Sensex breaches 12,000
mark
Mumbai, April 20 The Sensex crossed yet another milestone today when it breached the 12,000 mark. After hitting an intra-day low of 11,866 points, the Sensex returned to its upward swing to close at 12,040 points gaining nearly 144 points at close. It took the Sensex just 15 trading sessions in 19 days to go up from 11,000 points to 12,000. In the broader markets, the Nifty, gained 1.1 per cent or 38 points to end at 3,573 levels. Today’s big gainers were led by Reliance Industries which gained over 8 per cent or Rs 74 at close. Following close behind were Tata Steel, Hindalco, Tata Motors, Satyam Computer and Grasim Industries. Sensex hits 11,000 points Mumbai, March 21
Sensex breaches 10,000
barrier
But in the interregnum, the 30-share bellwether fell to a low of 9,972.43 points only to rise sharply to another all-time peak of 10,084.18 points, as bulls and bears indulged in a major sparring match. The Sensex, thus, joined some major global indices like the Dow Jones Industrial Average of the US, Japan's Nikkei and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index that are all quoting at the five-digit level. Seventeen shares that comprise the Sensex were in the red, while 13 made gains. "After witnessing the Sensex scale the 10,000-point mark, that too in 48 trading days, it was only expected that investors would resort to booking profits before deciding on the next course of action," said an equities analyst. "Otherwise, the market would have reacted positively to an official forecast on the economy, which says the country's gross domestic product will expand by an impressive 8.1 per cent this fiscal," the analyst added. Statistics released by the markets watchdog, the Securities and Exchange Board of India, which showed that foreign funds had pumped $137.20 million in the Indian equities Monday and $375.90 million in February, did not have much of an impact. Monday had seen the Sensex scale an all-time high of 10,002.83 points to nudge the five-digit level for the first time ever, before profit taking pulled the key index down slightly to 9.980.42 points at close. The index - which debuted in 1986, had scaled the 1,000-point mark in July 1990, the 2,000-point mark in January 1992, and rose 1,000 points each during the next two months to touch 3,000 and 4,000, thanks to India's liberal economic policy. But the equities scam of 1992, led by the late Harshad Mehta, took a major toll on the performance of the key index, and it was not until October 1999 that the 5,000-point mark was scaled. The information technology boom - more importantly the Y2K factor - pushed the index above 6,000 in February 2000. But there was a wait of four years for it to breach the 7,000-point mark - on June 20 last year. Since then, the Sensex has
been on a brisk rise with the 8,000-point mark scaled on Sep 8, 2005 and
9,000 on Nov 28. On Monday, it breached the 10,000-point mark in just 48
days, albeit during the intra-day session.
Bulls take Sensex past
9,600 mark
Analysts say investors are on a buying spree expecting further gains in the near future. "There are no sellers in the market. Everybody is on a buying spree. FIIs are also reporting strong numbers after a brief lull during the end of December," said Manish Shah, head (strategy), Motilal Oswal Securities. FIIs were net buyers at Rs 466.60 crore in the cash market on Tuesday, after pumping in over $100 million each (over Rs 450 crore) on the previous two trading sessions. In the F&O segment, they were net buyers at Rs 67.13 crore on Tuesday. The turnover on BSE and NSE was higher at Rs 4,308.78 crore and Rs 7,118.38 crore, respectively. The market breadth was also strong with 1,434 stocks gaining ground on BSE, as against losers at 1,116 Sensex soars to new high
of 9,394.27
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Pfizer
debuts Viagra in India
MUMBAI, DECEMBER 20: Pfizer Ltd., the Indian unit of Pfizer Inc., on Tuesday launched blockbuster drug Viagra in the country, aiming to treat some of the estimated 90 million Indians suffering from erectile dysfunction. "We expect to capture 10 to 15 per cent of the market in the next two years," K.G. Ananthakrishnan, senior Director, pharmaceuticals at Pfizer Ltd., told reporters. "The estimated market size is about 750 million to a billion rupees." The billion-dollar drug would initially launch in 30 cities, seven years after it first hit the US market. A 50 milligram tablet is priced at 463 rupees and 100 mg at 594 rupees a tablet, on par with prices in other Asian countries, but more than 10 times the price of generic alternatives. "This is to give the customers who need a genuine product at a constant price," Ananthakrishnan said, adding that Viagra sales in the Indian grey market are worth about 70 million rupees. "In the grey market, the price depends on demand. Now the patient could get it at a stable price." The drug, imported from France, will be distributed by Pfizer's local unit, which would earn the revenue and profits. Viagra is Pfizer's second high-profile launch in India this year, after VFend, a drug to treat fungal disease, in January. Sex, drugs and Tories on the roll Move over Indian news channels trying to run down the political class with tales of sleaze and sex. BBC is coming up with a blockbuster of a tele-drama to unmask the true face of the Conservatives during the years when the high priestess of Tory politics Margaret Thatcher occupied No.10 Downing Street. If media reports providing a sneak preview of the programme are to be believed, BBC plans to show Ms Thatcher "dancing with a youngster who's high on cocaine." Tantalisingly titled The Line of Beauty, the controversial BBC show is a rollicking drama steeped in low politics of intrigue and high debauchery of sex and drugs. The BBC show is based on Alan Hollinghurst's book, The Line of Beauty, which won the Booker last year. Hollinghurst, who burst into the gay fiction scene with his hugely praised The Swimming Pool Library, writes a revealing and riveting account of Oxford graduate Nick Guest making his way to Tory high society in The Line of Beauty. Britain's largest selling tabloid, The Sun, reported on Wednesday that "the BBC drama will shock viewers with scenes of gay sex, coke-fuelled orgies and boozy parties involving Tory politicians... In one scene the Iron Lady dances with a man without knowing he has just snorted cocaine." Authored by Andrew Davies, who in the past has shocked viewers with near graphic scenes of raw passion in shows like Tipping The Velvet, The Line of Beauty, with liberal doses of outre sex, is bound to leave the audience gasping and the Tories, widely perceived to be on the comeback trail, scrambling for cover. An insider told The Sun: "It makes other controversial BBC dramas like Tipping... and Rome look like the Tweenies. There are very graphic straight sex scenes. But it's the gay sex scenes and the amount of drugs taken at Tory gatherings which will be hard for viewers to stomach." Just in case the lady who made starched knickers into a fashion statement takes offence, the producers are said to have taken ample precaution to make it abundantly clear that the drama does not imply "Maggie knew any of this was going on." |
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