Infosys rallies in low key activity

MUMBAI, MARCH 24. Except for a smart upsurge in Infosys Technologies that helped the Sensex to recover marginally by over 26 points, the general trend on the Bombay Stock Exchange today remained depressed with share values registering all-round declines.

The main reason behind the sharp rally in Infosys was due to short-covering and fairly good support from foreign funds, which was responsible in pushing the Sensex in positive territory.

The cash section also showed sharp to moderate losses, despite a sustained recovery for the third consecutive day on the Nasdaq stock market.

Truncated trading hours on the last day of the current settlement and ahead of the visit of the U.S. President, Mr. Bill Clinton, later this evening saw business activity at a low key and directionless. The market closed early at 11.40 a.m. as against the normal closing time of 3.30 p.m..

The recent favoured old economy stocks suffered a further setback on profit-selling by local institutions and mutual funds while few software companies attracted stray buying.

The 30-share BSE sensitive index opened lower at 5083.17 and moved in the range of 5203.93 and 5052.74 before closing at 5141.42 against yesterday's close of 5115.02, netting a rise of 26.40 points.In the specified section, Gujarat Ambuja Cement and United Phosphorus closed at the lower price band among the 100 losers while Global Tele were locked at the upper circuit breaker within the 37 gainers.

Satyam Computer remained the most active with a turnover of Rs. 507.31 crores of the total volume of business of Rs. 2,544.78 crores.

- PTI

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