On a bull run, Sensex rises another 169 points

Mumbai, Nov 30 (IANS) A benchmark index for Indian equities markets Friday made further gains of 169 points with good buying in metal, banks, public sector undertakings (PSU), consumer durables, and capital goods stocks.

The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which allied 329 points in the previous session, opened higher at 18,229.70 points. It closed the day at 19,339.90 points, up 168.99 points or 0.88 percent from Thursday’s close at 19,170.91 points.

The mood was upbeat despite the lower second quarter gross domestic product (GDP) figure of 5.3 percent. Only seven of the 30 Sensex scrips were in the red.

The index touched a high of 19,372.70 points and low of 19,186.30 points intra-day. The BSE midcap index was up 74.87 points, the smallcap index was higher by 59.53 points.

The wider 50-scrip S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange was up 54.85 points or 0.94 percent at 5,879.85 points.

The metals index was up 210.26 points, while the banks index edged higher by 200.90 points, followed by PSU index, up 119.80 points, consumer durables index, up 110.94 points and capital goods index, higher by 100.02 points.

However, the auto index was down 34.96 points. And so was the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) index, down 14.80 points, and realty index, down 4.09 points.

Among the gainers were Jindal Steel, up 5.39 percent at Rs.402.00; BHEL, up 4.92 percent at Rs.233.35; ONGC, up 4.44 percent at Rs.264.90; Sterlite Inds, up 3.24 percent at Rs.108.50; and Hindalco Inds, up 2.65 percent at Rs.116.35.

The major losers were Hindustan Unilever, 1.72 percent lower at Rs.538.35; Tata Motors, down 1.44 points at Rs.274.25; Bajaj Auto, down 1.13 percent at Rs.1,930.55; Maruti Suzuki, down 0.93 percent at Rs.1,473.55; and Coal India, down 0.80 percent at Rs.365.95.

Among other Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.48 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.49 percent. China’s Shanghai Composite Index was down 0.85 percent.

All major European markets were trading flat. Britain’s FTSE 100 was up 0.12 percent, while the German DAX was trading higher by 0.32 percent. The French CAC 40 index was also up 0.16 percent.

IANS 2012-11-30 17:32:14