Bearish trend persists on Lyons Range

By A Special Correspondent

KOLKATA, JULY 22. The bear grip on the Calcutta Stock Exchange that was in evidence in the early part persisted throughout the week as operators were rather disappointed by the results from the leading software education company, NIIT. The indices consequently stayed in the negative territory during all the trading sessions of the week following erosion in prices, especially of index weighted shares.

The overseas market also remained depressed adding to the downward course in share values. The pessimistic observations of Mr. Alan Greenspan on U.S. economy had its impact on sentiment in the U.S. markets which in turn affected other global bourses too though he was willing to consider further reduction in the bank rate.

The much trumpeted Agra summit between India and Pakistan also turned rather disappointing in terms of actual achievements with the result that the bourses in general failed to come back from the bearish mood. On top of this, came the reports of raids by the CBI at the offices and residences of the officials of the Unit Trust of India and eventual detention of its former chairman in connection with the recent problems that overtook the institutions flagship scheme, U.S. 64. The report in this connection set off fresh selling pressure in the market on Friday causing further damages to share values.

The BSE sensex plunged to close at 3340.75 points against 3478.11 points in the previous week while the CSE's 40-share index dipped to 1764.47 points from 1812.88 points. Virtually all leading shares posted losses, the exceptions being ITC which settled at Rs. 790.90 (Rs. 777.30), ACC at Rs. 140.20 (Rs. 139.30) and Gujarat Ambuja Cement at Rs. 185.10 (Rs. 183.00). Worst hit were the technology counters some of which finished sharply down. NIIT, Satyam Computer, Himachal Futuristic, Global Telesystem and Zee Tele all lost ground. Hindustan Lever which had been sought after a week ago also encountered profit booking which wiped off part of the gains to be pegged at Rs.215.60

With no fresh development to provide some prop to the sentiment of the market, chances of a reversal of the trend in the share values are remote, said a leading operator.

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Section  : Business
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