The Hindu Business Line : `Shourie factor' lifts Sensex 155

Led by rallies in technology and auto stocks — but buoyed above all by the `Shourie factor' — the 30-share BSE benchmark closed today with a 2.75 per cent or 155.66-point gain at 5823.17.

S&P CNX Nifty, the 50-share indicator of the NSE, rose 2.95 per cent to 1852.70 compared to its previous close of 1800.

HAPPY SMILES inside a broker's office as the BSE bellwether index jingles on Monday. — Paul Noronha

"The market drew comfort from the fact that the Government's sell-off programme went off smoothly. All the issues on the block were oversubscribed and the ONGC issue is also expected to sail through. But thin volumes remain a worry," a dealer with a private bank said.

Total trading volume on the BSE stood at only about Rs 2,100 crore compared to last week's average of close to Rs 3,000 crore. The volume on the NSE was about Rs 4,900 crore. On Friday, NSE trades totalled about Rs 5,560 crore.

The Disinvestment Minister, Mr Arun Shourie, and his merchant bankers appear to have buried the hatchet over "orchestrated bear hammering" in PSU stocks, as they went into a huddle in a hotel in uptown Mumbai to draw up the route-map for the ONGC road-show. Emerging from the meeting, the Minister told newspersons that the feedback from pre-bid conferences was encouraging and he was optimistic about the response to the offering.

"Investors reckon that stock prices will hold up at least until the Government finishes selling its stock. Until the ONGC issue closes, the market will remain firm," a dealer with a local broking firm said.

Contributors to today's showing included PSU firms' stocks. The BSE PSU index shot up 3.72 per cent to end the day at 3772. Shares of all disinvestment candidates, except IPCL were up today. ONGC shares gained more than 6 per cent to close at Rs 760 per share and the GAIL India stock ended the day with a 1.3 per cent gain at Rs 204.55, while IBP Company shares rose 1.2 per cent to close at Rs 662.60 apiece. The Government announced Rs 485 per share as the cut-off price of CMC Ltd. The stock, however, closed at Rs 564.80 on the BSE.

It appears to be an uneasy calm however. Several dealers concurred with a view that the market is poised to fall to lower levels, the Sensex slipping to somewhere near 5300.

However, all moves today were not on the fragile feel-good factor. Auto stocks rallied after Hero Honda reported a 52-per cent rise in two-wheeler sales for the month of February. Maruti Udyog reported a 62 per cent rise in car sales for the same month.

Besides strong buying, mainly institutional, in technology stocks such as Infosys, HCL Tech and Satyam lifted the indices. The BSETECk index rose 4.3 per cent to close at 1250.41 while its counterpart on the NSE, the CNX IT, rose more than 3 per cent.

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