Software, pharma lead bull rally

MUMBAI, FEB 17: Share values broke a two-day correction phase on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) today as pharma shares joined software in...

MUMBAI, FEB 17: Share values broke a two-day correction phase on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) today as pharma shares joined software in driving Sensex up by nearly two per cent, or 109.65 points higher. Tech shares like Infosys Technologies and pharma scrips like Ranbaxy Laboratories and Glaxo India triggered the bull rally.

Sensex (BSE sensitive index) started higher at 5810.24 and moved between 5877.04 and 5799.79 before closing at 5835.15 with a sizeable gain of 109.65 points against previous level of 5725.50. The BSE-100 index gained 130.19 points to 3649.37 from the last closing of 3519.18. Brokers said pharma and select cyclical and consumer shares rose sharply, playing `catch-up’ with software shares which had witnessed most of the action during last week’s rally. Wipro and Satyam stole the show by registering gains of over Rs 600 and Rs 300 respectively.

The market activity was more broad-based and stronger, dealers said. Advances beat decliners 1,147 to 757 for the first time in seven days. Pharma scrips surged in afternoon deals buoyed by reports of sops for research & development (R&D) in the 2000/2001 budget. Pharma shares had lagged behind in last week’s rally offering good prices for value-hunters, dealers said.

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Ranbaxy Laboratories rose 5.97 per cent to Rs 984, Glaxo India touched Rs 598.80, up 6.92 per cent ahead of its full year results. Cipla surged 7.99 per cent to Rs 1,252.80. Dr Reddy’s Laboratories also rose eight per cent at Rs 1,479.55. "The sector has been beaten down for long. Fund managers are putting in money and pharma seems to be the next best sector," said an analyst.

Software gained further ground with Infosys Technologies rising 3.18 per cent to 10,266.70. Wipro Ltd rose eight per cent to Rs 8,251.50, while Satyam Infoway also hit the circuit breaker limit at 4,326. The BSE said it had revised its trade timings for Friday to accomodate the carry forward or "badla" session advanced from Saturday. The exchange will open for trading from 9:30 am and close at 1:30 pm. The badla session will be from 5:45 pm to 7:45 pm. The badla session has been advanced because of a holiday on Saturday to mark the birth anniversary of Chhatrapati Shivaji.

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