Runaway bulls force Sensex, Nifty to halt

By siliconindia   |   Monday, 18 May 2009, 23:07 IST   |    7 Comments
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Runaway bulls force Sensex, Nifty to halt
Mumbai: The trading at Indian stock markets were suspended for the day as intense buying by investors pushed key indices to hit the upper circuit filter (an in-built mechanism to curb excessive volatility) twice on Monday, the first day of trading after the Lok Sabha election results were declared. This was for the first time trading was suspended for the day at both the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and the National Stock Exchange (NSE) because their key indices surpassed the upper limit. Though the 30-share sensitive index (Sensex) of the BSE stood at 13,479.39 points, with a gain of 1,305.97 points or 10.72 percent over the previous close at the opening bell on Monday, the index immediately shot up further with the gains amounting to 14.7 percent over the previous close, hitting the upper circuit filter of 13,963.3 points, forcing the authorities to suspend trading by two hours till 11:55 a.m. But when the trading resumed, it took just one second for the key index to hit the next level of circuit filter, causing an automatic suspension of trading for the day. The gains amounted to 2,099.21 points, or 17.24 percent, for the barometer index. Over the past month, the Sensex has gained 29.48 percent, or 3,249.54 points, of which more than 2,000 points was added Monday. The S&P CNX Nifty of the NSE just followed suit, with the Sensex surging 14.48 percent on opening to hit the upper circuit at 4,203.3 points, leading to a halt in trading. Once trading resumed at 11:55 a.m, the bullish trend continued. The index breached the upper circuit and trading had to be suspended for the day. The Nifty, which opened at 3,673.15 points, rose 17.33 percent or 636.4 points to close at 4,308.05 points. It closed Friday at 3,671.65 points. While only 842 stocks were traded on the BSE, 207 scrips changed hands on the NSE. The bullish trend is attributed to the Lok Sabha election results with UPA set to lead a stable government for the next five-year term.

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