Reliance Hogs Limelight On Bonus Meet Reports

Reports of an impending bonus issue by Reliance strengthened trading sentiment on the BSE yesterday. The Sensex closed at 4088.98, a gain of 6.48 points over the previous close of 4082.50.

Activity remained concentrated in key pivotals with Reliance leading the pack. The scrip opened the day at Rs 320.50 and touched an intra- day low of Rs 318.50. As soon as the market got wind of the news that the Reliance board would be meeting shortly to discuss the bonus issue, the scrip flared up to Rs 343. The scrip finally closed at Rs 340.50, gaining Rs 20.50 over the previous close.

The SBI scrip, currently in its no-delivery period on the BSE, witnessed hectic activity on account of its results yesterday. Leading brokers said that SBIs net profit of Rs 1332 crore was in tune with the market expectations. The scrip shot up to Rs 343 immediately after the results were announced but fell to Rs 339 at close on account of profit-taking, a gain of Re 1 over the previous close of Rs 338.

Tisco continued to move up on sustained FII purchase with the scrip gaining Rs 2.75 to close at Rs 196. ITC was the only exception among the key pivotals with the scrip losing Rs 4.75 over the previous close to end at Rs 492.25. The BSE Sensex opened at 4077.81, touched an intra-day high of 4102.09, fell to a low of 4046.49 before ending the day at 4088.98. The BSE-100 also edged up by 2.87 points to 1754.13 from 1751.26 previously. The BSE-200 and the Dollex gained by 0.11 and 0.10 at 388.43 and 180.54 points respectively.

GE Shipping, Glaxo, Tata Chem, Arvind Mills, Dr Reddys Lab, Reckitt & Colman and Siemens also recorded moderate gains. Operators were expecting a technical correction as the market, which had witnessed continued upward trend, was in an overbought position.