Values improve further

MUMBAI, Aug 1: Select pivotals moved up further on the Bombay Stock Exchange today mainly on emergence of short covering and limited buying...

MUMBAI, Aug 1: Select pivotals moved up further on the Bombay Stock Exchange today mainly on emergence of short covering and limited buying support by foreign institutional investors FIIs. Resuming steady, shares led by ITC, Bajaj Auto, Castrol, Tata Tea etc spurted as the session progressed.

The BSE sensitive index spurted further by 41.56 points to close at 4347.32 from the previous level of 4305.76. The BSE-100 index also rose by 18.38 points to 1891.90 from previous closing of 1873.68.

Brokers said despite selling pressure by UTI in the ITC counter, operators and foreign funds absorbed all the sales and even made more purchases which brokers attributed to the company8217;s excellent performance in the first quarter. Operators also squared off their short positions as the scrip was coming out of the no-delivery period today.

Other pivotals like Reliance, Bajaj Auto, ACC, Hindustan Lever and BHEL scored sharp upswings. Castrol remained in the limelight on expectation of bonus issue by the company ahead of its board meeting on August 5. Foreign funds also purchased Asian Paints pushing the scrip substantially higher.

ITC remained the most active share with a turnover of Rs 346.58 crore of the total volume of business of Rs 1100.76 crore. Other active scrips were Reliance Rs 231.66 crore, SBI Rs 83.53 crore, Tata Steel Rs 78.05 crore and TELCO Rs 40.40 crore. ITC recorded a sharp gain of Rs 24 at Rs 539. Reliance moved up by Rs 3.25 to 360.50, Bajaj Auto gained Rs 29.50, BHEL Rs 16, Hindalco Rs 23.75 and Ranbaxy Rs 26. However, SBI dipped by Rs 3 to Rs 320 and Tata Steel was down at Rs 217.75. TELCO was well maintained at Rs 390.

On the NSE, pivotals improved further with the volumes rising to Rs 2,488.22 crore on sustained purchases by foreign funds coupled with speculative buying. The NSE-50 started higher at 1224.40 and closed 1232.40, showing a good gain of 10.90. The Midcap opened better at 1322.20 and closed at 1330.55, displaying a rise of 8.55.