India's stock market is expected to see lacklustre trading this week as investors shift their attention to the imminent launch of a host of new public share offers, brokers said. On Friday, the Bombay Stock Exchange's 30-share Sensex closed at 6,853.73, up 4.25 points from the previous week's close.
Dealers said new share offers worth over 40 billion rupees (930 million dollars) were set to hit the market soon and made investors sell part of their existing holdings in order to subscribe to the new offers.
A key public offer from state-run Punjab National Bank closed Friday, while at least three more from prominent firms were in the pipeline.
"The quality of public offers is reviving investor interest and confidence," said Hemen Kapadia, partner at investment advisory firm, Morpheus Inc.
He said some money was bound to be diverted from the secondary market in the coming one or two months as more than a dozen public offers are expected to be launched.
The pressure on prices was evident this week, as the Bombay Stock Exchange sensex fell short of the psychological 7,000 points level despite strong buying by overseas and domestic funds.
Brokers said an investor-friendly budget unveiled February 28 that revamped taxes and put emphasis on infrastructure growth had sparked the buying frenzy.
"The undertone continues to be buoyant," said Anish Marfatia, vice president at Parag Parekh Securities.
India's stock market has been largely bullish for the last two years, with foreign investors inserting 8.51 billion dollars in 2004, the highest since the economy was liberalised in 1991.
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