 crores and Rs. 22,572 crores earlier.

Banking stocks continued their good run on expectations of encouraging quarterly numbers. The sector, which had been buoyant in the earlier week following the Supreme Court judgment in favour of lending institutions on the Securitisation Act, attracted some profit booking. State Bank of India, HDFC Bank, Union Bank of India, Andhra Bank, Corporation Bank and Syndicate Bank finished stronger.

ICICI Bank surged on Friday on fresh buying by foreign institutional investors after the Reserve Bank of India on Thursday allowed fresh buying in the stock by FIIs without its prior approval. Tech stocks such as Infosys, Wipro and Satyam Computers finished lower.

Pharma stocks attracted defensive buying interest. Ranbaxy, Cipla and Burroughs Wellcome closed with decent gains. Despite the announcement of a 1:1 bonus issue, shares of Sun Pharmaceuticals witnessed selling. Dishman Pharma, listed on the BSE on April 22, was the week's star performer, fluctuating wildly before ending at Rs. 542 against the issue price of Rs. 175. It clocked the highest turnover of 48 lakh shares on the same day. However, it beat a hasty retreat the following day on speculation that it may be shifted to the trade-to-trade segment on the exchanges.

Automobile stocks were among the major gainers. Maruti Udyog went up on fresh demand. Mahindra & Mahindra has signed a strategic business partnership deal with State Bank of India. Tata Motors saw selective buying after the company announced that it has decided to issue foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs) aggregating $400 million in the international markets.

Power stocks, after the recent rise, were down on profit booking. Reliance Energy, Power Trading and Tata Power continued to lose ground. Steel stocks were in the limelight. The Tisco counter witnessed select buying interest. The company has informed that it will be publishing its audited financial results for 2003-04 before the end of June. Other winners included SAIL and JISCO.

Cement and fertilizer stocks gained significant ground on hopes of a normal monsoon this year. L&T was the star performer after the High Court approved the demerger of its cement business.

Among result driven, Bharti Tele-Ventures surged on Friday after it reported excellent results.

The FIIs reported net investments of Rs. 1,750 crores in the first four sessions of the week.

The market will remain closed on Monday on account of second phase of general elections in Mumbai.

Rupee breaches $44 barrier

Breaching the crucial 44 per dollar barrier, the Indian rupee continued to reel under pressure on sustained dollar demand amidst lingering concerns of a cash dollar shortage, but late exporter dollar sales and offloading of huge overbought dollar positions by banks ahead of a long holiday weekend partly limited losses. The rupee ended at 44.03/04 a dollar, a whopping 17 paise decline from the previous weekend levels of 43.87/89, though much higher than the lows of 44.22/24 struck in early deals on Friday. A recovery of nearly 11 paise on the last session due to late exporter dollar sales and unwinding of long dollar position, helped the rupee cut sharp losses.

Interest rates steady

Interest rates remained steady last week. The ten year government security was traded at 5.07 per cent and the five year security at 4.72 per cent. The year-on-year inflation remained unchanged at 4.40 per cent on April 10.

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