Turnover hits year's low

BSE & NSE cash and F&O turnover at Rs 20,109 cr ahead of Fed meet.

The stock market posted its lowest turnover for the calendar year on Monday as most market participants stayed on the sidelines ahead of the US Federal Reserve meeting on Tuesday to decide on interest rates.

The combined turnover for cash segments and derivatives in BSE and NSE on Monday was Rs 20,109.34 crore, the lowest in 2006, analysts said.

"There was lack of participation in the market by foreign institutional investors and mutual funds," said Dalpat Mehta, equity analyst with Religare Securities.

"Volumes are expected to remain low on Tuesday as well as the final outcome of USFed meeting will be known only early Wednesday," he said.

While the NSE cash and derivatives turnover for Monday stood at Rs 4,137.78 crore and Rs 13,930.10 crore respectively, the BSE cash volume during the session was Rs 2,041.46 crore.

Provisional figures at the NSE showed that FIIs were net buyers for Rs 122.91 crore in cash segment on Monday on total transactions worth Rs 1,869.65 crore.

"Though the US employment figures released last week are not encouraging, people are expecting that there will not be a rate hike. Still, investors are not taking any chances as a hike in rate will impact the market very badly," said Pankaj Namdharni of SPA Securities.

Analysts said rains in Mumbai also led to low trading volumes on the bourses as several day traders stayed away from the market on Monday.