BOMBAY, 12 October 2003 — On Monday, the BSE ended at 4,631.39. Most of the automobile stocks were high on hopes of sales. Power sector stocks like Reliance Energy, BHEL were up on hopes that power companies will benefit immensely from the ongoing power-sector reforms.
On Tuesday, the BSE closed at 4,632.94. The private sector steel major Tata Steel jumped up to a new 52-week high of Rs.308.95 intra-day on hopes of bumper results for the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2003. Other Old Economy stocks like Tata Motors, Castrol, HPCL were also up on the same expectations.
On Wednesday, the BSE closed at 4,634.86.
Rumors the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) was planning a further cut in repo rates in the forthcoming monetary policy led to large scale buying in these stocks.
On Thursday, the BSE closed at 4,698.68. In specific stocks, UCO Bank came onto the bourses for the first time. It was listed at Rs.17.40, a 45 percent premium to the issue price of Rs.12.
On Friday, the BSE closed at 4,768.90, its best close since July 17, 2000. The market was propelled up due to the exuberant results posted by tech major Infosys Technologies.
In the other stocks, L&T rose to touch a new high due to large scale institutional buying.
FIIs have hiked their holding in the engineering conglomerate to 10.2 percent, from 7.5 percent during the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2003.
Tata Motors also moved up to touch a new 52-week high after the company announced a 49.8 percent rise in overall vehicle sales for the month of September 2003.
Gold was at Rs. 5,655/- per 10 gms and silver was at Rs. 8,015/- per kg.
US dollar was at Rs.45.39, pound sterling at Rs.75.82, euro at Rs.53.65, UAE dirham at Rs.12.34, Kuwaiti dinar at Rs.154.35, Bahraini dinar at Rs.120.28, Saudi riyal at Rs.12.09, Qatari riyal at Rs.12.45 and Omani riyal at Rs.117.79.