Sensex bounces back by 123 points

FIIs, which had been pumping in funds since the beginning of the current month, were reportedly heavy net buyers in IT and pharma sectors. Domestic institutions too made purchases in good quantity in cyclicals. The sentiment was also aided by short-covering on the last day of the current settlement on the National Stock Exchange.

Sensex opened subdued at 3816.13 but rebounded from that level to hit the intra-day high of 3952.39 in a sustained upsurge before ending at 3943.54 as against yesterday’s close of 3820.08, scoring a net rise of 123 points or 3.23 per cent. The BSE-100 Index spurted by 67.47 points to 2007.85 from previous close of 1940.38.

In the specified group, only eight scrips recorded fractional losses. Himachal Futuristic rose by 112.25 to 1292.90. Satyam Computer was up by 35.45 at 363.05, Global Tele by 66.45 at 1077.60, Infosys Tech by 286.85 at 7658.40, Zee Tele by 12.40 at 277.55, ACC by 4.85 at 111.10, BHEL by 6.50 at 129.05, Glaxo by 12.35 at 434.40, Grasim by 8.25 at 215.95, GACL by 5.80 at 143.85, HLL by 2.40 at 187.20, HPCL by 10.30 at 132.20, ITC by 11.80 at 767.50, L&T by 7.10 at 162.15 MTNL by 8.20 at 174.20, NIIT by 73.35 at 1625.80, Ranbaxy by 44.05 at 798.20, RIL by 8.65 at 311, SBI by 3.35 at 169, TELCO by 2.55 at 77.65 and TISCO by 4.35 at 108.30.

"It seems that Nasdaq is bottoming out and with the probability of Mr Bush taking over the reins of the US presidency increasing, putting an end to unprecedented political uncertainty, the FIIs are increasing their exposure in local markets. Based on this, there was a lot of value based buying witnessed in refinery stocks particularly in PSU scrips," said a dealer.

Rupee fall continues despite IMD

MUMBAI: Notwithstanding the SBI’s India Millennium Deposit issue, the Indian rupee continued its week-long softening trend against the US greenback and ended further lower by three paise at 46.7850/7950 on corporate dollar demand, triggered by the firm trend in oil prices, at the interbank foreign exchange (forex) market today.

The rupee which continued its mild weakening trend since last Monday, fell by 18 paise in seven straight trading sessions from 46.60/62 to 46.7850/7950. Even though SBI raised $ 5.2 billion from abroad, the rupee has not benefited from the issue, dealers said.

The Indian unit opened steady at 46.75/76, which itself was high of the day, slowly moved southwards on mismatching dollar demand and supply. Though the market witnessed good dollar supply by exporters and foreign funds, the import demand was higher, putting pressure on the rupee. Some nationalised banks, which reported bought dollar in the morning, later sold it at 46.78/79 level, dealers said.