After price surge, trading in Indian bourses reaches record volumes

Wednesday, 20 May 2009, 15:04 IST   |    2 Comments
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Mumbai: A day after Indian equities markets were caught in a frenzy that saw key indices shoot up over 17 percent, Tuesday saw traders lapping up stocks leading to volumes touching record highs. About 1,57,000 shares were traded with more than 100,000 being in the futures and options space. Over 40,000 scrips changed hands on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), while the number of shares traded on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) crossed 11,760. The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the BSE, which opened at 14,757.82 points, fluctuated over a 1,000-point range to finally end 17.82 points higher than its previous close. The S&P CNX Nifty of the NSE lost 0.11 percent to close at 4,318.45 points. Broader market indices also ended in the positive terrain, with the BSE midcap index moving up 3.6 percent, while the BSE smallcap index was up 2.52 percent. The Sensex touched an intra-day high of 14,930.54 points and a low of 13,834.13. Of the 13 sectoral indices on the BSE, the index for realty and banking stocks made good progress with realty stocks doing particularly well. The index for IT and telecom scrips lost the most. Among the top gainers on the Sensex were DLF, up 19.36 percent at 3840.70; SBI, up 11.19 percent at 1,754.45; Reliance Communications, up 10.54 percent at 315.70; and Grasim Industries, up 9.5 percent at 2,289.40. Losers included Infosys, down 11.65 percent at 1,563.75; Wipro, down 9.13 percent at 385.90; TCS, down 8.15 percent at 672.15; and Ranbaxy, down 6.4 percent at 209.75. The overall market breadth was positive, with 1,927 scrips advancing, 739 declining and 48 remaining unchanged. Data with the market watchdog, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), showed foreign funds only bought about $11.1 million of equities compared to $201.9 million bought Monday. The NSE's Volatility Index - a measure of the market's expectation of volatility over the short term - stood at 50.53 points as of Monday, significantly higher than the 35-point mark that indicates risk. Other Asian markets did well, with Tokyo markets ending trade on a high and a key index, the Nikkei, closing 251.6 points in the green at 9,290.29 points. The Hang Seng, the primary index of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, also ended in positive terrain at 17,544.03 points, up 521.12 points. European markets too were trading in the green with the FTSE in Britain ruling 31.78 points up to 4,478.23 points and its French peer CAC 40 trading 35.85 points higher at 3,281.24 points.
Source: IANS