BOMBAY, 29 February 2004 — On Monday the BSE closed at 5,698.04.
Analysts explained that investors were hammering down the prices of the PSUs which were coming out their IPOs. Two IPOs opened for offer — IBP and CMC and the response on the first day was quite poor. IPCL ended on a lower note after the Reliance group turned down the government’s offer to buy a further 5 percent stake in it. The group holds 46 percent in IPCL. Zee Telefilms was also a big loser.
On Tuesday the BSE closed at 5,734.44. L & T was up after it announced that it had won an order worth Rs.10.06 billion for nine wellhead platforms for oil exploration major ONGC. Titan Industries gained ground on unconfirmed rumors that the company may consider a share buyback. VSNL was also up on expectations that the forthcoming public offer for the residual stake of the government may be priced attractively.
On Wednesday, the BSE closed at 5,618. Among leading PSU shares, ONGC was the biggest loser.
ONGC is coming with a share offer which is slated to open on March 5. IPCL and IBP also lost substantial ground. The IPCL offer, which opened on Feb. 20, was oversubscribed 1.94 times. The offer from CMC was also oversubscribed by 3.5 times. Auto major, M&M shares fell sharply.
On Thursday the BSE closed at 5,567.12. The expiry of derivatives contracts was also a culprit in bringing down the Sensex.
On Friday the BSE closed at 5,667. Heavy buying by local and foreign funds was said to be the reason for the surge. The government also heaved a sigh of relief after Gas Authority of India (GAIL’s) mega issue was oversubscribed 1.1 times on the first day itself. IPCL was oversubscribed 3.4 times.
Gold was at Rs. 5,950- per 10 gms and silver was at Rs.10,300/- per kg.
US dollar was at Rs. 45.75, pound sterling at Rs.85.40, euro at Rs.57.05, UAE dirham at Rs.12.31, Kuwaiti dinar at Rs. 153.39, Bahraini dinar at Rs.119.92, Saudi riyal at Rs.12.06, Qatari riyal at Rs.12.41 and Omani riyal at Rs.117.42.