BOMBAY, 13 May — For a week, the Indian markets have literally been held to ransom by SEBI. It postponed making a decision on the abolition of carry-forward trading in scrips falling under the rolling settlement which will be introduced from July 2, 2001. This has now been postponed to 14 but the grapevine says another postponement is possible.
On Monday renewed buying pushed the BSE to 3,545 and the NSE Nifty to 1,139.40.
IT stocks such as NIIT, Infosys, Satyam were up on institutional buying support. Zee Telefilms moved up on reports that the company is converting all its channels into pay channels. This may improve the company’s cash flow.
Cement stocks saw buying as India’s cement shipments rose 5.84 percent to 8.51 million tons in April 2001 from 8.04 million tons a year earlier, according to the Cement Manufacturers Association.
Bajaj Auto posted a 57.20 percent fall in net profit to Rs.2.63 billion but despite this, the stock remained steady.
Wipro crossed the Rs.1,700-mark on hopes that the software major would beat the US slowdown and post a robust growth rate in the coming years.
G. E. Shipping settled in the positive zone after it announced a buyback price of Rs.42 per share. On the other hand, Siemens was down as market was not happy with its buyback price of Rs.250 per share. Kesoram has fixed a buyback price of Rs.40 per share.
On Tuesday the Sensex settled at 3,580.37 and the NSE Nifty Index at 1,148.95.
Satyam was up on rumors of imminent listing of the company’s ADR on NASDAQ.
Hindalco was up on reports that the Aditya Birla group would soon be hiking its stake in the company through the creeping acquisition route. Engineering and cement major L & T gained ground on rumors that the company had bagged a Rs.5.00 billion Middle Eastern order.
On the pharma counter, Wockhardt gained ground after the company announced that it had entered into a strategic alliance with Japan’s fourth largest pharmaceutical firm, Eisai Company, to launch methycobal (mecobalamine) in India.
Meanwhile, HDFC, for the quarter ending March 31, 2001, posted a net profit of Rs. 1.58 billion.
The company’s board has approved increase in FII investment limit to 49 percent from 40 percent. Blue Dart Express was up after the company announced a bonus issue in the ratio of 1:1.
The markets continued to gain on Wednesday. The BSE closed at 3,586.58 and the NSE at 1,149.25. Public sector unit, VSNL was down after the company denied any proposal to declare a cash dividend of the order of Rs.100 per share. Among the side counters, Bombay Dyeing was down after the company denied reports of a share buyback.
On the other hand, Sesa Goa, gained ground following reports that the workers have called off a 3-week long strike.
On Thursday the BSE closed at 3,568.27 and the NSE at 144.95. Tobacco major ITC saw profit booking on reports of cheap cigarette imports from Bangladesh.
Automobile major Telco bounced back toward the close of the session on renewed buying. The government has enhanced the depreciation rate on new commercial vehicles acquired after April 2001 to 50 percent from 40 percent. NIIT ruled firm for the better part of the session after the company announced a strategic tie-up with global software giant Microsoft.
Media major Balaji Telefilms declined after it called off its merger with Nine Network Entertainment, following a dispute between the latter and Doordarshan over the contract period for supplying content to the national broadcaster. Doordarshan was ready to offer only a 18-month contract as against five years desired by Nine Network Entertainment.
On Friday the BSE closed at 3,559.77 and the NSE Nifty Index at 1,140.50.
Zee was in the limelight following improved ratings of its programs.
Gold was at Rs. 4,370 per 10 gms and silver was at Rs.7,405 per kg.
US dollar was at Rs.46.89, pound sterling at Rs.66.52, euro at Rs.41.13, DM at Rs.21.13, Saudi riyal at Rs.12.48, Bahraini dinar at Rs.124.11, Kuwaiti dinar at Rs.152.23, Qatari Riyal at Rs.12.85, UAE dirham at Rs.12.74 and Omani riyal at Rs.121.53.