Sensex up in volatile trade
MUMBAI: In a high volatility, the BSE benchmark Sensex ended higher by 85 points on buying in heavyweights mainly in Reliance Industries (RIL) and Infosys Tech in view of persistent capital inflows coupled with higher global cues.
Eleven out of 13 sectoral indices closed with gains between 0.09 and 3.00 per cent while BSE-HC and Bankex ended in negative terrain. Consumer durable, realty, IT, metal, power, refinery and capital goods were at the forefront.
The BSE benchmark Sensex resumed higher at 17,631.69 and hovered in a wide range of 17,809.21 and 17,579.59 before settling the day at 17,707.32, showing a gain of 84.87 points or 0.48 per cent from its last close. The NSE-50 share nifty also moved up by 33.00 points or 0.62 per cent to finish at 5,368.15.
Overseas investors bought a net Rs6.92 billion ($141.5 million) of Indian equities on Tuesday, raising their investment in the equities this year to Rs180 billion, according to the nation’s market regulator.
Foreigners bought Rs28.9 billion of shares and sold Rs22 billion, the Securities & Exchange Board of India said on its website yesterday. They sold a net Rs3.35 billion of bonds, paring total inflow into debt this year to Rs159.4 billion, the data shows. The flows helped the benchmark BSE India Sensitive Index post its best January gain since 1994 and fuelled the rupee’s record monthly advance. They invested Rs421 billion in bonds last year.
Foreigners have invested Rs4.624 trillion in stocks and Rs1.367 trillion in bonds since they were allowed into the country in 1993. Investments in debt increased after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s government raised the cap on foreign ownership of local currency bonds by 20 per cent to $60 billion in November to stem a slide in the rupee. The currency tumbled 16 per cent in 2011, Asia’s worst performer.
India’s $1.2 trillion stock market is influenced by flows from overseas. Inflows from abroad surged to a record in 2010, making the Sensex the best performer among the world’s top 10 markets.