BOMBAY, 27 January — On Monday the BSE ended the day at 3,382.29. Two-wheeler stocks were very strong with Hero Honda Motors reaching a new high of Rs.336. Bajaj Auto also reached a new 52-week high of Rs.472.50. Tata Steel also saw a lot of buying, following reports that it is planning to hike its steel-making capacity to 5.7 million tons from the existing 3.7 million tons. Cipla was down after it posted a disappointing 17.01 percent rise in net profit.
On Tuesday the BSE closed at 3,368.28. The mood was cautious following the attack in Kolkatta. The poor Q3 performance by HCL Technologies, with a 12.02 percent drop in net profit added to the rues. Most of the IT stocks saw selling. Hindustan Lever recorded a 16.39 percent rise in net profit to Rs.4,999.8 million. Telco ended higher ahead of the announcement of its quarterly results. After market hours, the Tata group automobile major posted a lower loss of Rs.555.4 million. Another Tata company which posted its results was Tata Tea but its Q3 performance saw a 16.96 percent drop in net profit to Rs.136.6 million.
On Wednesday the BSE closed at 3,373.07. Tata Chemicals was up for Q3 and posted a net profit of Rs.460.9 million. The company also decided to revise its proposed buyback price to a maximum of Rs.60 per shares from the earlier Rs.45 per share. Indian Hotels, the Tata group hospitality major, posted a net profit of Rs.60.1 million against previous Q3’s Rs.361.5 million.
On Thursday the BSE closed at 3,357.79. While automobile scrips declined on profit-booking, selling pressure was seen in cement stocks on reports of fall in the price of cement by around Rs.8-10 per 50-kg bag in Maharashtra. Gujarat Ambuja Cement was down despite announcing a 75.60 percent rise in net profit for Q3. Tata Steel ended lower on selling pressure ahead of the announcement of its results. For Q3, it posted a 73 percent fall in net profit to Rs.345.4 million. HPCL lost ground on selling pressure after the company announced its decision to defer its board meeting to consider quarterly results. Colgate ended steady after the company announced good results for Q3 with a 30.03 percent rise in net profit to Rs.159 million. Tata Power also lost ground after the company recorded a meager 5.88 percent rise in net profit.
On Friday the BSE closed at 3,332.30. Shiv Nadir’s HCL Tech dived down after the Income-Tax (I-T) authorities searched the premises of some companies of the HCL group for alleged bungling in share transactions with some overseas corporate bodies in Mauritius.
ACC ended in the red, when for Q3 it posted a 15.6 percent drop in net profit to Rs.169.3 million. L&T posted 63.7 percent rise in net profit but its performance went virtually unnoticed. ICI India firmed up after the company informed BSE that it has agreed to sell its pharmaceuticals unit to Nicholas Piramal for Rs.700 million. Ashok Leyland fell after it posted a 30 percent drop in net profit to Rs.135.1 million.
Gold was at Rs.4,600/- per 10 gms and silver was at Rs. 7,585/- per Kg.
US dollar was at Rs.48.28, pound sterling at Rs. 67.95, Deutsche mark at Rs.22.18, euro at Rs.41.72, UAE dirham at Rs.13.14, Kuwaiti dinar at Rs.156.50, Bahraini dinar at Rs. 128.05, Saudi riyal at Rs.12.87, Qatari riyal at Rs.13.26 and Omani riyal at Rs.125.40.
