Sensex Up 106 Pts On Buying Support

Major stock indices rallied yesterday on account of support from domestic institutions and banks coupled with sporadic buying by FIIs. However, the volumes at both the exchanges remained thin with the NSE clocking a meagre turnover of Rs 816.68 crore while BSE registered a turnover of Rs 622.20 crore.

The 30-share BSE sensex closed at the the day's high level of 3143.63 points, a gain of 106.30 points or 3.4 per cent. Market sources indicated that there was a marked improvement in the sentiments which pushed up the stock prices.

The other reasons, which the marketmen indicated for yesterday's rally, was the propping up of net asset value (NAV) by the private mutual funds and other funds which report NAVs at the end of the first quarter.

"The overseas selling has subsided to some extent which also mproved the sentiments. This apart, the discount to GDR prices has narrowed down considerably indicating that the market should stabilise at these levels," informed a dealer with an institutional brokerage.

The 50-share NSE index closed at 908.50 a gain of 32.90 points over its previous close of 875.60 points. The Nifty Junior gained 71.20 points to close at 1292.45 points.

There was across the board buying at the software stocks which pushed up the prices of these stocks. Marketmen said that a US-based fund is reported to have made purchases at MTNL, BSES, BHEL while other US funds were reported to have made purchases at the software counters.

Among the major gainers were, Pentafour Software which hit the upper end of the price band at both the exchanges. At the NSE iPentafour closed at Rs 479.60 over its previous close of Rs 436.05 , DSQ Software closed at Rs 179.35, gain of 10 per cent, Satyam Computer closed at Rs 345.20, a gain of 10 per cent, Infosys Technologies closed at Rs 2284.55 (previous close of Rs 2135.10). The foreign funds are also reported to have made purchases at HLL and Nestle counter yesterday. The HLL witnessed a turnover of Rs 17.51 crore at the NSE and it closed at Rs 1474.35 over its previous close of Rs 1414.25.