FIs, FIIs take Sensex up 119 pts

FIs, FIIs take Sensex up 119 pts
ENS ECONOMIC BUREAU

Mumbai, Mar 21: It was an exceptional day when Indian markets went against the Wall Street trend, thanks to domestic financial institutions and foreign institutional investors (FIIs). Led by Reliance Industries, equities on Wednesday bounced back with a vengeance lifting the benchmark Sensex up by about 119 points over the last close on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on hectic purchases by institutions and FIIs.

Joining the bandwagon, domestic investors and speculators also turned buyers on the back of the dramatic entry of institutional investors. The hectic buying in Reliance Industries by institutions was attributed to reports that the company which holds 64 per cent in Reliance Petroleum would be the largest beneficiary of divestment of 13 per cent of its holding in RPL. Several tech shares, including Infosys, also staged a mid-session rally.

After a hesitant start at 3633.22, the BSE Sensex had dropped to the day's low of 3618.14 on selling triggered by fears of likely payments default at the BSE following a shortfall of Rs 45 crore on the Calcutta Stock Exchange (CSE). Sensex, however, made a turnaround immediately after the initial setback and gradually moved upwards to touch the intra-day high of 3801.78 before closing at 3791.07 as against yesterday's close of 3672.40, a net rise of 118.67 points or 3.23 per cent. The BSE-100 Index rose by 38.43 points to 1796.89 from previous close of 1758.46.

Indian markets turned bullish despite the Dow Jones Industrials dropping by 238.35 points to 9,720.76 and the Nasdaq Composite Index tumbling by 93.72 to 1,857.48 last night. Disappointed over the Federal Reserve's latest interest rate cut by only 0.50 percentage point as against 0.75 percentage point anticipated earlier by them, investors resorted to heavy sell-off on the Wall Street yesterday. "Indian investors and FIs ignored the Wall Street. The market has alreayd bottomed out," said stock dealer Surendra Podar.

Sensex had dipped in the morning session and several tech shares plunged on heavy selling. The sentiment turned for better only after FIIs, local financial institutions and mutual funds which were reportedly heavy buyers in select heavyweights like Infosys Technologies, HLL, ITC, RIL and MTNL began all-round purchases. "Normally when Nasdaq tumbles, Indian markets also follow the same path. This time the reverse happened," said BSE dealer Pawan Dharnidharka.

In the specified group, 103 counters including 23 index-based shares registered sharp to moderate advances while 37 others closed with losses.Infosys Tech firmed up by 131.10 to 4490.25, Satyam Computer by 2.05 to 242.20, RIL by 28.60 to 402.60, Digital Equipment by 19.25 to 545.15, Cipla by 26.50 to 988.85, Grasim by 13.50 to 290.15, HLL by 9.05 to 224.10, Hindalco by 25 to 759.40, ITC by 14.65 to 800.20, L&T by 5 to 238.95, Ranbaxy by 21.35 to 634.50, RPL by 2.70 to 52.95, SBI by 6.30 to 237.45, TISCO by 4.70 to 136.85, Zee Tele by 1.70 to 142.35, Kochi Refniery by 8 to 58.65, BPCL by 11.05 to 169.85, Aptech by 9.70 to 157.05 and Indian Hotel by 16.20 to 286.05.

However, ACC declined by 5.95 to 156.30, Dr Reddy by 10.35 to 1298.90, Glaxo by 6.45 to 429.90, ICICI by 2.80 to 85.95 and Wipro by 19.25 to 1595.60.