Dalal St continues record-breaking rally

A dip in global crude oil price and data showing that FIIs and local funds continue to mop up equities boosted the market further. The sentiment was also lifted by a reassurance on reforms. Finance Minister P. Chidambaram stated in a media interview on Thursday that he expects a resolution soon to problems stalling stake sales in state-run firms. The S&P CNX Nifty climbed 28.40 points or 1.1 per cent to an all-time closing peak of 2,552.35.

Heavyweights like ONGC, ICICI Bank, HDFC and Bharti Tele-Ventures (BTL) prompted the rise in the Sensex.

Three of these — HDFC, BTL and ONGC — scaled all time highs. ONGC rose after the oil exploration major said it had received $173 million in insurance claims for its Bombay High North (BHN) platform that was destroyed by a fire in July. ICICI made strong headway boosted by media reports that it would auction bad loans worth Rs 1,500 crore this month.

The net foreign fund investment has exceeded $8 billion this year, compared with $8.5 billion for all of 2004, and it is expected that concerns about the strength of the US economy in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina may see more flows being diverted to emerging markets, including India.

But govt wants a check

New Delhi: To prevent another scam, the government has asked regulators and investigating agencies, including RBI, Sebi, Intelligence Bureau (IB), Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) to probe the possible manipulation in the market, which is witnessing a bull run. The Sensex is nearing the 8,400 mark.

A meeting of all the agencies was convened two days earlier to look into possible insider trading by brokers, individuals, corporates and FIIs, a source said. Finance Minister P Chidambaram also called a meeting of an internal committee of advisors on the capital market on Thursday to discuss threadbare the market trend. “We want to ensure that markets function orderly. We want to be sure that there is no manipulation,” the source said. The government has asked RBI to look into equity exposure of NBFCs and cooperative banks, after receiving reports that some of them are resorting to loans against shares beyond the permitted limits. PTI