Early gains not fully held on BSE

MUMBAI, MAY 2. The BSE benchmark 30-share index lost most of its early gains and closed with moderate gains as equities came under pressure in the latter part of the session on the Bombay Stock Exchange today due to profit booking by operators as well as domestic financial institutions.

The BSE sensitive index opened strong at 3565.53 and even rose further to the intra-day high of 3586.64 on good buying in new as well as old economy stocks on speculation that the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) would consider some relaxation on the recent decision by SEBI group on the rolling settlement to ban the carry forward products.

The BSE barometer later dropped to close at 3538.42 against Monday's close of 3519.16, netting a small rise of 19.26 points. The BSE-100 index also improved by 16.38 points to 1698.39 from 1682.01.

Market sources said operators and speculators who had entered into new commitments on expectations that the carry forward system would be allowed in the rolling settlement, booked profits after midsession in the absence of any news from the market regulator, board of which is to meet to deliberate on the carry forward mechanism.

The rally in the earlier part of the session was also aided by a stocks upsurge on the Wall Street for the third session in a row in the light of growing sentiment that the worst was over and that the Federal Reserve would cut rates for a fifth time this year when it meets on May 15, they added. The Nasdaq composite index advanced by more than 52 points yesterday.

Indian financial institutions were sellers in both old and new economy stocks. However, foreign institutional investors generally were sidelined.

In the specified group, 106 counters including 17 index based shares registered gains while 66 others closed with moderate losses.

- PTI

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Section  : Business
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