Indian shares range bound as traders await poll results

Wednesday, 12 May 2004, 19:30 IST
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MUMBAI: After three successive days of major losses, Indian shares made some marginal gains Wednesday but the mood remained despondent as investors eagerly awaited the results of the just-concluded national elections. The barometer sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) opened weak at 5,296.25 points, compared with Tuesday's close of 5,325.90 points, but soon started moving up in a narrow range. The index touched an intra-day peak of 5,387.87 points on all round buying interest and finally settled at 5,358.35 points. At this level, the index was up 0.61 percent or 32.45 points over previous day's close. Compared with Tuesday when all the 30 stocks that comprise the Sensex traded in the negative territory, Wednesday saw only eight shares end lower. Twenty-two others ended higher. "The short-term outlook depends a lot on how easy or difficult it is for the two coalitions to form a government," said an analyst with a leading brokerage. "The market has to some extent discounted the possibility of a hung parliament. But if government formation involves the kind of political compromises we have seen in the past, it would be difficult to predict where the bottom lies." With exit polls predicting a hung parliament, both the Congress-led coalition and the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) began consultations with regional parties seeking their support. Elections were held for 543 seats and at least 272 seats are required to form a government. Among the Sensex stocks, Associated Cement was the top gainer and ended 3.61 percent higher at 277.20. Tata Motors followed with a 2.74 percent gain at 440.50. Other gainers included Tata Steel, up 2.73 percent at 315.70 and Larsen and Toubro, up 2.64 percent at 541.95. HDFC led the losers and lost 4.41 percent at 582.70 and Hindalco followed next losing 2.58 percent at 966.90. Other losers included Hinduatan Petroleum, which lost 2.29 percent at 409.30, Grasim, which lost 1.06 percent at 1,111.55 and HDFC Bank, which lost 0.87 percent at 368.40. Among the other Sensex heavyweights, ITC, Reliance and Gujarat Ambuja Cements also lost marginal ground. Fast-moving consumer goods counters fared well with major gains for Marico Industries, Godrej, Nirma and Hindustan Levers. Automobile ancillary stocks also witnessed selective buying which pushed up SKF Bearings, Sundram Fasteners and Bharat Forge.
Source: IANS