Relief buying breather

STOCKS REPORT

Despite a weak opening and a 43-point fall to an intra-day low of 5154.32, the Bombay Stock Exchange Sensex witnessed a relief rally from lower levels, to hit a high of 5240.29 points on Monday.

Sensex finally closed at 5233.21, up 0.70 per cent (36.22 points) over Friday's close, but volumes remained low.

Blue-chips were in the focus on Monday, with 21 out of the 30 scrips in the Sensex basket closing higher. The gainers outpaced losers 11:7 on the BSE.

The BSE Bankex was the biggest gainer, up 1.62 per cent, followed by the capital goods sector index, up 0.95 per cent and the consumer durables sector index was up 0.82 per cent. The BSE PSU index was the lone loser, down 0.09 per cent.

The BSE IT sector index continued to attract investor attention, up 0.71 per cent. Players said that the market is buying tech scrips, enthused by the excellent response to the recently closed TCS public issue.

Brokers said that relief buying was seen after Friday's fall due to inflation concerns. Players are optimistic, encouraged by a revival in the monsoon and a positive response to the TCS float. They added that the Sensex is likely to remain range-bound due to concerns over inflation and high oil prices.