Equities Maintain Low Level

The first day of the current settlement on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) saw the market fluctuating wildly after opening firm in the morning. The 50-share NSE index opened at 975.90, dipped to a low of 965.45, touched a high of 988.40 before closing at 967.95, a loss of 7.30 points.

Market sources said the reports of probable conflict in Iraq saw the market crashing towards the close. There was some amount of buying by the foreign funds initially, however, later the sentiment dampened sending the stock prices tumbling, said an NSE dealer.

The ABB scrip was among the major loser, coming in for heavy selling pressure. It closed at Rs 378.20, a drop of nearly 10 per cent. The company is expected to perform badly as reflected in the stock prices. In fact, the entire industry itself is in doldrums and no revival is round the corner, said a dealer at an institutional brokerage.

 

The exchange clocked a trading turnover of Rs 1,518.43 crore with 5.10 crore share changing hands. The Midcap index also slumped towards the end and it closed at 1,092.25, a drop of 8.35 points over the previous close.

The EIH scrip also slumped before finally closing at Rs 289.15, a drop of 10 per cent. There was good buying in counters like HLL and Ponds. The market was agog with rumours of an HLL bonus issue. The scrip closed at Rs 1,395.50 over its previous close of Rs 1,370, a trading turnover of Rs 74.21 crore.

The Telco scrip also saw good FII buying. The counter witnessed a turnover of Rs 104.67 crore. Telco closed at Rs 225 over its previous close of Rs 222.50. The Glaxo scrip fell on profit booking after having flared up on the merger news. The scrip closed at Rs 369.20 over the previous close of Rs 385.65.

Meanwhile, share prices recovered on the Over The Counter Exchange of India on fresh speculative buying. The composite index opened at 113.84, dipped to a low of 113.74 but recovered to close at 114.07, an increase of 0.23 points from the previous close of 113.84. The total turnover reported during the day was Rs 3.79 crore involving 4,21,030 shares and debentures. PTI