Sensex Gains Marginally On Fi Selling Pressure

Profit booking at higher levels on the Bombay Stock Exchange yesterday saw the Sensex take a breather after crossing the 3900 mark early in the day. It ended the day at 3873.85, up 12.43 points over the previous days close.

The Reliance scrip was the star performer of the day with 75.49 lakh shares worth Rs 234 crore changing hands. The scrip gained Rs 7 to end the day at Rs 311.

Marketmen informed that domestic institutions, led by UTI, were selling heavily in the market in order to meet their redemption demands. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs), however, were restricting their purchases to selective scrips, they added.

The Sensex opened at 3863.38, touched an intra-day high of 3901.45, fell to a low of 3852.30 before edging

up to 3873.85 at close. In the specified group, Glaxo was the major gainer with the scrip closing at Rs 343.50, a gain of Rs 12 over the last close. The scrip touched its 52 week high of Rs 349.75 during intra-day trading.

Raymond continued its downward trend following poor results with the scrip hitting the lower end of the circuit filter at Rs 54.75, which was also its 52-week low.

SPIC witnessed a spurt in trading volumes on newspaper reports that the group was planning to get out of its controversial petrochemical ventures. The scrip price however remained unchanged despite 3.79 lakh shares changing hands.

Bajaj Auto firmed up by Rs 6.50 to Rs 895.00, ITC gained by Rs 5 to Rs 485, Reliance up by Rs 7 to Rs 311, Telco by Rs 3 to Rs 404 and Tisco by Rs 0.25 to Rs 174 while the State Bank of India (new) declined by Rs 1.75 to Rs 319.75, ACC eased by Rs 26 to Rs 1178 and BSES moved down by Rs 0.50 to Rs 237.50.

In the B group, the major gainers of the day were CMC and Blue Star with both the scrips hitting the upper end of the circuit filter.