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Bombay shares end higher on selective buying 3

BOMBAY: Shares at the Bombay exchange reversed losses and finished higher on strong end-session buying by investors, dealers said.

"Bargain buying in index-heavy weights helped the index to rally in the last minutes of trade", said Abhay Aima , head of equities trading at HDFC Bank

Tuesday was the final day of settlement at the National Stock Exchange.

Dealers said many investors took the opportunity of lower prices on the last day of settlement as weak speculators squared long positions.

The broader market closed weak however, with declining stocks beating advancing stocks 1,029 to 821 while 171 issues remained unchanged.

Data given by the Bombay Exchange showed total traded volume at 72.17 million shares compared to 59.97 million on Monday.

"There is a lot of portfolio churning by foreign funds which is a healthy sign," said Aima.

Data released from the market regulator showed foreign funds were net buyers of $57.4 million worth of equities on Friday.

Among the shares which rallied during the last half an hour in the Bombay Exchange weere Infosys Technologies Ltd, Reliance Industries Ltd.

Infosys closed 390 rupees up at 12,240, off a low of 11,400, Reliance 11 rupees up at 320, off a low of 308, NIIT up 61.95 rupees at 2,611.95, off 2,500 and ITC 13.25 rupees up at 833, after hitting a low of 800.10.

Pentafour Software on Tuesday announced a net profit of 357.10 million rupees for the third quarter ended December 31, 1999 as compared to 241.1 million rupees for the year-ago quarter. The figures pertained only to its multimedia business. The firm has hived off its business software division to group firm Pentafour Communications Ltd.

The shares of the multimedia firm closed 7 rupees lower at 1,185.

Shares of Pentafour Communications closed 41.15 rupees higher at 555.75 at its upper circuit limit of eight percent after its results.

The firm's net profit for the third quarter of 1999/2000 (April-March) was 211.50 rupees as against 27.3 million in the year-ago quarter. The numbers were inclusive of the business software division acquired from Pentafour Software.

Shares of ICICI Ltd closed eight percent higher AT 136.75 rupees after the financial services firm cut its prime lending rate on Monday

The firm said on Monday evening that there was a 100 basis points reduction in its long term prime lending rate and a 50 basis points reduction in its short term prime lending rate.3:55 p.m. Bombay shares closed higher on Tuesday on bargain hunting by investors in select blue-chips in the last hour of trade, after a volatile session, dealers said.

Dealers said foreign fund activity was mixed while local funds were buyers in select software shares.-Reuters