BOMBAY, 30 March 2003 — On Monday, the BSE closed at 3,140.36. Heavyweights, led by Hindustan Lever, also accounted for the market slide. The stock of the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) giant has turned weak of late amid concerns over the company’s sluggish sales growth. IT stocks also lost ground after reports that IT market research majors including Gartner and IDC feel that a prolonged war is likely to hurt the Indian IT sector. Spending on technology, especially in the US, which accounts for about 60 percent of the revenue of the Indian software industry, may also take a beating. Bhel slid after the company said that it has won a contract worth Rs.21.25 billion to set up a thermal station in Madhya Pradesh.

On Tuesday, the BSE closed at 3,140.42. Reliance Industries, State Bank of India, ITC and Hindustan Lever were up. Bajaj Auto and Hero Honda Motor were down on reports that top volume players would see anything between 1-10 percent drop in sales and around 75 percent capacity utilization in March 2003. Zee Telefilms continued to lose ground. Tata Tea surged on news that it will receive a dividend of Rs. 253.5 million from its UK-based subsidiary Tata Tea (GB). As Tata Tea owns 56.2 million shares of Tata Tea (GB), this dividend will add Rs. 4.51 per share to its earnings for the current fiscal ending in March 2003.

On Wednesday, the BSE closed at 3,143.58. While there was some buying in ITC, State Bank of India and Hindustan Lever, others like Hero Honda Motor, HDFC and Reliance Industries lost ground on selling pressure. Public sector undertaking (PSU) pivotals like MTNL, Bhel and HPCL rose on stock-specific developments. Infosys Technologies was volatile. IDBI Bank gained ground on reports that at least three new generation private banks and foreign banks were interested in taking over the bank, promoted by IDBI.

On Thursday, the BSE closed at 3,116.79. Hero Honda Motor and ZeeTelefilms were depressed over future growth concerns. Heavyweights also contributed to the Sensex weakness. MTNL was the top gainer after the government announced its decision to allow telecom service providers to sell their individual service licenses. Ranbaxy Labs was up after the company announced that it has received US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval to market cefadroxil powder for oral suspension.

On Friday, the BSE closed at 3,115.44.

Of the 1,496 issues traded on the exchange, declines outnumbered advances, with 734 losers and 598 gainers. 164 issues ended unchanged. Barring buying support from mutual funds to select front-line and bank stocks, the overall market remained subdued. Old Economy stocks slipped on growing fears that rising crude oil prices as a result of the ongoing war could hit the bottom lines of companies. Tech stocks weakened after a steady opening.

Gold was at Rs. 5,280/- per 10 gms and silver was at Rs. 7,670/- per Kg.

US dollar was at Rs. 47.73, pound sterling at Rs. 74.64, euro at Rs. 51.17, UAE dirham at Rs. 12.92, Kuwaiti dinar at Rs. 158.09, Bahraini dinar at Rs. 125.83, Saudi riyal at Rs. 12.65, Qatari riyal at Rs.13.03 and Omani riyal at Rs.123.22.