NSE, BSE turnover zoom to new peak

The BSE recorded an all-time high turnover of Rs 4204.09 crore surpassing its previous high which was posted in October 1999 and substantially higher than Rs 3,573.57 crore registered on Monday. Satyam Computer, the favourite counter of speculators, clocked the highest turnover of Rs 714.84 crore on the BSE.

The combined turnover of Satyam Computer on both the NSE and the BSE touched a huge amount of Rs 1,802 crore. Satyam registered a turnover of Rs 1,088.62 crore on the NSE alone. “There seems to be excessive speculation in the Satyam counter. The exchanges and the SEBI should do something to curb manipulation in the share prices,” said a dealer.

Fluctuations in Satyam Computer and Infosys Technologies were pronounced during the day. The Satyam counter saw a sudden gain pulling the stock closer to the upper circuit. This was followed by a Rs 500 gain in the Infosys counter. Some other software scrips too followed suit. But during the end of the day’s trading, most of these counters were down, some even closing with net losses over their respective previous closes. Infosys and Pentafour also registered a huge turnover.

The Zee stock split also created excitement on the exchanges. Zee fluctuated in an unprecedented range of Rs 7100 and Rs 6282 (against the last close of Rs 6831.55) and closed with a sizeable loss of Rs 546.50. The stock split led to an unprecedented activity in the scrip, dealers said.

The board of Zee had earlier decided to sub-divide the shares to face value of Re one per share from Rs 10 per share. The stock split had boosted liquidity in the scrip.