BOMBAY, 10 October 2004 — The Indian stock markets were in a state of confusion this week. One day up and one day down was the mood. On Monday, renewed buying gave the market a solid upward thrust and the BSE closed at 5,766.30.
Expectations of strong Q2 results saw stocks such as Infosys, Wipro, TCS, Reliance, Maruti Udyog posting gains. Tractor and utility vehicles major Mahindra & Mahindra was up.
The BSE and NSE have decided to transfer a large number of scrips to trade-to-trade segment with effect from Oct. 7. BSE has transferred a whopping 463 scrips and NSE has transferred 88. In the trade-to-trade segment, each trade must result in delivery.
On Tuesday, the BSE closed at 5,758.67. Hero Honda Motor lost ground. BHEL firmed up on fresh buying interest after the company said that it had won an order for nearly Rs.1.15 billion ($25 million) for three compressor packages from Oman.
On Wednesday, the BSE closed at 5,714. Shares in the software and commodities sectors, witnessed profit booking.
On Thursday the BSE closed at 5,774. The visit by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Mumbai helped to improve market sentiment. He announced that the next year’s budget is likely to contain significant tax reforms.
Shares of Reliance Industries rose after Chairman Mukesh Ambani told reporters in New York that Reliance was planning an IPO of Reliance Infocomm, the telecom unit in which it holds 45 percent stake.
On Friday the BSE ended at 5,776.85. Government data released indicated that the wholesale price inflation had dropped 7.38 percent for the week ended Sept. 25, down from 7.80 percent a week earlier.
The IPO of National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), which opened for subscription on Thursday has received massive investor response.
There was a special trading session yesterday as the National Stock Exchange (NSE) conducted a test and upgrade of its backup site at Chennai. The BSE and NSE were open from 11:00 IST to 14:40 IST. The BSE ended at 5,750.29.
Gold was at Rs.6,330/- per 10 gms and silver was at Rs. 11,355/- per Kg.
US dollar was at Rs. 45.81, pound sterling at Rs.80.78, euro at Rs.56.68, UAE dirham at Rs.12.51, Kuwati dinar at Rs.153.03, Bahraini dinar at Rs.120.82, Saudi riyal at Rs.12.24, Qatari riyal at Rs.12.61 and Omani riyal at Rs.117.72.
