BOMBAY, 1 August 2004 — The Indian stock markets this week were in an optimistic mood. Strong response to the Tata Consultancy Services’ IPO, buoyant Q1 results from corporate India and hopes of revival of monsoon kept the bourses buoyant. On Monday, though the moods were somber following the Global Trust Bank (GTB) crisis, the market, saw a buying in blue chips and this led to the BSE closing the day with a gain of 44.83-point at 5,118.17.
Banking stocks were badly hit after the Reserve Bank of India on Saturday restrained the ailing GTB, which was saddled with mounting losses and a negative capital adequacy ratio, from making fresh loans without its permission for up to three months and limited the deposit withdrawals to Rs.10,000 per person. However the moods reversed to some extent after the government directed the merger of the troubled GTB with Oriental Bank of Commerce.
Tuesday was a day of big results and there was an air of anticipation on the bourses. Yet, all eyes were skyward, hoping that the monsoon would miraculously turn normal. Concerns of patchy rainfall has affected the sentiments. The BSE eventually ended with a loss of 42.29 points at 5,075.88.
On Wednesday, the BSE saw selling across the board as investors preferred to book profits. The BSE ended the day marginally lower by 5.59 points at 5,070.29.
On Thursday, hopes of a good monsoon and encouraging results from India Inc. helped boost the sentiments. After moving in an intra-day range of 80 points, the BSE Sensex ended with a gain of 57.10 points at 5,127.39.
On Friday, the BSE in the last 30 minutes of trading witnessed hectic activity and ended the day at 5,170.32, up 49.87 points.
In the coming days, progress of the monsoon would dictate the near term trend of the market given the fact that monsoon was nearly 15 percent below normal in the first two months of the season.
Gold was at Rs.5,980/- per 10 gms and silver was at Rs.10,365/- per kg.
US dollar against Indian rupee was at Rs.46.45, pound sterling at Rs.84.22, euro at Rs.55.81, UAE dirham at Rs.12.62, Kuwait dinar at Rs.154.40, Bahrain dinar at Rs.121.89, Saudi riyal at Rs.12.35, Qatar riyal at Rs.12.72 and Oman riyal at Rs.118.77.