Sensex gains 245 pts at close: SIfy

Sensex gains 245 pts at close
Sensex ends 245 pts higher as bears
Sensex gains 245 points at closing


After a buoyant start, the market turned listless soon thereafter and remained that way for a long time this afternoon. Blue chip stocks, with the exception of a select few like ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries, Tata Motors and to a lesser extent State Bank of India and NTPC, were seen struggling to make a headway as participants appeared keen on lightening commitments at every noticeable rise in values.

Besides a drop in industrial output, Infosys Technologies, with the company's strong quarterly results and an upward revision in EPS estimate for financial year 2008 triggering some hectic buying at the start, played a significant role in lifting the market in early trade. ICICI Bank continued from where it left yesterday afternoon and Reliance Industries surged higher on sustained buying support.

After moving past 20,800 in early trade, the Sensex found the going extremely choppy and even slipped into the red on a few occasions as auto, information technology, cement, FMCG and pharma stocks took a trip down south. Investors appeared keen
Finally, thanks to frenzied buying in several blue chip stocks during the fag end of the day, the Sensex raced to an intra-day high of 20,894.79 before settling at 20,827.45 for the day with an impressive gain of 245.37 points or 1.19%.

The Nifty, which tumbled to 6112.55 in early afternoon trade, ended at 6200.10, around 24 points down from a high of 6224.20, with a gain of 0.7% or 43.15 points. ICICI Bank moved up by as much as 6.15% today. Realty stock DLF remained subdued for a long time, but vaulted impressively during the final minutes to record a handsome gain of 4.75%. Reliance Industries, playing a key role in lifting the market to a highly positive close, posted a gain of 3.35%.

HDFC Bank (2.5%), NTPC (2.35%), Tata Motors (1.8%), Tata Consultancy Services (1.5%), ITC (1.3%), State Bank of India (1.2%), ONGC (1.15%) and Cipla (1.05%) also closed with strong gains. Reliance Energy firmed up by 0.85%. Grasim Industries, Bajaj Auto and Hindalco ended marginally higher.

ACC, the most prominent loser in the Sensex, eased by 4.3% to Rs 898. Mahindra & Mahindra closed lower by around 3.5%. Satyam Computer Services, HDFC and Ambuja Cements lost 25 - 2.25%. Hindustan Unilever ended nearly 2% down. Infosys Technologies, which turned easy after a rousing start, did bounce back into the positive territory a little past noon but declined once again on selling pressure to end with a sharp loss of 1.35%.

Maruti Suzuki, Larsen & Toubro and Ranbaxy Laboratories drifted down by 0.75% - 1%. Wipro and Reliance Communications lost around 0.3% while Tata Steel, BHEL and Bharti Airtel ended with small losses. Sun Pharmaceuticals, GAIL India, Idea Cellular and Reliance Petroleum closed on a high note. Suzlon Energy, Nalco, Hero Honda, Tata Power, HCL Technologies, ABB and Cairn India ended with sharp losses.

Among non-Sensex bank stocks, Axis Bank shot up by 7.5% on impressive quarterly results. Bank of India, Canara Bank, Centurion Bank of Punjab, Oriental Bank of Commerce and J&K Bank closed with handsome gains.

Aries Agro made a thumping debut today. The stock, which opened at Rs 160, hit a high of Rs 261 in intra-day trade and settled at Rs 249.80, a premium of 92.15% to its IPO price. Over 22.5 million shares changed hands at the Aries Agro counter on NSE today.

However, it turned out to be a weak outing for another new entrant, Precision Pipes & Profiles. The stock ended the day at Rs 133.35, a discount of around 11% to its issue price. As the mood turned highly bullish in the final minutes, several midcap and smallcap stocks rebounded into the positive territory. So strong was the buying in the midcap space, that the Midcap barometer, which was down with a big loss for a better part of the session, ended the day just marginally behind its previous closing mark.

The market breadth was weak today. Out of 2864 stocks traded on BSE, only 739 stocks ended in the positive territory. 2091 stocks closed with losses and 34 stocks settled at their previous closing levels.

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