The Hindu Business Line : Sensex up, not turnover

Chennai, July 12 The rise of the BSE Sensex beyond 15,000 on July 9, up 20 per cent from April 2, 2007, seems to have been the spontaneous result of the rough and tumble of the market. This time around, only the Sensex increased, the turnover remained flat. Since there is no increase in the money being pumped in, there is less to lose.

Over the first five working days of April 2007, average daily turnover of Sensex stocks (30 Sensex constituents) at the two bourses (BSE and NSE) was Rs 3,800 crore, as against Rs 4,100 crore over the first five days of July.

Turnover on July 9, the day on which the Sensex crossed the psychological 15K-mark, was Rs 3,800 crore. Things were different in 2006 when the Sensex increased 33 per cent from 9390 on the first working day of January to 12,514 on May 9. Daily turnover of the Sensex stocks in 2006 increased together with the index, from an average of Rs 4,200 crore in Jan-Feb to Rs 5,800 crore in March-April, a whopping surge of 38 per cent in turnover.

The index then plummeted 30 per cent in 26 working days, while turnover rose to a ten-day average of Rs 6,800 crore, before falling back to pre-crash levels.