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FIIs buy pharma, FMCG shares; Sensex up 18 points

Equities gained on satisfactory performance registered by corporates during the quarter ended December 31, 1998, while the Brazilian economic turmoil did not have an impact on the stock markets, which showed an uptrend during the week ended January 29.

The FIIs continued to hog the limelight by purchasing fresh quantities of pharma and fast-moving consumer goods shares at the bourses.

Reflecting the bullish mood, the BSE-30 Sensitive Index gained by 17.71 points to end at 3,315.57 on Friday from the last week's close of 3,297.86. The Sensex touched the 3,400 mark on Wednesday, but on profit-taking by public financial institutions at higher levels, it registered a mild fall during the later part of the week. Marketmen informed that the domestic operators were in an oversold territory during the week, which they squared up on Friday, the last day of the current trading cycle, allowing the Sensex to register a moderate gain on that day.

The broad-based BSE-100 index rose by 3.18 points to 1461.52 as against the previous week's close of 1458.34.

According to fund managers, the Sensex could in the coming weeks cross the 3400-mark as FIIs would continue their buying spree. ''The FIIs would allocate higher capital to the Indian bourses as they are shaken by the Brazilian turmoil and cautious after the east Asian economic crisis,'' said a manager with a mutual fund.

The total turnover on the BOLT network of the BSE was Rs 60.67 billion in the four-day week as against Rs 66.39 billion last week.

The BSE-200 and Dollex indices rose marginally by 0.68 and 0.30 points during the week to end at 338.05 and 132.43 respectively.

Even though the Reserve Bank of India has disallowed any fresh purchases by the FIIs in Pentafour and Satyam Computers as the FIIs have reached the limit allowed, the two stocks remained in the forefront in terms of turnover volumes.

The scrip of Hindustan Lever spurted on Friday on speculation of a bonus issue.

The National Stock Exchange reported a mixed trend, as the indices maintained their previous levels, even as the S&P CNX Nifty Index declined slightly during the period under review.

The S&P CNX Nifty Index fell by one point to 966.20 as against last week's close of 967.20.

The S&P CNX Nifty Junior rose by 11.70 points to 1692.50, while the CNX Defty closed lower by 0.75 points at 787.70.

The CNX-500 rose by 3.06 to end at 673.86, while the CNX Midcap-200 indices fell by 0.65 points to close at 589.72.

UNI

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