Pivotals Fall On Fii Offloading, Us-Iraq Tension

Share prices on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) fell towards the fag end of the session yesterday due to heavy sell-off by FIIs amidst little interest from investors. Brokers said the selling was sparked off by reports of growing tension between the U S and Iraq.

After a flying start on heavy bull support from FIIs, higher levels could not be sustained as the same FIIs turned sellers. RBI intervention to curb the rupees rise against the dollar deterred multinationals from extending support on a large scale.

The BSE sensitive index opened better at 3,359.24, scaled a high of 3,394.93, but later tumbled to 3,312.01 and closed at 3,319.19, a loss of 35.69 points. The BSE-100 dropped by 15.98 points to close at 1,435.16. The BSE-200 ended lower at 319.94 and the Dollex at 137.85.

 

Automobile shares ended steadier while hotels scrips dropped sharply on selling pressure. Brokers said the early support was mainly due to speculative buying on the first day of the new account trading on the National Stock Exchange. HLL ruled firmer on indications that its main competitor P&G would suffer heavy losses on account of default by a party. The company had postponed its meeting to announce the results from February 3 to February 12, awaiting the announcement of its parent company.

Petroleum shares flared up on speculative support while MTNL dropped sharply on heavy bull unloading. FIIs bought in HLL, Castrol, BPCL, ITC and Telco and sold Bajaj Auto, Colgate, ICICI, ITC, L&T, MTNL, RIL, SBI, Tata Tea, Telco and P&G. The total turnover on the BOLT system was Rs 1,004.09 crore. ITC topped the list with a turnover of Rs 293.30 crore, Castrol with Rs 114.58 crore, Tata Tea with Rs 102.55 crore, SBI with Rs 102 crore and Telco with Rs 59.17 crore. ITC dropped by 5.75 to Rs 581.25, Tata Tea by 10 to Rs 398 and SBI by 6 to Rs 238.75.