The Hindu : Business : Initial gains not held on BSE

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Aug 04, 2004

Business

Business

Initial gains not held on BSE

MUMBAI, AUG. 3. Late profit selling at higher levels snapped the three-session gaining streak and the Sensex eased by 7.90 points to close at 5194.63 on the Bombay Stock Exchange here on Tuesday. The volume of business improved substantially and the undertone remained positive.

Share prices resumed on a firm note and rallied further on revival of monsoon in most parts of the country.

However, profit-booking at the fag end, mainly by operators, erased initial gains and even some index-based counters ended with losses, impacting the Sensex negatively, dealers said.

Soaring international crude oil prices that touched a new historic high of $44 a barrel also partly affected market sentiment, they added.

The BSE-30 share sensitive index opened higher at 5213.55 against 5202.53 and moved up further to a high of 5242.15. Later, it met with strong resistance and dropped to a low of 5181.99 before concluding at 5194.63. The broadbased BSE-100 index also eased by 1.60 points to 2767.

Sharp to moderate decline in BHEL, Bajaj Auto, HDFC Bank, Hero Honda, Hindalco, ICICI Bank, ITC, MUL, ONGC, RIL, SBI and Wipro mainly weighed on the Sensex negatively. Smart rise in Grasim, ACC, GACL, HPCL, Infosys, Satyam Computer, Tata Motors and Tisco, however, cushioned the Sensex fall to minimum level, dealers said.

On the other side, cement stocks continued their northward journey on consistent buying support.

The volume of business rose sharply to Rs. 2,007.68 crores from Rs. 1,561.04 crores. Tisco remained the top traded share with the highest turnover of Rs. 224.98 crores.

— PTI

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