M A I N   N E W S

Market, too, bounces back with Cong

Mumbai, May 13
After the initial havoc, the market made a strong turnaround and even rallied sharply gaining over 99 points at the midsession on the Bombay Stock Exchange today on hectic shortcovering by foreign hedge funds coupled with heavy purchases by Indian Financial Institutions.

The BSE Benchmark 30-share Index, which nosedived by 227 points at 5131.03 following early poll trends, later bounced back with a vengeance as chances of formation of a stable government improved. It was quoted at 5457.58 at 12.30 pm, a gain of 99.23 points over yesterday's close of 5358.35.

The market staged a sharp recovery and rallied sharply as it became clear that the Congress-led secular front would be able form a stable government at the Centre, brokers said.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) as well as the Unit Trust of India (UTI) and Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) were heavy buyers during the first half of the session.

Besides, a large corporate house reportedly picked up heavyweight counters.

Heavyweight counters like the RIL, Tata Motors, Infosys Tech, L&T, Satyam Computers, Grasim Ind, HDFC, Hero Honda, Ranbaxy Lab, REL, Bharti Tele-Venture and Wipro recovered from their early lows and posted impressive gains at midsession.
Brokers expected the market to rule strong during the second half once a clear mandate for any party is received. — PTI

Rupee recovers, hopes for stability

Mumbai, May 13
Overcoming the severe early pressures due to temporary blips caused by uncertain political scenario, the rupee rallied smartly in afternoon trade today and even posted further sharp gains at the interbank foreign exchange (forex) market.

After initially dipping to Rs 45.57/60, the rupee recovered most of the lost ground and shot up to Rs 44.98/45.02 per dollar, a massive gain of over 55 paise after banks unwound long overbought dollar positions, dealers said.
News of an emerging stable government, led by Congress and its allies, vastly improved market sentiment, leading to banks offloading long dollar positions, they added. — PTI