Sensex up 33 pts despite profit-booking

Confusing global cues, fall in exports prove a damper.

The Bombay Stock Exchange Sensitive Index, or Sensex, gave up most of its gains made in the morning on profit-booking but still managed to close higher by 30 points.

Market players said weak European indices led to profit-taking, leading the Sensex to give up most of the 251 points it had gained in the morning.

After swinging wildly on confusing cues from Asian and European bourses, the index settled at 16,216.86, a rise of 0.21 per cent over the previous day’s close.

Brokers attributed the firm opening to positive Asian cues on the back of a surge in US stocks yesterday. They said sustained buying by foreign institutional investors (FIIs) kept the market upbeat in initially. FIIs have bought shares worth Rs 2,417.96 crore in the last three days, according to provisional data.

Besides Shanghai Composite index, other Asian indices such as Hang Seng, Nikkei, Straits Times, Kospi and Taiwan Weighted ended up by 1-2 per cent.

The European markets, after opening firm, traded narrowly with a downward bias with investors waiting a decision by the Bank of England on interest rates later in the day. France and the UK were down while Germany was slightly up.

Fall in exports for the 11th straight month in August due to the continuing slump in global demand also put pressure on the market in the later part of the day.

Meanwhile, inflation rose marginally to minus 0.12 per cent for the week ended August 29 from minus 0.21 per cent in the previous week.

The broader 50-share Nifty of the National Stock Exchange edged up by 5.15 points, or 0.11 per cent, to 4,819.40.

From the Sensex pack, ICICI Bank rose 3.12 per cent, Sterlite Ind 2.51 per cent, Tata Steel 2.27 per cent, Infosys Tech 1.92 per cent and Bharti Airtel 1.81 per cent.

However, DLF dropped 2.27 per cent, Hero Honda 2.45 per cent, Jaipra Asso 2.25 per cent, Hindalco 2.05 per cent.

Among sectoral indices, the BSE Metal rose 1.23 per cent and Bankex 1.01 per cent. The BSE Realty, however, dipped 2.26 per cent and the BSE-CD 1.58 per cent.

The market breadth continued to show weakness as 1,710 counters ended with losses as against 1,093 gainers on the BSE, a result of selling in second-line stocks.

The trading volume was high at Rs 6,720.80 crore from Rs 6,249.54 crore on Wednesday. RNRL topped the list of the highest traded securities with a turnover of Rs 277.58 crore.