Sensex rises 61 pts on back of old economy stocks
Mumbai: Following fresh purchases by foreign institutional investors in select heavyweight old economy stocks lifted the BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty by 61 and 22 points respectively. The Sensex gained 129 points in the last two trading sessions.

Apart from former blue chip IT shares like Infosys Technologies and Satyam Computers, other technology stocks were in keen demand and even surpassed the eight per cent upper circuit at close.

The index opened weak at 3231.94 and dipped further to a low of 3220.65 owing to a sharp fall in the Nasdaq Composite Index by about 52 points on Monday night. It later surged up strongly rising past the 3300-mark to close at 3312.29, a gain of 60.67 points. Nifty also followed suit on the last day of settlement on Tuesday by gaining 22.40 points to close at 1067.

Most of the major index stocks hit the upper circuit limit of 8 per cent, except Infosys and Satyam Comp. The buying witnessed at the bourses was across the board as all the sectoral indices of the exchange closed the day with moderate to huge gains. FIIs shifted their focus from new to the old economy stocks.

Market sources said continuous investments by FIIs also induced domestic financial institutions to make purchases in small lots. UTI was reportedly a good buyer at lower levels.

Dealers said the main reason for improvement in the sentiment was the shifting of focus of the recent capital market crisis from Mumbai to New Delhi. The finance minister is expected to table the report submitted by Sebi on alleged bear hammering during this week and this will determine the future course of the bourses, they added.

FIIs bottom fishing in old economy stocks also attracted the punters to these counters and the sentiment improved to such an extent that only four counters — L&T, Infosys Technologies, ITC and Satyam Computer — were the only (minor) losers among the index stocks while all the other counters closed the day with small to moderate gains.

Ashok Leyland was the top gainer in the specified group followed by India Cement, Global Telesystems and Pentamedia Graphics which were frozen at the upper circuit of 16 per cent. Other top gainers in the group included HCL Infosystems, Adani Export, HCL Technologies, Wipro and Silveline Technologies — all locked in the upper circuit of 8 per cent and above.

Among the top gainers in the old economy sector included Bhel (up by 10 per cent), Guajarat Ambuja Cement, Cipla, Glaxo, Tata Engg, HPCL and ACC (all with a moderate gain of 5 per cent and above).
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