Bank Share Prices Record Gains On Buying Support

After a smart rally, speculatives generally reacted partially on the last day of the current settlement on the Bombay Stock Exchange yesterday on late selling pressure and absence of institutional support.

The BSE sensitive index rose sharply to 3812.63 in the early trade but later fell back substantially to close at 3769.34 as against previous close of 3753.50, showing a small rise of 15.84 points. The BSE-100 index gained 7.42 points at 1619.57 from 1612.15 on Wednesday.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) and domestic institutions preferred to wait and watch the developments on the political front as key leaders of some of the parties in the coalition government led by the prime minister, Inder Humar Gujral, had been facing corruption charges by the Central Bureau of Investigation.

 

However, operators covered their short positions at the ending session in several scrips and as a result Bombay Suburban Electric Supply, Bhel, Hind Lever, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd, Ranbaxy, Dr Reddys Lab, Esab India, Hero Honda, HDFC, Tata Tea and Lakme scored impressive gains.

Bank shares attracted good buying support and recorded handsome gains. ICICI spurted further on sustained interest.

The main cause of concern was the impending petro price hike which the marketmen felt would be substantial in the light of the swelling oil pool deficit estimated at Rs 15,500 crore at the end of the last fiscal. Century showed further sharp fall on selling pressure as the market was disappointed by its dismal performance last year.

The total turnover on the BSE was reported at Rs 500.15 crore. State Bank of India stood first in the list of turnover by registering highest of Rs 166.06 crore, followed by ITC Rs 65.99 crore, Reliance Rs 43.12 crore, Tisco Rs 22.24 crore and Telco Rs 15.56 crore.