Market rises amid volatility

The bourses continued to gain for the third day, with key indices Sensex and Nifty closing with gains amid increased volatility ahead of the expiry of the Futures and Options (F&O) August series.

The markets shrugged off global co-relation as the expiry of derivatives contract on Thursday induced investors and operators either to roll over or square off their positions, market players said. The BSE Sensex fluctuated within 14,952.04 and 14,751.6 8 before ending the day at 14,919.19, a net rise of 76.81 points or 0.52 per cent over yesterday's close of 14,842.38.

Similarly, the broad-based S&P CNX Nifty on the NSE also moved up further by 18.10 points or 0.42 per cent to 4,320.70 from the previous close of 4,302.60.

News of a slump in the US home sales in July dragged the American indices and had negative impact on Asian markets but activity on Indian bourses were focused on the expiry of the F&O series. Brokers attributed sustained volatility to squaring off activ ity by Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) as well as operators, which had heavily shed their holdings in the early part of the month.

Domestic Institutional Investors too, were believed to be active during the day, making purchases at lower levels. The heavyweight counter Reliance Industries was the key driver with a 2.58 per cent jump over previous close. IT majors like Infosys Tech , Satyam Computer and Wipro spurted on a sharp fall in the rupee.