BOMBAY, 30 September — On Monday the BSE ended the day at 2,651.78 and the NSE closed at 869.05.
ICICI (Rs.52.90) was up after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) raised the FII investment ceiling to 74-100 percent levels in various companies. Castrol was firm after British oil major BP Amoco Plc announced an open offer for a 20 percent stake for its shareholders at Rs.350.02 per share.
ITC was in the news with the purchase of an additional 40 percent stake lying with non-promoter shareholders of ITC Bhadrachalam Paperboards. Shareholders of ITC Bhadrachalam will receive one share of ITC for every 16 shares they hold in the company.
On Tuesday the BSE closed at 2,617.35 and the NSE at 861.40. L&T was a major loser. Old Economy pivotals such as Bhel, Hindalco, MTNL (down 1.71 percent to Rs.115.30), Tata Steel and Bajaj Auto slipped. Refinery stocks such as HPCL and Reliance Petroleum were up after international crude oil prices dropped.
The Indian government announced that the oil import bill for the current year would be up by Rs.40.00 billion to Rs.750.00 billion.
Gujarat Ambuja Cements was up. Pentamedia Graphics declined due to concerns over the company’s cash flow crisis.
On Wednesday the BSE closed at 2,667.34 and the NSE at 873.70.
Old Economy stocks were in the limelight. Reliance Industries was a news maker with news that Goldman Sachs had upgraded the stock to ‘market out-performer’ as it found the valuations to be attractive. Infosys Technologies announced that it would declare its Q2 results on Oct. 10, 2001. Pharmaceutical stocks saw selling after the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association announced a lower export growth.
On Thursday the BSE closed at 2,715.50 and the NSE at 890.
UBS Warburg cut its recommendation for two of India’s biggest software companies to ‘sell’ and drastically lowered price targets. Infosys Technologies fell after foreign brokerage, UBS Warburg, downgraded the company’s stock to ‘sell’ and drastically lowered its price target to Rs.1,800 from Rs.4,250. Wipro too faced the ax from UBS Warburg. Tata Steel saw selling following the US decision to impose anti-dumping duties on Indian steel.
Suzuki is selling its entire stake of 6 million shares to Sundaram Clayton or its associates for Rs.15 per share. United Phosphorus fell after the company cut the dividend to 10 percent.
On Friday the BSE went up and closed at 2811.60 and the NSE closed at 913.85.
Twenty-four out of thirty Sensex stocks ended with gains. Advances far outnumbered declines.
Of 1,420 shares traded on BSE, 815 scrips rose, 453 fell and 152 remained unchanged. Reliance Industries was a gainer. Zee Telefilms saw selling after a profit warning was issued that its revenue and profit growth would fall in the current fiscal. Gold was at Rs.4,700/- per 10 gms and silver was at Rs. 7,550/- per Kg.
US dollar was at Rs.47.86, pound sterling at Rs.70.45, Deutsche mark at Rs.22.38, euro at Rs.43.77, UAE dirham at Rs.13.03, Kuwaiti dinar at Rs.157.29, Bahraini dinar at Rs. 126.96, Saudi riyal at Rs.12.76, Qatari riyal at Rs.13.14 and Omani riyal at Rs.124.32.
