BOMBAY, 19 October 2003 — On Monday the BSE ended at 4,849.27. Tata Motors climbed on news that it has bagged an order for 500 buses from Senegal. ACC recovered after the weakness last week after LIC’s bid for Harshad Mehta’s 9.32 percent stake in the company. MTNL was down after it announced that it would be matching the rates of both the pre and post paid segments in the cellular division. HDFC was firm when for the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2003 (Q2), the housing finance major posted a net profit of Rs.2,032.4 million on total income of Rs.7,758.6 million.
On Tuesday, the BSE ended at 4,782.03. Stocks such as Tata Motors, Tata Steel, Gujarat Ambuja Cements, ACC, L&T, Grasim, State Bank of India, ITC, Reliance Industries and FMCG major Hindustan Lever bore the brunt of the profit-taking spree. Essar Steel was flat despite reports that the company had bagged a contract from Ahwaz Pipe Mill of Iran for the supply of 100,000 tons of API grade hot-rolled coils.
On Wednesday, the BSE ended at 4,855.26, a 39-month closing high. The market recovered smartly in the final hour by more than 30 points. Tata Steel was one of the major risers of the day. Reliance Energy made modest gains when it announced better than expected results for Q2. The company’s board also approved payment of a 10 percent quarterly dividend.
On Thursday, the BSE closed at 4,887.32. Reliance Industries, India’s largest private sector company, booked a net profit of $278.8 million in the second quarter up by 26 percent.
Another major company to declare results was media major Zee Telefilms which posted a net profit of Rs.185.6 million on total revenues of Rs.1,252.9 million. On Friday, the BSE closed at 4,930.53. The company in the limelight was Wipro which posted a 4.4 percent rise in its net profit. Exide Industries gained after the company announced robust Q2 results. Gujarat Ambuja dropped. The company reported a 40 percent rise in net profit for Q1.
Gold was at Rs. 5,610/- per 10 gms and silver was at Rs. 8,015/- per Kg.
US dollar was at Rs.45.33, pound sterling at Rs.75.60, euro at Rs.52.46, UAE dirham at Rs.12.33, Kuwaiti dinar at Rs.153.96, Bahraini dinar at Rs.120.12, Saudi riyal at Rs.12.07, Qatari riyal at Rs.12.44 and Omani riyal at Rs.117.63.
