A lot of action was witnessed at the country's major stock markets in the week ended January 17. Many of the blue-chip scrips were in the limelight for various reasons.
Among the most prominent stocks that witnessed volatile price movements included the ITC scrip.
The stock touched its 52-week highs for five trading sessions in a row at the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and for three sessions in a row at the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).
The scrip also witnessed some massive volumes being traded on the major exchanges during the week.
The stock touched a high of Rs 432.75 during the week at the BSE and Rs 438.50 at the NSE. These prices continue to be the 52-week highs for the scrip in the respective exchanges.
Among the reasons attributed by market circles for the soaring volumes and the massive spurt in the ITC stock are consistent buying in the counter by a leading foreign institutional investor fund and heavy interest by a leading BSE broker. But the most widely held reasoning for the spurt among dealers is the heavy positions taken by speculators in the scrip.
The scrip price, after having closed at the end of the previous week at Rs 345.75 and Rs 345.85 at the BSE and the NSE respectively, opened higher at the opening session of the week on Monday at around Rs 348 at both the major bourses.
The same session saw the stock touch a new high for the first time during the week at Rs 363 and Rs 363.75 at the BSE and the NSE. In the next trading session, the stock closed on the BSE at Rs 381, the day's high and which was also the new high. At NSE, the new high was Rs 384.95, while the volumes traded in the stock were 1,46,33,000 number of shares with a value of Rs 5.46 lakh at the same exchange.
On January 16, the day when the stock exchanges in the country saw some frenzied trading activity with the Sensex soaring by over 154 points above the previous close, the trading volumes at the BSE clocked a record high turnover figure of over Rs 1500 crore.
The ITC scrip closed at Rs 416.25 on the BSE before touching Rs 419 and Rs 432.75 on Wednesday and Thursday respectively. On Friday, January 17, the scrip slid marginally at both the bourses when it closed the week at Rs 395 at the BSE and Rs 395.15 on the NSE.
