Meet outcome to set market tone

The outcome of the Reliance Industries' (RIL) board meeting on Monday will be a critical factor in deciding the mood of the markets in the last week of this calendar year. Last week, RIL was the biggest gainer on the Sensex, rising 9.05 per cent to close the week at Rs 523.60 on Friday.

"The board meeting on Monday will weigh heavy on the price movement of the scrip. The Reliance counter is a heavyweight and any large movement either way will have an impact on the market," a research head with a domestic brokerage house said.

Brokers said Reliance remained the biggest trigger in the market, which is already weighed down by year-end concerns. Foreign portfolio investment has been one of the main drivers of this rally, but inflows may be affected with many fund managers on a year-end holiday.

As it is, the December series of contracts in the futures and options segment expire on Thursday, and this, too, is bearing on the market.

Market sources added that a significant percentage of December contracts had been rolled over into the January series, indicating optimism for the New Year.

This, they said, was owing to expectations of a good corporate performance in the quarter ending December 31, 2004.

Among sectoral indices on the Bombay Stock Exchange, the BSE Metal index was the biggest gainer last week, which was up 5.80 per cent, followed by the BSE Oil & Gas index, up 4.92 per cent, and the BSE Consumer Durables index, gained 4.78 per cent.