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Tech recovery lifts Bombay shares, rupee rebounds
Mumbai, Mar 13: India`s key share index rebounded from a three-day fall on Friday as investors hunted bargains amid beaten-down technology and commodity issues, while the rupee bounced after the central bank eased its dollar buying.
Mumbai, Mar 13: India's key share index rebounded from a three-day fall on Friday as investors hunted bargains amid beaten-down technology and commodity issues, while the rupee bounced after the central bank eased its dollar buying.
The top 30-issue Bombay Stock Exchange index added 0.89 percent to close at 5,700.40 points, after having shed 5.1 percent over the previous three sessions.
Market breadth however remained negative with losing issues outnumbering gainers nearly two to one in a choppy market.
"There was some nervousness in the morning following the depressed sentiment on the world indices after the Madrid blasts," said Dharmesh Mehta, head of broking at Enam Securities.
"But some amount of volatility is to be expected with so much going on here - the public issues and the elections," he said referring to upcoming national parliamentary elections and a slew of recent share issues that have sated investor appetite.
Software services firms, which had led the slump in recent sessions amid fears of an outsourcing backlash in their main market, the United States, recovered nicely on bargain-hunting.
India's Nasdaq-listed No 2 software exporter, Infosys Technologies, climbed more than four percent while the New York-listed No 4, Satyam Computer Services, gained more than three percent.
Some pharmaceutical stocks took a hit after a U.S. federal court upheld Pfizer Inc's marketing exclusivity for its antifungal Diflucan. The ruling keeps the generic version of India's largest drug firm, Ranbaxy Laboratories, off the lucrative American market until July 29.
Though Ranbaxy shrugged off the news to end more than one percent higher, shares of Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, another generic drug maker that is waging court battles for a greater U.S. presence, slipped more than three percent.
State-run exploration giant Oil and Natural Gas Corp, whose record issue of more than $2 billion closes on Saturday, also faced selling pressure, losing 3.4 percent. The Indian government is selling a 10 percent stake in the firm.
Bureau Report
Market breadth however remained negative with losing issues outnumbering gainers nearly two to one in a choppy market.
"There was some nervousness in the morning following the depressed sentiment on the world indices after the Madrid blasts," said Dharmesh Mehta, head of broking at Enam Securities.
"But some amount of volatility is to be expected with so much going on here - the public issues and the elections," he said referring to upcoming national parliamentary elections and a slew of recent share issues that have sated investor appetite.
Software services firms, which had led the slump in recent sessions amid fears of an outsourcing backlash in their main market, the United States, recovered nicely on bargain-hunting.
India's Nasdaq-listed No 2 software exporter, Infosys Technologies, climbed more than four percent while the New York-listed No 4, Satyam Computer Services, gained more than three percent.
Some pharmaceutical stocks took a hit after a U.S. federal court upheld Pfizer Inc's marketing exclusivity for its antifungal Diflucan. The ruling keeps the generic version of India's largest drug firm, Ranbaxy Laboratories, off the lucrative American market until July 29.
Though Ranbaxy shrugged off the news to end more than one percent higher, shares of Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, another generic drug maker that is waging court battles for a greater U.S. presence, slipped more than three percent.
State-run exploration giant Oil and Natural Gas Corp, whose record issue of more than $2 billion closes on Saturday, also faced selling pressure, losing 3.4 percent. The Indian government is selling a 10 percent stake in the firm.
Bureau Report