Indian stock markets have a slow week

BOMBAY, 24 June — On Monday the BSE closed at 3,353.11 and the NSE at 1,078.30. IT stocks saw selling following the profit warnings issued by two leading tech companies in the US Nortel Networks and JDS Uniphase both of which outsource a good part of their software requirements from their Indian counterparts.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

Cement, pharma and were major losers as were such stocks as Reliance Petroleum, Hindustan Lever, Tata Steel, HPCL and Telco. Institutional buying was seen in select stocks like Zee Tele, ITC, Bajaj Auto. Sporadic buying was seen on the counters of Infosys. On the FMCG counter, Nestle was up. Colgate posted its FY 2001 results. For the year ending March 31, 2001, the company posted a net profit of Rs. 62.50 crore (Rs. 51.80 crore) on sales of Rs. 1,176.90 crore (Rs. 1,089.60 crore). PSI Data Systems was down.

On Tuesday the BSE crossed the 3,400-mark and closed at 3,410.95 with the NSE also gaining to close at 1,096.65.

Morgan Stanley was a buyer on the counters of ITC and HLL. Cement major ACC was up. Telco saw selling from institutions as well as speculators following poor FY 2001 results. The company announced a loss of Rs. 500.34 crore for the year ending March 31, 2001.

Another Tata company in the limelight was Tata Tea. The tea major posted a 19.59 percent drop in the net profit to Rs.100.21 crore (Rs. 124.63 crore). Modi Rubber held firm.

On Wednesday the BSE closed at 3,405.38 and the NSE at 1,097.70. All major pivotals such as Zee, Satyam, NIIT, Infosys were down as were such old stalwarts as ITC, Reliance Industries, Reliance Petroleum, Bajaj Auto, Tata Steel, ICICI and BHEL. Institutional buying was seen in HLL. On Thursday the BSE closed at 3,405.64 and NSE closed at 1,095.20.

SBI saw profit booking after it announced its FY 2001 results. For the year ending March 31, 2001, there was a net profit of Rs. 1,604.25 crore (Rs. 2,051.55 crore) on an income of Rs. 30,021.19 crore (Rs. 25,770.25 crore).

J. B. Chemicals lost ground after BSE imposed a 25 percent special margin on the scrip. Tata Power announced its FY 2001 results on Wednesday. For the year ending March 31, 2001, the company posted a net profit of Rs. 389.60 crore (Rs. 232.03 crore) on sales of Rs. 3,360.78 crore (Rs. 1,389.60 crore).

On Friday the BSE closed at 3,381.76 and the NSE at 1,087.65. Of the 1,552 issues traded, declines outnumbered advances with 974 losers and 410 gainers. 168 issues remained unchanged. Cement stocks were down as much as Rs.15-25 per bag with the onset of the monsoon. Automobile major, Mahindra & Mahindra touched a new 70-month low of Rs. 91.10 before settling at Rs. 91.60 on account of selling pressure. Telco also saw selling follwing figures released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), which showed a 40.9 percent dip in commercial vehicles sale in May 2001.

Gold was at Rs. 4420/- per 10 gms and Silver was at Rs. 7400/- per Kg.

US dollar was Rs. 46.98, Pound Sterling at Rs. 66.52, Deutsche Mark at Rs. 20.51, Euro at Rs. 40.07, UAE Dhm at Rs. 12.80, Kuwaiti Dinar at Rs. 152.66, Bahraini Dinar at Rs. 12.53, Saudi Riyal at Rs. 12.91, Qatari Riyal at Rs. 124.68 and Omani Riyal at Rs. 122.09.