World Meet On Sustainable Growth In Jan

Select fund buying coupled with speculative purchases pushed up the stock indices yesterday. The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 70.36 points to end the day at 4,558.23 points over its previous close of 4,487.87 points. The 50-share NSE index jumped 18.05 points to close at 1,309.90 points over its previous close of 1,291.85 points.

According to market sources the fresh bout of buying by operators was prompted by low badla rates during the carry-forward session on Saturday. "Being the first day of settlement at the BSE, punters decided to take fresh positions at the bourses which pushed up the indices," said a BSE broker. The jump of Rs 77 crore in the net outstanding position also indicates that bulk of the purchases was speculative.

 

Broader picture

The CNX Nifty Junior gained a whopping 52.55 points to end the day at 2,400.05 points. During intra-day trading, the stock touched a new 52-week high of 2,407.35 points.

The 100-BSE also gained 44.49 points at 2,034.59 points.

According to market sources the sharp rise in mid-cap indices indicates that the rally is now spreading to smaller stocks. "With the stock prices of A group companies rising up sharply the focus has shifted to the small companies," commented a BSE broker.

Intra-day movement

Both the Nifty and the Sensex opened on a firm note yesterday indicating that the undertone is bullish. While the Sensex opened with a gap of 73 points at 4,560 points, it later jumped to the day's high of 4,585.39 points and then dipped to the day's low of 4,548.29 points. Nifty, on the other hand, the opened at 1,292.35 points, jumped to the day's high of 1,314.15 points and dipped to a low of 1,292.35 points.

However, the trading turnover at the bourses remained much below the average levels at both the exchanges. While the NSE clocked a traded turnover of Rs 2,146.79 crore, the BSE clocked a turnover of Rs 1,943.59 crore. The advance decline ratio at both the bourses suggested a bull-run at the bourses. At the NSE, as many as 840 stocks moved up, 278 declined while 51 remained unchanged. At the BSE, as many as 863 stocks moved up, 152 declined while 44 stocks remained unchanged.

Spotlight

The cement stocks continued to be the flavour of the month and many stocks in this sector witnessed sustained fund buying. Close to five lakh shares of the company is reported to have been picked up by a foreign fund. The stock hit the upper end of the price band as a result. This apart, fund buying was also reported in Grasim and L&T counters as well.

On the BSE, L&T was the most active scrip with a turnover of Rs 147.89 crore. Other top traded shares were Ranbaxy (Rs 139.12 crore), Digital Equipment (Rs