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Sustained fund inflows take Indian market higher for ninth day
Thursday, 09 October 2003, 19:30 IST
MUMBAI: Large-scale fund inflows into the Indian market on hopes of strong quarterly corporate earnings reports propelled the country's key share market index to a new three-year high Thursday.
The market opened strong after ending little changed in the previous two sessions, as investors rushed to buy shares of technology companies on hopes that most of the companies would post robust financial numbers for the July-September quarter.
Old economy stocks also joined the rally with investors betting on a sharply higher economic growth in the current fiscal year that is expected to boost demand for goods like cement and automobiles.
Reflecting the bullish sentiment, the stock market barometer 30-share Bombay Stock Exchange sensitive index or Sensex closed at 4,698.68, representing a gain of 63.82 points or 1.38 percent over its previous session's close.
Dealers said that the market mood was also boosted by reports that the Indian economy was likely to expand by over seven percent in the current fiscal, boosted by good monsoon rains and a sharp increase in industrial output.
The gross domestic product (GDP) growth will be over seven percent this year, Ashok Lahiri, the finance ministry's chief economic advisor, told a news conference in New Delhi.
India's agriculture-dependent economy grew by a moderate 4.3 percent in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2003, mainly due to a 3.1 percent fall in agriculture produce, as the worst drought in three decades ravaged large parts of the country.
Leading economic think tanks had earlier predicted that economic growth in the fiscal year 2003-04 would hover between six and 6.5 percent on the back of impressive farm output and increased industrial productivity.
Foreign institutional investors have also increased their investment in the local market in the last few sessions on hopes of robust corporate financial performance in the quarter ended September 30.
Foreign funds, which act as the backbone for India's liquidity starved capital market, bought shares worth $342 million in the first four days of the current month, as compared to a total inflow of $855 million in September.
A host of blue-chip Indian technology and old economy firms will start unveiling their July-September financial numbers from this week, kicking off the crucial quarterly earnings season.
Infosys Technologies, India's largest listed software exporter, will fire up the earnings season by announcing its July-September quarterly result on October 10.
Market traders closely track quarterly and annual fiscal results of heavyweights like Infosys and consumer goods giant Hindustan Lever to get some clue about industry's overall health.
In the old economy sector, shares of Grasim Industries rose 6.4 percent to 
727.40 and cement and engineering major Larsen and Toubro closed with a gain of nearly three percent at 360.50.
Gujarat Ambuja Cements ended 1.8 percent higher at 246.20 on hopes that the recent price hike announced by cement manufacturers would help companies to post impressive financial result.
Other major gainers in the sector included Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, Ranbaxy Laboratories, Cipla, ITC, State Bank of India, Hindustan Lever, Hindalco, and Tata Motors.
In the tech sector, HCL Technologies, a New Delhi-based software development and services major, rose 1.2 percent to 187.65 and Infosys Technologies, the largest listed software exporter, ended 0.9 percent higher at 4,433.85.
Source: IANS
727.40 and cement and engineering major Larsen and Toubro closed with a gain of nearly three percent at 360.50.
Gujarat Ambuja Cements ended 1.8 percent higher at 246.20 on hopes that the recent price hike announced by cement manufacturers would help companies to post impressive financial result.
Other major gainers in the sector included Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, Ranbaxy Laboratories, Cipla, ITC, State Bank of India, Hindustan Lever, Hindalco, and Tata Motors.
In the tech sector, HCL Technologies, a New Delhi-based software development and services major, rose 1.2 percent to 187.65 and Infosys Technologies, the largest listed software exporter, ended 0.9 percent higher at 4,433.85.
Source: IANS