The current buying in equities on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) appears to be more investment-oriented than speculative given the upturn in delivery-based trades.
From an average 15 per cent of NSE's total turnover during the last week of September, the average delivery-based trades has risen to more than 20 per cent for the week ended December 7.
The turnover for the week ended December 7 was Rs 2,673 crore, which translates into an average daily turnover of Rs 535 crore. While for the week ended September 28, it was Rs 1,992 crore with an average daily turnover of Rs 299 crore.
Improved sentiments saw delivery-based trades peak on November 26, accounting for 24.06 per cent of NSE's total turnover. On that day, the turnover was Rs 2,629 crore on the NSE, which meant that delivery trading accounted for Rs 631 crore.
It was the lowest on October 26, accounting for just 6.11 per cent of the exchange's turnover, that is, Rs 132 crore of the total turnover of Rs 3,204 crore.
After the introduction of rolling settlement from July 2 , total delivery-based trades dipped below 20 per cent. From an average of 23 per cent of the total volume in May it dropped to 19.5 per cent in August, to 18.9 per cent in September and 17.6 per cent in October.
During 2000-01, delivery-based trading had declined to 16.50 per cent from 20.42 per cent of total traded volume. Of the total 3041.96 crore shares traded during the year, just 502.03 shares saw deliveries. As operators became more active during the period, just 1 per cent of the total volume culminated into delivery.
From an average 14 per cent of the volume in January 2001, delivery trades increased to 19 per cent in February, followed by 27 per cent in March and 35 per cent in April.
The turnover on NSE has doubled over the last two months from an average daily Rs 1,500 crore recorded in September to Rs 3,000 crore in the current month. Turnover on the exchange surpassed Rs 4,000 crore after nine months since March to Rs 4,338 crore on Thursday.