Bulls in fine fettle at the BSE

Mumbai, Sept 28 (UNI) For the ninth consecutive session, the bulls continued their upsurge on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), catapulting the 30-scrip Sensex up by 140.54 points to settle higher at 17,291.10 after striking another life-time high of 17,361.47, buoyed by a larger than expected drop in inflation and a healthy rollover of derivatives positions.

The wholesale price index (inflation) further slipped to 3.23 per cent in the week ended Sept 15, lower than the previous week's 3.32 per cent, due to a fall in food prices, official data released today showed.

As per market data, marketwide rollover from this month's derivatives contracts to next month's contracts was 84 per cent as compared to rollover of 82.30 per cent from the previous month's contracts to this month's contracts. Nifty rollover stood at 71 per cent as compared to rollover of 70 per cent from last month's contracts to this month's contracts.

''Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) inflows continue to reach unprecedented levels with the passage of each day. Bank stocks gained after the latest data showed inflation remained low. However, despite the market holding positive zone, market breadth, which indicates the overall health of the market, was negative on the BSE,'' market analysts pointed out adding that at the day's high of 17,361.47, the Sensex had gained 210.91 points for the day.

The broader National Stock Exchange (NSE) S&P CNX Nifty also advanced by around 21 points to settle in the green at 5,021.35, after hitting an all time high of 5055.80.

It is pertinent to note here that from a recent low of 13,989.11 on Aug 21, the Sensex has surged by 3,301.99 points in 28 trading sessions to 17,291.10 today.

However, the breadth was weak as 1,392 shares declined as compared to 1,362 that advanced and 58 remained unchanged. Among the Sensex pack 19 scrips advanced while 11 declined, BSE data shows.

Bank of India, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, SBI, Tata Steel, Reliance Energy (REL), Hindalco Industries, Cipla and Tata Motors advanced, while Bharti Airtel, ONGC, Reliance Industries (RIL), Ambuja Cements and L&T were the top losers from Sensex pack.

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