FIIs hold the key, volatility to stay

Foreign funds, who were buying shares when the Sensex crashed last week, still hold the key in the Indian market. However, volatility is likely to continue as a host of scrips will come under margins and correction is not yet over.

On Thursday (September 22) — the day when the Sensex tanked 265 points due to rumours of regulatory probe on major market players and reports of IT raids on brokers — FIIs bought shares worth a huge Rs 514.40 crore. For the first four trading sessions of the last week, between September 19 and 22, net FII inflow aggregated Rs 1,245 crore.

‘‘Volatility may remain high on the bourses in the near-term till the expiry of September 2005 derivatives contract on Thursday,’’ said a broker. Retail investors and local operators, who dumped stocks last week, are likely to book profits further in the coming days.