Bourse steady at two-week high ahead of rate decision

Tuesday, 12 February 2013 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Reuters: The stock market ended marginally higher on Monday ahead of a Central Bank interest rates announcement, while the rupee ended slightly weaker on importer demand for dollars. The main share index edged up 0.01%, or 0.68 points, to end at 5,851.35, its highest since 28 January.

“We expect the Bourse to slow as foreign investors will be away in the coming days due to Chinese New Year,” a stockbroker said.

The Central Bank will announce its interest rates for February on Tuesday and analysts expect the bank to keep them steady despite annual inflation running at a near-record high, a Reuters poll showed.

The day’s turnover was Rs. 938 million ($ 7.43 million), less than this year’s daily average of Rs. 1.21 billion.

Foreign investors were net sellers of Rs. 189.57 million worth of shares on Monday, pushing up the net foreign outflow this year to Rs. 1.3 billion.

The rupee ended weaker at 126.33/38 to the dollar from Friday’s close of 126.20/30 as two State banks bought dollars to cover oil import bills, dealers said.