Share Prices Tumble In Kerb Trade
Kerb trading continued late into the night yesterday, with pivotals crashing well below their days close, as reports of the impending doom for the Gowda government poured in from Delhi.
A governing board member of the Bombay Stock Exchange told Business Standard that the market might shed as many as 200 points. There is a deadlock at the Centre and a combination to form a new coalition seems unlikely, he said.
Around 0030 hrs today, Reliance Industries slumped to Rs 252, plunging Rs 17.50 from yesterdays close of Rs 269.50 on BSE.
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ITC also suffered a setback to touch Rs 380, down Rs 15.75 from the official close of Rs 395.75.
State Bank of India was another pivotal that lost ground. The stock shed about 5 per cent of the value to touch Rs 260, against the BSE close of Rs 277.50.
During the day, prices fluctuated sharply. The 30-share BSE sensitive index opened at 3573.97 points, touched an intra-day high of 3644.24, but later fell slightly to close at 3633.73, a gain of 34.36 points over the previous close of 3598.37.
Nifty, the NSE-50 index, opened at 993.30, touched an intra-day high of 1017.20, a low of 985.65 and closed at 1013.40, five points above the previous close.
The key issue is whether the budget will be passed. Its almost become an independent issue, said Rupa Bose, a strategist at Paribas Capital Markets in Singapore.
The head of a local broking firm said: People are taking speculative positions based on their perception of the unfolding situation.
A news agency flash at 1.43 pm, which spoke of a consensus candidate being found by the Congress and the United Front, perked up the market and the Sensex rose 81 points in the next 15-20 minutes from 3,563 to an intra-day high of 3,644 points.
If the parties reach a consensus, it will be very good for the market, said Ketan Jhaveri, chief dealer at Kotak Securities, the Indian partner of Goldman Sachs.
Bombay Stock Exchange witnessed trading in shares worth Rs 611.03 crore. The A group dominated the trade, with volumes touching Rs 592.39 crore. The National Stock Exchange witnessed trading in 5.55 crore shares, worth Rs 1441.74 crore.