Sensex up 52 points on institutional buying

MUMBAI, JUNE 29. The Sensex closed with a smart rise of 52 points following a sharp rally in key heavyweights on the Bombay Stock Exchange today on sustained purchases by foreign institutional investors coupled with buying by Indian financial institutions (IFIs).

While the BSE bid adieu to the age-old badla system and was preparing for the compulsory rolling settlement from July 2, traders were busy squaring up commitments at the last session not only of the current account but of the traditional carry forward system.

The BSE barometer opened slightly better at 3406.79 and later gradually moved upwards to the intra-day high of 3474.71 before ending at 3456.78 against yesterday's close of 3404.86, showing a net gain of 51.92 points or 1.52 per cent. The BSE-100 index firmed up by 20.45 points to 1630.02 from 1609.57.

The BSE benchmark would have been better placed, had it not been for operators and speculators who resorted to heavy liquidation in a last ditch attempt to wind up long positions made after May 14. Traders will have to take delivery of the remaining positions as per the Securities and Exchange Board of India guidelines.

The FIIs and IFIs, who absorbed almost all sales made by traders in some of the counters, were reportedly heavy buyers in Infosys Technologies, Hindustan Lever, BHEL, Reliance Industries and a few others that in turn, aided the Sensex to stage a smart recovery.

Meanwhile, the tech-laden Nasdaq composite index surged up strongly by over 50 points on the Wall Street yesterday.

In the specified group, 84 including 19 index-based counters registered sharp to moderate gains while 86 others finished with losses.

The BSE-200 and the Dollex were quoted up at 357.28 and 126.45 against 353.83 and 125.31 respectively. The BSE-500 improved by 10.09 points to 1050.43 from 1040.34.

The volume of business was still low but relatively better at Rs. 1,196.72 crores against Rs. 1,016 crores. Digital Equipment topped the list of highest traded shares with a turnover of Rs. 129.89 crores followed by Infosys (Rs. 123.41 crores), Wipro (Rs. 106.34 crores), Satyam Computer (Rs. 88.94 crores) and Global Telesystems (Rs. 50.72 crores).

- PTI

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