The Hindu Business Line : Sensex gains 472 points as PN norms set in

Mumbai, Oct. 26 The market appeared to have taken SEBI’s regulations in its stride as the Sensex gained 472 points on Friday, when the restrictions on Participatory Notes actually became operational.

The index closed at 19,243.17, gaining 2.52 per cent.

However, the rise was despite FIIs being net sellers for Rs 1,237.35 crore (provisionally) on BSE and NSE.

“Those PN writers who have to unwind their positions as per the new regulations have started to square off their positions,” said the head of an equities research group.

“This is a transitional phase for many FIIs, and we saw domestic institutions moving in, perceiving an opportunity to invest,” said an official with a broking house.

Domestic institutional buyers pulled up the markets, being net buyers for Rs 965.96 crore, the highest amount for several weeks now.

For the fourth consecutive day advances continued to outnumber declines. The former were at 1737, and the latter at 1029.

The BSE Capital Goods Index gained a whopping 7.08 per cent. BSE PSU was up 3.93 per cent, Bankex 3.52 per cent, and Metal 1.95 per cent.

“CG was up because Indian infrastructure companies have good order book positions,” said an analyst with a Mumbai-based brokerage firm.

“Metal prices are quite firm both internationally and domestically and the sector has shown good results,” said Ms Shahina Mukadam, Head-Research, IDBI Capital Market Services Ltd. As for the banking sector, core earnings are growing; and so is corporate credit, said Mr Harendra Kumar, Head, Research, ICICI-Direct. The major gainers included L&T (up 12.16 per cent); SBI (7.17 per cent), BHEL (6.22 per cent), Mahindra & Mahindra (3.78 per cent), and ONGC (3.77 per cent).