The capture of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein added fuel to Dalal Street’s bull band-wagon on Monday. The Bombay Stock Exchange Sensitive Index (Sensex) jumped 75.07 points, or 1.41 per cent, to 5,390.88, its best close since April 12, 2000. The BSE Sensex touched a low of 5,351.01 and a high of 5,399.08 in intra-day trades. The NSE S&P CNX Nifty Index jumped 25.05 points to 1,723.95.Unlike in the recent past, the market hardly displayed any volatility on Monday. It opened with a huge positive gap and traded in a narrow—yet firm— range for most part of the session.In Asian markets, Tokyo’s Nikkei average climbed 321.11 points, or 3.16 per cent, as the capture of Saddam Hussein helped soothe concerns over global security. Taiwan’s Taiwan Weighted Index was up 65.92 points, or 1.13 per cent, to 5,924.24 and Singapore’s Straits Times index rose 15.44 points to 1,743.17.Wall Street is also expected to open strong. Dow futures was trading 123 points higher at 10,133, Nasdaq futures were up 25.50 points at 1,448.On the other hand, foreign funds continued to pour money into Indian stocks. FIIs continued as net buyers on the bourses, putting in Rs 273.70 crore on Thursday (December 11, 2003). Despite the approach of the year-end, when FII activity usually slows down, there seems no let up in FII activity so far. Inflows by FIIs into equities in the first few days of December 2003 have now reached Rs 2,933.10 crore. Fund managers feel that Saddam’s capture will provide a general boost to equities around the world, as well as to the US dollar and treasuries. The news is expected to improve consumer sentiment in the US, which is India’s largest trading partner.
