BOMBAY, 27 April 2003 — The Indian stock markets are currently driven purely by the sentiments surrounding the quarterly results (Q4) of various companies. But the first set of results from tech companies has turned out to be disappointing and this more or less set the mood of the bourses.
On Monday, some scattered buying in select stocks led to the BSE ending the day with a gain of 12.47 points at 2,996.97.
Zee Telefilms was one of the main gainers of the day on the back of “selective investment” buying. NIIT firmed up following impressive Q4 results wherein it posted a net profit of Rs.54 million on a total income of Rs.1,821 million. Wipro which was a major loser in the previous week, notched up smart gains on selective buying support.
RCF was frozen at 20 percent upper limit of the circuit breaker following reports that the Tatas and Birlas are entering the race for a strategic stake in the state-owned fertilizer major. On the other hand, Bata India saw incessant selling on its counter when for Q4 it posted a loss of Rs. 65.7 million.
On Tuesday, selling pressure overtook the bourses and the BSE ended with a loss of 11.43 points at 2,985.54, erasing almost all of its Monday’s gain. Trading was quite lackluster and dull with not much of activity seen on most of the counters.
BSES was high on the selling list after the company announced its Q4 result, providing Rs.1,350 million for “reconciliation and settlement of accounts”. Titan Industries (up 6.84 percent to Rs.60.90) gained ground after the company lifted the partial lock-out at its Hosur plant with effect from April 21.
On Wednesday also, selling pressure continued and the BSE settled at its over 5-month closing low, with a loss of 38.21 points at 2,947.33. This was despite the impressive Q4 results posted by Reliance Industries (RIL).
RIL for Q4 posted a net profit of Rs. 11.01 billion on a total income of Rs.130.81 billion. On consolidated basis, for the year ended March 31 the company’s net profit was Rs 40.03 billion on a total income of Rs. 467.96 billion.
Infosys Technologies and HCL Technologies ended lower on selling pressure ahead of Satyam Computer’s results.
L & T was up after the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) cleared Grasim’s open offer for a 20 percent equity stake in the company.
State owned IPCL was down despite it having posted for Q4 a net profit of Rs. 900 million (Rs. 510 million). And for the year ended March 31, 2003, its net profit stood at Rs. 2.04 billion (Rs.1.07 billion).
On Thursday, the markets did not slump as expected even though Satyam declared a loss.The BSE settled with a loss of 10.10 points at 2,937.23. The weakness in the market was largely attributed to the expiry of the April 2003 series futures contracts in the derivatives segment of the bourses.
Satyam Computer slumped immediately after declaring a net loss for Q4, but buying soon resumed after it was learnt that the loss was due to an extraordinary write-off. The company reported a loss of Rs.359.16 million ($7.6 million). The loss was made after adjusting for an exceptional expense of Rs.1.52 billion .
On Friday, the BSE ended the day with a loss of 13.20 points at 2,924.03. Overall, the market seemed to have adopted a cautious outlook. PSU shares were hammered down after the opposition launched a tirade against the government’s sell-off agenda in HPCL and BPCL in Parliament. RCF, NFL, Nalco, ITI, Hindustan Organic Chemicals, Dredging Corporation, and BEML also fell like nine pins amid fears that the disinvestment program might get delayed.
ICICI Bank gave the market much to cheer about in late trading after its Q4 net profit improved by a whopping 494 percent.
For the coming week, the market is expected to move more or less in the same bandwidth as it did this week. Analysts expect the Sensex to go down another 100-odd points since it has broken its support at 2,930 points.
Gold was at Rs. 5,255/- per 10 gms and silver at Rs. 7,920/- per kilogram.
US dollar against Indian rupee was at Rs.47.36, pound sterling at Rs.75.02, euro at Rs.51.87, UAE dirham at Rs.12.87, Kuwait dinar at Rs.157.60,Bahrain dinar at Rs. 124.74, Saudi riyal at Rs.12.61, Qatar riyal at Rs.12.98 and Oman riyal at Rs.122.79.
