BOMBAY, 21 October — On Monday the BSE Sensex closed at 2,976.30 and the NSE Nifty at 963.40. Cement stocks were in the limelight with hopes of another hike in prices. Pharma stocks such as Ranbaxy Laboratories, Cipla and Glaxo were up due to the demand for the anthrax drug.
Such Old Economy stocks as Bhel, Telco, Tata Steel, MTNL, ICICI, Reliance Industries and BSES recorded smart gains.
On Tuesday the BSE Sensex ended at 2,992.46 and the NSE at 971.25. IT stocks shot into the limelight.
Select Old Economy and defensive sector stocks held ground on sustained buying. Hindustan Lever ended with modest gains after it announced quarterly results; it posted a 20.5 percent rise in net profit to Rs.3,991.6 million.
Cement pivotals Gujarat Ambuja Cements, L & T, ACC and Grasim were marginally up on reports of a 5.5 percent price hike per 50-kg bag. Godrej Consumer Products declared an interim dividend of Rs.2 per equity share of the face value of Rs.4 each and also approved the buyback of shares at a maximum price of Rs.100 per share and a maximum outlay of Rs.100 million. Exide Industries was up despite the 2.7 percent drop in its net profit for Q3.
On Wednesday the BSE Sensex ended the day at 3,043.85 and the NSE at 986.25. The mood in the market remained bullish. Companies can now buyback up to 10 percent of their shares without seeking shareholders’ approval.
The new rules also permit companies to issue fresh shares after six months of buyback against the previous two-year limit. Indian IT stocks such as NIIT, Infosys and Satyam were up. Reliance Industries and Reliance Petroleum both gained over 4 percent, due mainly to buying from company circles.
Hindustan Lever ended flat. Media major Balaji Telefilms saw profit booking. Housing major, HDFC ended flat after it posted a 14.30 percent rise in net profit to Rs.1,384.9 million on an income of Rs.6,733.6 million for Q3. Tata Power remained frozen at the 10 percent upper limit of the circuit breaker after the company announced Q3 results post-market hours on Tuesday. It posted a whopping a 74 percent rise in net profit to Rs.2,420 million.
On Thursday the BSE closed at 2,981.33 and the NSE at 972. IT stocks were the worst casualties of the day. Infosys, NIIT and Satyam were all prominent losers. Wipro, which announced a 40 percent rise in Q2 net to Rs.2,160 million, however lost 7.32 percent (Rs.86.25) to close at Rs.1,091.65.
Hero Honda, which announced a 63 percent rise in Q2 net and a 250 percent special dividend, touched a high of Rs.217 but closed with a loss of 3.57 percent (Rs.7.35) at Rs.198.35. Heavyweights — ITC, HLL, Reliance and Reliance Petro — closed in the red.
On Friday the BSE ended the day at 3,016.84 and the NSE at 976.65. There was considerable buying in Old Economy stocks, more so in the automobile and cement sectors.
Local financial institutions were major buyers of the day. Pharmaceutical stocks were also in the limelight on hopes that Indian pharma companies may be allowed to supply anti-anthrax drugs to the US. The overall mood in the market remained bullish as the quarterly results of some defensive sector companies turned out to be more or less in line with market expectations.
ITC announced Q2 results, it posted a 29 percent rise in net profit to Rs.3,336.1 million. Automobile stocks like Bajaj Auto and Telco were steady following a Bombay High Court decision to convert polluting vehicles to LPG/CNG or be scrapped.
The high court has also set deadlines for phasing out old taxis, three-wheelers and other transport vehicles.
Sun Pharma firmed up after the company announced quarterly results, it posted a 49.66 percent rise in net profit to Rs.481.9 million.
SmithKline Beecham Consumer Healthcare lost ground after the company posted its quarterly results wherein its net profit reported a 6.55 percent drop. The quarterly results of some companies announced so far were by and large in line with market expectations. This has led to a general improvement in the sentiment.
Gold was at Rs.4,690/- per 10 gms and silver was at Rs.7,510/- per Kg.
US dollar was at Rs.48.03, pound sterling at Rs.69.30, Deutsche mark at Rs.21.91, euro at Rs.43.38, UAE dirham at Rs.13.07, Kuwaiti dinar at Rs.157.19, Bahraini dinar at Rs.127.38, Saudi riyal at Rs.12.80, Qatari riyal at Rs.13.19 and Omani riyal at Rs. 124.73.