Stock Market: Expiry holds bull charge on Dalal Street
By S Jha
New Delhi, February 16: The maxim that on the day of the weekly and monthly expiry the powerful institutional position holders decide the range of the equity market was on display on Thursday. The bourses gave up the bullish charge in the early hours of the session even while frenzied cash buying was seen in the equities.
Bank Nifty, which is seen to be most vulnerable to manipulations as a few scrips can give wild swings, gave up all the gains on Thursday to close with about 100 point loss. The Bank Nifty showed wild swings through the day, which suited the option sellers as they made money at the expense of the option buyers. The technical chartists are claiming that the Bank Nifty has stiff resistance zone in 41900-42000 after which the banking pack may get on to a bullish territory.
Nifty was also held back from a firm opening, as Tech Mahindra and Reliance Industries took off from where they had closed on Wednesday session. Tech Mahindra, one of the heavily sold out IT scrip, is seen to be riding the charging bulls, as the scrip showed no signs of fatigue. From taking off from the level of Rs 1020, Tech Mahindra has breezed to Rs 1130 and it is being stated by the technical chartists to have enough ammunitions to continue marching further. The IT sector was again trending on Thursday. After Infosys, TCS joined the party on Thursday, netting handsome gains. HCL Technology and Infosys, which had started the bull charge of the IT scrips, showed signs of tiring out.
Reliance Industries, which had been trending after unveiling its hydrogen-powered truck, was again bullish on Thursday. But profit booking set in soon after the opening session to scrip downward. Apollo Hospital on the back of positive earning commentary has also bene trending for the two days. ONGC was the star of the day with a net gain of about six per cent.
The foreign institutional investors (FIIs) for a fifth day in a row pumped in heavily in the cash market. The FIIs accounted for a net cash buy of Rs 1571 crores. Their domestic counterparts also pumped in a net cash of Rs 1577 crores to make a day of heavy institutional buying in the cash market.
Tejas Networks, the newest acquisition of Tata Sons, is trending for the last two days. The Bengaluru-based telecom-cum-semiconductor play has gaine over 20 per cent in the last two trading sessions alone. The buzz in the market is about the BSNL finally moving with a contract award, which if it comes to Tejas Networks may make it a huge player.
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