Mumbai, Apr 30: Led by a rally in IT and refinery stocks, the BSE benchmark Sensex continued its upward sprint for the third day today to settle nearly 132 points higher at 17,318.81 amid a weak rupee and hopes of more stimulus from US Federal Reserve.
The 30-share barometer traded in positive terrain throughout the day and ended at 17,318.81 -- its one-week high -- showing a rise of 0.76 per cent.
The country's biggest software exporter, TCS, was up by 3.49 per cent while the second biggest, Infosys, gained 2.75 per cent in the process together adding over 65 points to the Sensex's gains.
In the oil & gas sector, Sensex heavyweight RIL gained nearly 1 per cent while ONGC rose by over 2 per cent.
“Both TCS and Infy were amongst the top gainers in today's trade, backed by weaker rupee and hopes for more stimulus from US fed after US GDP slowed more than forecast,” said Milan Bavishi, Head Research, Inventure Growth & Securities.
Indian IT firms earn more than half of their revenues from US and Europe and a weak rupee boosts their profit margins.
Brokers said the positive move in equities stemmed from the expectations that US could roll out further monetary easing on back of lower than expected GDP growth numbers.
Other counters like ICICI Bank, Tata Motors, Jindal Steel, Hero MotoCorp and Bajaj Auto too witnessed good buying support and gained in the 1.4-3.4 per cent range.
Overall 11 out of 13 sectoral indices closed with gains up to 2.37 per cent while BSE-CD and BSE-FMCG finished with minor losses. 21 out of 30 Sensex-based scrips ended in the green while others finished with losses.
The NSE 50-share Nifty also improved further by 39.15 points or 0.75 per cent to 5,248.15 points. Asian markets today closed mixed with upward bias on higher closing on Wall Street last Friday on some strong earnings.
Key indices from Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea ended up between 0.28 per cent and 1.70 per cent while Singapore finished slightly lower by 0.10 per cent. China and Japan markets were closed today on account of local holidays.
In Europe, the France (CAC) index was down by 0.86 per cent and the UK's FTSE was down by 0.04 per cent while Germany's DAX was up by 0.08 per cent.
Among other gainers from the Sensex pack, Jindal Steel rose 3.41 per cent, DLF (2.61 pc), Hero MotoCorp (2.35 pc), Tata Power (1.83 pc), Bajaj Auto (1.81 pc), ICICI Bank (1.44 pc), Tata Motors (1.18 pc) and Bharti Airtel (0.89 pc).
However, Maruti Suzuki fell by 1.95 per cent followed by BHEL (1.94 pc) and Mahindra & Mahindra (0.64 pc). Among the sectoral indices, BSE IT index shot up by 2.37 per cent followed by BSE TECk (1.93 pc), BSE Oil&Gas (1.05 pc), BSE-Realty (1.04 pc) and BSE-Metal (0.89 pc).
The overall market breadth turned positive as 1,173 stocks finished with gains while 1,091 stocks ended with losses. The total turnover was Rs 1,678.89 crore as against the last Saturday's closing level of Rs 282.22 crores.
The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and the National Stock Exchange (NSE) will remain closed tomorrow, May 1, 2012, on account of “Maharashtra Day” holiday.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth Rs 6.17 crore during special trading session on Saturday, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.
FIIs had sold shares worth Rs 2,361.40 crore in five days between April 23 and April 27.
The 30-share barometer traded in positive terrain throughout the day and ended at 17,318.81 -- its one-week high -- showing a rise of 0.76 per cent.
The country's biggest software exporter, TCS, was up by 3.49 per cent while the second biggest, Infosys, gained 2.75 per cent in the process together adding over 65 points to the Sensex's gains.
In the oil & gas sector, Sensex heavyweight RIL gained nearly 1 per cent while ONGC rose by over 2 per cent.
“Both TCS and Infy were amongst the top gainers in today's trade, backed by weaker rupee and hopes for more stimulus from US fed after US GDP slowed more than forecast,” said Milan Bavishi, Head Research, Inventure Growth & Securities.
Indian IT firms earn more than half of their revenues from US and Europe and a weak rupee boosts their profit margins.
Brokers said the positive move in equities stemmed from the expectations that US could roll out further monetary easing on back of lower than expected GDP growth numbers.
Other counters like ICICI Bank, Tata Motors, Jindal Steel, Hero MotoCorp and Bajaj Auto too witnessed good buying support and gained in the 1.4-3.4 per cent range.
Overall 11 out of 13 sectoral indices closed with gains up to 2.37 per cent while BSE-CD and BSE-FMCG finished with minor losses. 21 out of 30 Sensex-based scrips ended in the green while others finished with losses.
The NSE 50-share Nifty also improved further by 39.15 points or 0.75 per cent to 5,248.15 points. Asian markets today closed mixed with upward bias on higher closing on Wall Street last Friday on some strong earnings.
Key indices from Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea ended up between 0.28 per cent and 1.70 per cent while Singapore finished slightly lower by 0.10 per cent. China and Japan markets were closed today on account of local holidays.
In Europe, the France (CAC) index was down by 0.86 per cent and the UK's FTSE was down by 0.04 per cent while Germany's DAX was up by 0.08 per cent.
Among other gainers from the Sensex pack, Jindal Steel rose 3.41 per cent, DLF (2.61 pc), Hero MotoCorp (2.35 pc), Tata Power (1.83 pc), Bajaj Auto (1.81 pc), ICICI Bank (1.44 pc), Tata Motors (1.18 pc) and Bharti Airtel (0.89 pc).
However, Maruti Suzuki fell by 1.95 per cent followed by BHEL (1.94 pc) and Mahindra & Mahindra (0.64 pc). Among the sectoral indices, BSE IT index shot up by 2.37 per cent followed by BSE TECk (1.93 pc), BSE Oil&Gas (1.05 pc), BSE-Realty (1.04 pc) and BSE-Metal (0.89 pc).
The overall market breadth turned positive as 1,173 stocks finished with gains while 1,091 stocks ended with losses. The total turnover was Rs 1,678.89 crore as against the last Saturday's closing level of Rs 282.22 crores.
The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and the National Stock Exchange (NSE) will remain closed tomorrow, May 1, 2012, on account of “Maharashtra Day” holiday.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth Rs 6.17 crore during special trading session on Saturday, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.
FIIs had sold shares worth Rs 2,361.40 crore in five days between April 23 and April 27.
