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FII buying continues; Nifty crawls up 3.5 points, 856.55

Pivotals gained further at the National Stock Exchange on good buying support from foreign institutional investors and local operators on the first day of current settlement.

Reflecting the trend, S&P CNX Nifty Index opened at 855.95 points, touched the day's high of 864.70 points, fell to the day's low of 855.10 points and ended at 856.55 points, showing a net gain of 3.55 points. CNX Nifty Junior Index, however, dropped by 3.45 points to 1428.35 points from the previous close of 1431.80 points.

S&P CNX Defty closed higher by 2.75 points to 697.05 points. S&P CNX-500 and CNX Midcap 200 rose by 1.78 and 0.62 points to 583.57 and 519.97 points against the previous close of 581.79 and 519.35 points respectively.

Total turnover on the NSE reported during the day was Rs 15.38 billion from trading in 60.84 million shares in 195,894 trades. Debentures traded were valued at Rs 2.03 million.

Some 556 scrips advanced, 391 declined and 117 remain unchanged while 28 securities hit their price bands today.

Pentafour Software topped the list of turnover by registering the highest turnover of Rs 2.93 billion, followed by Satyam Computers Rs 1.90 billion, Zee Telefilms (Rs 1.81 billion) and ITC (Rs 1.58 billion).

Other actively traded scrips were Reliance (Rs 1.38 billion), SBI (Rs 682.8 million), Castrol (Rs 436.5 million), Telco (Rs 382.7 million), Glaxo (Rs 370.3 million), Hindustan Lever (Rs 368.9 million), Tisco (Rs 294.2 million), Infosys Tech (Rs 178 million), MTNL (Rs 145 million), L&T (Rs 143.2 million), Tata Tea (Rs 141.4 million), ACC (Rs 135 million), HCL-HP (Rs 129.5 million), Silverline (Rs 116.8 million), Ranbaxy (Rs 100.9 million), Dr Reddy's (Rs 100.1 million), Square D Software (Rs 99.2 million), LML (Rs 78.8 million), Novartis (Rs 70 million), BFL Software (Rs 66.7 million) and BHEL (Rs 60.5 million).

Top five S&P CNX Nifty gainers were Tata Power which closed at Rs 101.35 (Rs 95.80), Reliance Petro Rs 18.20 (Rs 17.30), HDFC Rs 2279.90 (Rs 2199), Hindustan Lever Rs 1687.10 (Rs 1627.55) and Hindalco Rs 510.50 (Rs 496.25).

The losers included Grasim Rs 157.65 (Rs 163.40), MTNL Rs 182.85 (Rs 188.90), Ranbaxy Rs 269.10 (Rs 278.00), Bajaj Auto Rs 541.05 (Rs 555) and ICICI Rs 47 (48.15).

Meanwhile, the wholesale debt market of the NSE witnessed trades worth Rs 3.91 billion. The 11.40 per cent government loan maturing in 2000 was traded for Rs 550 million at a weighted yield of 11.32 per cent. The 12 per cent government stock maturing in 1999 was traded for Rs 400 million at a weighted yield of 10.22 per cent. The 91-day treasury-bill maturing on February 20, 1999 was traded for Rs 250 million at an yield of 9.25 per cent. Commercial paper of ACC Limited maturing on March 11, 1999 was traded for Rs 100 million at a yield of 10.57 per cent.

UNI

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