Speculative buying by local punters coupled with select purchases by some US and Hong Kong-based institutions pushed the BSE Sensitive index sharply by 127.12 points, beyond the psychological 3500-mark. The sensex closed at 3562.74 against its Friday close of 3435.62, representing a rise of nearly 4 per cent over the previous level.
Bell-wether scrips like Reliance, ITC, State Bank of India and Tisco witnessed hectic trading activity yesterday. Reliance, which was actively traded throughout the day, touched its 52-week high of Rs 275 during intra-day trading at the BSE and NSE but closed marginally lower.
Trading activity was particularly high in SBI and Tisco yesterday, both of which touched levels that triggered the circuit filter on the NSE. Tisco came under the circuit breaker at Rs 208 on the BSE and the NSE price filter at Rs 205. The SBI stock had also touched the NSE price filter at Rs 294.75, brokers said. On the kerb, stock prices were steady with RIL ruling at Rs 273, SBI at Rs 293, Tisco at Rs 212 and ITC at Rs 402.
The NSE-50 index moved up appreciably to close the day at 1009.15, 23.25 points higher than its previous close of 985.90. The trading sentiments were bullish largely on account of the prime ministers visit to the city yesterday. Market circles were hopeful that an announcement relating to a capital markets revival package would be made at the earliest.
Meanwhile, the FIIs have been net buyers through most of last week, as figures available through the BSE show. While the markets have fluctuated sharply, the trading interest from FIIs has not waned. In fact, they have been net buyers at the BSE with relatively large trading volumes. On January 22, FII purchases stood at Rs 61 crore while sales stood at Rs 25 crore, recording net sales of Rs 36 crore. On Friday, when the markets reopened again, the FII purchases stood at Rs 35 crore and sales at Rs 17 crore, thereby being net buyers for Rs 18 crore.
