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Stocks gain over the week

With great hopes of more market friendly policies by the new coalition government led by the Bharatiya Janata Party and and its allies at the Centre, the Bombay Stock Exchange Sensex surpassed the crucial 3800 mark, gaining about 134 points on continuous buying support from institutional investors in the index-based scrips during the week ended March 20.

The market opened on a firm note and reported gains every day baring one. The foreign institutional investors were active in buying in bluechips while the domestic institutional investors who were at the forefront at the beginning preferred to stay away from the market in view of financial year-end.

The FIIs made purchases in Foreign Exchange Regulation Act companies.

Reflecting the firm trend, the BSE Sensitive index gained by 133.90 points at 3840.40 points as against the previous week's close of 3716.50 points.

The BSE-100 index registered an handsome gain of 62.02 points to 1664.97 points as against the previous close of 1602.95 points.

The BSE-200 and Dollex indices gained by 13.58 and 5.61 points to 367.92 and 154.92 points as against the previous week's close of 354.34 and 149.31 points.

The total turnover on the BSE rose by Rs 2 billion to Rs 50.3 billion against Rs 48.3 billion.

The market was happy on the appointment of Atal Bihari Vajpayee as prime minister and also expressed satisfaction on the new finance minister Yashwant Sinha.

The assurance of further reforms and speedy economic development by both the prime minister and finance minister brightened their hopes, leading BSE brokers said.

ACC, TELCO, and HDFC were the major gainers during the week.

On Monday, the market opened on a steady note and turned volatile when institutional investors made hectic buying in bluechips. The BSE Sensex jumped by 68.73 points to 3785.23 points. The Sensex added further six points on Wednesday to close at 3791.17 points. The Sensex crossed the psychological barrier of 3800 to close at 3825.02 points by gaining 33.85 points but suffered a marginal setback on Thursday when it was down by about six points. However, it recovered and firmed up to close on 3840.40 points on Friday.

A similar trend was witnessed on the National Stock Exchange. The NSE-50 index closed higher by 32.10 points at 1109.60 points.

The Dollar NSE-50 index rose by 27.80 points to 972.90 points as against the previous close of 945.10 points. The Midcap index also registered an handsome gain of 72.40 points to 1302.50 points during the week.

Total turnover on the NSE increased by Rs 2 billion to Rs 66.3 billion as against the previous week's turnover of Rs 64.3 billion.

UNI