BOMBAY, 29 September — On Monday the BSE closed at 3,021.28. ICICI Bank lost ground after Standard & Poor’s (S&Ps) downgrade of India’s rupee debt. Institutional selling continued on the counters of Zee Telefilms. Hero Honda Motor rose sharply as its new Ambition was reported to have been well-received in the market. On the infotech counter, Aftek Infosys gained some lost ground after the company clarified that the market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India had not issued any fresh show cause notice to the promoters of the company for their alleged involvement in the 2001 stock scam. ICI India surged as it announced sale of its catalyst business to Johnson Matthey Plc for Rs.140 billion ($28.9 million), valuing the unit at more than three times its revenue.
On Tuesday the BSE closed at 3,022.25. Cement and refinery scrips lost ground. Buying in automobile pivotals and Hindustan Lever helped the market to end the day positively. The smart “riser” of the day was Nestle India. Pharma stocks such as Ranbaxy, GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals and Dr Reddy’s Labs rose on reports that the Indian pharma sector grew by 11.1 percent last year. United Bank of India (UBI) made its debut on the BSE. It opened at Rs.17.50, a premium of 9.37 percent over its initial public offer price of Rs.16. Ahmedabad based, Amtrex Hitachi Appliances surged northward with news that Japanese consumer electronics major Hitachi was buying out Lalbhai group’s 35 percent stake in the joint venture.
On Wednesday the BSE closed at 3,021.08.
On Thursday the BSE closed at 3,014.69. Ranbaxy was volatile, plunging to Rs.833.90 and then bouncing back. ICICI Bank was also highly volatile. A sharp surge was seen in media stocks which market punters said was on account of buying by operators. Saregama surged 5 percent to Rs.89.75 even as the company said that its FY 2002-03 performance would be poor.
On Friday the BSE closed at 3,037.26. Though most contracts have already been shifted to October 2002, there were open positions in stocks such as BPCL, Satyam Computer and HPCL.
Of the 1,655 issues traded on the BSE on Friday, gainers (871) outnumbered losers (626), indicating a bullish undertone. 158 issues ended unchanged. Telco surged on news that cumulative sales of its Indica passenger cars had crossed the 2,00,000 mark on 22 September 2002, three-and-a-half years after its launch.
Karnataka Bank rose after its rights issue ratio was revised to 1:2 from 1:1. Each share will be issued at Rs.25 (including a premium of Rs.15).
Gold was at Rs.5,305/- per 10 gms and silver was at Rs.7,975/- per Kg.
US dollar was at Rs.48.56, pound sterling at Rs.75.28, euro at Rs.47.24, UAE dirham at Rs. 13.15, Kuwaiti dinar at Rs.159.75, Bahraini dinar at Rs.128.11, Saudi riyal at Rs.12.88, Qatari riyal at Rs.13.26 and Omani riyal at Rs. 125.45.
