Hat-trick of gains

The markets opened with a positive gap backed by strong global cues. The Sensex opened at 16,137 and touched a high of 16,284 - up 220 points from the previous close. Metal and realty stocks were responsible for the early gains.

However, selling in index heavyweights Reliance and Infosys saw the markets trim gains in the afternoon session. The Sensex slipped 209 points from the day's high to a low of 16,075.

However, towards the end of the day, the Sensex regained some strength and finally ended with a gain of 94 points at 16,158.

With three consecutive gains, the Sensex has ended the week with a net gain of 262 points despite the 500-point fall on Tuesday.

The NSE Nifty ended up 31 points at 4,796.

The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices outperformed the broader markets and gained over 2% each at 6,254 and 7,171, respectively.

The PSU index surged 4% to 8,795. The realty, metal and bankex added around 2% each.

The BSE market breadth was fairly positive. Out of 2,787 stocks traded, 1,941 advanced while 783 declined.

INDEX MOVERS...

Jaiprakash Associates surged 5% to Rs 228. Tata Steel and SBI rallied 3% each to Rs 500 and Rs 2,205, respectively.

DLF, Sterlite, Larsen & Toubro and HDFC added 2% each.

Sun Pharma and Reliance were up 1% each at Rs 1,398 and Rs 1,960, respectively.

...AND THE LOSERS

Tata Power shed 4% to Rs 1,270. FMCG stocks were down. Hindustan Unilever dipped 2% to Rs 273 while ITC slipped 1.5% to Rs 249.

Auto stocks - Hero Honda, Maruti Suzuki and Tata Motors declined. Hero Honda dropped 2% to Rs 1,526. Maruti Suzuki was down 1.5% at Rs 1,467. Tata Motors slipped 1% to Rs 569.

VALUE & VOLUME TOPPERS...

Larsen & Toubro topped the value chart with a turnover of Rs 707.18 crore on the BSE, followed by SBI (Rs 187.14 crore), HDFC (177.45 crore), Suzlon (Rs 157.37 crore) and Reliance Capital (Rs 154.14 crore).

The volume chart was led by Suzlon with trades of over 23 million shares, followed by IFCI (17.86 million), IndiaBulls Power (15.51 million), Unitech (12.03 million) and NHPC (12 million).