Listless deals on BSE

MUMBAI, MARCH 26. The benchmark closed around 3636.32 today, little changed from last Friday's closing of 3635.28, in listless dealings and extremely thin volumes on the Bombay Stock Exchange, as a holiday mood prevailed due to the closure of major domestic institutions for Gudi Padwa. Meanwhile, select technology counters recovered smartly on the back of firm Nasdaq advices.

The total volume of business on the BSE was pegged at a new 16- month low at Rs. 744.20 crores. The exchange had earlier recorded a low turnover of Rs. 746.48 crores on November 7, 1999. However, foreign institutional investors, who were net buyers in the last week, reportedly purchased shares of Infosys Technologies, Satyam Computer, Digital Equipment, Polaris Software, SSI and Reliance Industries.

The positive reversal in technology shares was attributed to a smart rally in the Nasdaq composite index which showed some signs of relief after heavy battering, gaining by over 98 points in the last two days.

Cement shares continued to reel under pressure on reports of low offtake while pharma stocks displayed a mixed bag.

Reflecting the low key activity, the BSE Sensex opened slightly better at 3640.47 and gyrated in a small range of 3654.04 and 3600.39, before closing at 3636.32 against last Friday's close of 3635.28, a small gain of 1.04 points. The BSE-100 index also improved by 4.15 points to 1718.69 from 1714.54.

Meanwhile, the BSE has promoted 34 B-group scrips to the A-group from today of which 28 shares recorded handsome gains.

- PTI

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