Day of dramatic swings as indices bounce back

20 April 2005

After the steady decline over the last three days, markets were very volatile today as corporate results were a mixed bag. Every rise in the market invited heavy selling, equally countered by buying at lower levels.

The indices opened firm in the morning and gained over a per cent each on the back of some heavy buying in the index futures. The Nifty futures, which closed at a discount of more than a per cent to the spot index yesterday, narrowed that gap substantially.

The higher levels soon attracted sellers and the markets gave up most of their gains before noon. The Nifty went into the negative as TCS was hammered down again today.

Then came some positive news on Tata Steel and Reliance, which pushed the indices above the highs of the morning. But it did not last as fresh selling emerged and the Nifty went back into negative territory for the second time in the day.

When it looked like the markets would close on a weak note, the last hour saw buyers returning with a vengeance and pushing up the markets to the highs of the day. Sensex closed at 6244, up 109 points and the Nifty at 1930, up 20 points. Nifty April futures discount to the spot index narrowed to 4 points from yesterday's 22 points.

Among Nifty stocks, Hero Honda, Tata Power and Shipping Corporation were the major percentage gainers while TCS, Oriental Bank of Commerce and BHEL were the major losers.