Market Firms Up Marginally On Short-Covering

The stock market opened weak and sentiments remained depressed through most of the trading session yesterday. Trading levels stayed low and the Bombay Stock Exchange sensitive index gained 7.36 points to close at 3112.02, against the previous close of 3104.66.

According to marketmen, trading sentiments at the BSE improved marginally only towards the close of the session. Short-covering was witnessed in select counters and this pushed up prices of key pivotals. The market had fallen below the psychological 3100 mark during intra-day trading, but pulled up towards the end to close higher.

The market witnessed the Reliance stock price moving up steadily yesterday. This has followed tradition, as the price of the RIL stock has moved up prior to the announcement of the half-yearly results, which will take place today. While the overall sentiment regarding RILs financial results is not too positive, the stock could witness certain speculative trends at the major bourses once the financial performance of the company is known to the market.

 

RIL yesterday opened at Rs 187 and touched an intra-day high of Rs 195 before closing at Rs 194.75, up against the previous close of Rs 188.75 at the BSE. The BSE witnessed a traded turnover of Rs 351.06 crore, including Rs 324.77 crore through the specified group and Rs 16.20 crore through the non-specified group.

The Reliance stock witnessed trading in 33.21 lakh shares for a total value of Rs 62.93 crore. It came second to the State Bank of India stock, which recorded a turnover of Rs 121.83 crore, with 59.10 lakh shares being traded yesterday. The BSE 100 which had a previous close of 1387.06, opened the day at 1385.78, touched a days high at 1388.30 before dipping to a low of 1372.71 and finally closed marginally higher.

The ITC stock was amongst the actively traded stocks at the market with 17.17 lakh shares traded for a total value of Rs 52.28 crore at the BSE. Tisco also witnessed hectic trading yesterday for a value of Rs 35.25 crore through 20.76 lakh shares. Most of the specified group stocks moved in a narrow range and closed marginally above their previous closing levels.