Sensex welcomes new year with 63-point rise

After losing over 24 per cent in 2011,the BSE Sensex rose 0.4 per cent in choppy new year trading as investors cheered a government

After losing over 24 per cent in 2011,the BSE Sensex rose 0.4 per cent in choppy new year trading on Monday as investors cheered a government decision to allow foreigners to directly buy stocks. However,the market remained unconvinced about risk appetite amid worries over the global economy.

The Sensex resumed firm but fell sharply. The sentiment improved later and the index ended at 15,517.92,up 63 points or 0.41 per cent. In the last four sessions,it had tumbled by 515.83 points or 3.23 per cent. The broader NSE 50-issue index Nifty gained 12.45 points or 0.27 per cent to 4,636.75.

Most of the Asian markets remained closed on account of holidays and did not offer any firm cues to investors. Steady openings in Europe helped improve the sentiment,although trading remained thin.

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Indian bourses started the first trading session of the year 2012 on a cautious and a choppy note. In the absence of any major overseas cues,the Sensex opened on a soft note. Despite positive news of the government allowing overseas individual investors to directly buy or sell local equities,the start was a bit timid, said Shanu Goel of Bonanza Portfolio.

The government had on Sunday decided allow Qualified Foreign Investors to directly invest in the Indian equity market from January 15,to attract more foreign funds against the backdrop of significant foreign capital outflows.

This is a very significant step. We were looking at how to increase inflows in the market… the good thing is that unlike FII money,which is deemed to be hot money,people will put money in this for a longer period of time, Department of Economic Affairs Secretary R Gopalan said on Monday.

He described the latest step as a way of creating an enabling environment for Qualified Foreign Investors to come into the market and take part in equity.

RIL regains most-valued status

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Billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries on Monday regained its position as the countrys most-valued company and pushed Tata group firm TCS to the second slot. TCS had dethroned RIL from the pole position in market-valuation charts on December 30,the last trading session of 2011,but its leadership position proved to be short-lived and it slipped to the second position on Mondays trading session the first of 2012.

At the end of Mondays trade,RIL commanded a market value of Rs 2,31,487 crore,higher than TCS Rs 2,30,609 crore. TCS shares on Monday gained 1.5 per cent to close at Rs 1178.25,but the RIL stock registered a smarter gain of 2.03 per cent to close at Rs 706.95. PTI