FII buying, monsoon revival boost sentiment

FII buying, monsoon revival boost sentiment
The Hindu Business Line, September 8, 2009, Page 1

Our Bureau, Mumbai

The bellwether BSE Sensex on Monday closed above the psychological 16,000-mark for the first time in 15 months on the back of revival in the South-West monsoon, positive global cues and strong FII support. It closed at 16,016, a gain of 327 points or 2 per cent over the previous close.

The NSE Nifty closed at 4,783, a level that was last seen in June 2008. The BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices continued to outperform the benchmarks.

The positive trading momentum was sustained as later in the day the European markets opened in the green. “With the G-20 Finance Ministers agreeing to keep stimulus measures going till there is full economic recovery, the global as well as domestic markets received buying support,” said a broker.

Positive momentum

FIIs bought (net) shares aggregating Rs 1,060 crore, according to the provisional data from stock exchanges. In the first four days of trading this month, FIIs were net sellers.

Select BSE sectoral indices netted gains: Realty (5.49 per cent), Metal (3.95 per cent), Bank (3.10 per cent), Consumer Durables (2.70 per cent) and Automobile (2.45 per cent) .

“Revival of the monsoon, and good response to Oil India IPO on the first day were among the domestic factors that boosted sentiments,” said Mr Mehraboom J. Irani, Senior Vice-President, FCH Centrum Wealth Managers.

“Some of the domestic institutional investors, including insurance companies and bank treasuries bought shares,” Ms Anita Gandhi, a market participant said. They were net buyers to the tune of Rs 150 crore. Proprietary traders (brokers) on the BSE too were net buyers of equities worth Rs 97.5 crore. However, on the BSE, retail investors booked profits, selling (net) Rs 290 crore.