The Hindu : Business : Reliance stocks lift Sensex to all time high

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jun 21, 2005

Business

Business

Reliance stocks lift Sensex to all time high

Oommen A. Ninan

Benchmark index crosses 7000-mark; oil stocks in limelight

MUMBAI: Giving thumbs-up to the broad settlement on responsibilities agreed upon by the feuding Ambani brothers — Mukesh and Anil — in the Reliance group, stock prices of the group companies surged on Monday and the Sensex closed at an all time high.

Technology, metal, pharmaceutical and oil stocks too aided the rise in indices.

However, oil stocks were trading in a volatile manner after the announcement of petrol and diesel price hikes. The government has raised the domestic price of petrol by Rs. 2.50 a litre and diesel by Rs. 2 a litre, effective June 21, while LPG and kerosene prices were unchanged. Oil stocks moved up in early stages, which helped the benchmark, Bombay Stock Exchange 30-share sensitive index (Sensex) to reach its historic peak, crossing the psychological barrier of 7000. However it closed below 7000 at 6984.55, which is 78.03 points higher over the previous close. It touched an intra-day peak of 7001.55.

"The market has run up sharply over the past few days. However, global factors still remain a matter of concern. A cautious approach by investors at this point of time is required and may be investors should enter after a correction", said Ved Prakash Chaturvedi, Managing Director, Tata Mutual Fund. According to him, investors also need to distinguish between the midcap segment and the larger cap segment. Since the rise in the midcap segment has been significant and swift, greater caution is warranted in midcap oriented investing. ``Overall, investors should come in cautiously at these levels."

Among the Reliance group stocks, the Mukesh Ambani controlled Reliance Industries went up by around five per cent to Rs. 630.90 and IPCL by 3.95 per cent to Rs. 167.50.

However, the Anil Ambani controlled companies gained more sharply with Reliance Energy moving up by 11.33 per cent to Rs. 658.25. Reliance Capital was the biggest gainer among Reliance group stocks with a 25.94 per cent jump to Rs. 296.90.

Technology shares also went up because of higher buying interest.

The gain was led by Infosys by 3.79 per cent to Rs. 2,375.50, Satyam 3.49 per cent to Rs. 503.50, TCS 2.34 per cent to Rs. 1,296.55 and Wipro 1.53 per cent to Rs. 754.95.

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