The Hindu : Business : Sensex soars 162 points

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, May 25, 2004

Business

Business

Sensex soars 162 points

MUMBAI, MAY 24. The market welcomed the appointment of P. Chidambaram as Finance Minister and the Sensex soared 162 points at close even as operators and domestic financial institutions made hectic purchases following clear indications that the process of economic reforms would be carried forward by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA).

Led by IT bellwether Infosys Technologies, IT stocks hogged the limelight scoring impressive gains on the back of heavy buying support throughout the session.

As a result, the BSE Benchmark 30-share index opened firm at 4993.45 and gradually moved upwards to the intra-day high of 5132.90 before ending at 5123.23 against last Friday's close of 4961.57, a net rise of whopping 161.66 points or 3.25 per cent.

The statement by Mr. Chidambaram after the midsession that the Indian economy was in a resilient mode and his priority would be to consolidate the growth momentum with special emphasis on agriculture, manufacturing and employment came as a shot in the arm for the market which had already turned optimistic on the government's commitment on reforms.

Investors turned so confident that they discounted the anti-privatisation passage in the draft Common Minimum Programme of the UPA Government which said strategic PSUs such as ONGC, GAIL, HPCL, BPCL, NTPC, SAIL and BHEL and other profit-making PSUs would not be privatised and others would be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Brokers attributed a sharp upsurge in Infosys Technologies to hectic buying ahead of its book closure for dividend on May 28, saying that investors bought heavily in the counter in a bid to take advantage before the share turned ex-dividend.

Sentiment was largely influenced by the appointment of Mr. Chidambaram, who had presented a `dream budget' in February 1997 in the United Front Government, brokers added.

Enthused by the development, operators were believed to have squared up positions, particularly in Infosys, in the Futures and Options ahead of the expiry of May contract on Thursday. The BSE-100 index spurted sharply by 83.98 points to 2722.09. The volume of business was high at Rs. 1,827.93 crores against Rs. 1,820.91 crores last Friday.

PTI

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