Institutional Buys Lift Sensex

Sustained institutional buying amid hopes of easing tensions between India and Pakistan helped the markets finish higher for the second straight day. The benchmark BSE Sensex settled up 30.51 points at 3,191.60, but off from its intraday high of 3,195.56 points. On the NSE, the S&P CNX Nifty Index climbed 5.65 points to 1,045.40. Gainers, dominated by state-run companies, led losers in the ratio of around two to one on heavy volumes.

Brokers said the mood in the market remained cautiously optimistic as investors viewed Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's conditional offer to talk with Pakistan as a step forward in defusing a tense standoff. Most PSU stocks topped the volume chart and finished broadly higher on government's continued thrust on privatisation.

FACT hit the 20 per cent upper limit at Rs 55.80 after the Cabinet Committee on Disinvestment on Friday cleared the sale of the government's 51 per cent stake in the company. From Rs 16.05 on May 7, the stock has risen by 247.66 per cent on divestment hopes. While NFL finished up 17.70 per cent at Rs 43.55 on reports that the divestment of the fertiliser PSU would be completed in the next 2-3 months.

Among other key stocks, Shipping Corporation of India (up 11.41 per cent to Rs 109.85) gained on expectations that the government will invite price bids for a stake sale. However, both Bharat Petroleum (down 3.76 per cent to Rs 248.20) and Indian Oil (down 1.53 per cent to Rs 188.75) on proposed initial public offering of these companies.

Heavyweight bluechip counters also witnessed buying interest. Reliance Industries (up 0.89 per cent to Rs 272.95) gained as company raised some of its products' prices. Tata Steel (up 1.43 per cent to Rs 120.35) moved up further after the steel major hiked its product prices. While Hindustan Lever (up 4.46 per cent to Rs 197.95) leaped up following the company's foray into the healthcare. And Dr Reddy's (up 1.84 per cent to Rs 965.30) ended with modest gains ahead of the announcement results.

On other hand, technology stocks witnessed a mixed trend. Techbellweather Infosys Technologies (up 0.59 per cent to Rs 3,335.25) recovered from the day's low of Rs 3,268. While HCL Technologies (down 1.33 per cent to Rs 225.70) ended lower after Monday's gains. Most frontline stocks ended weak including SSI (down 2.08 per cent to Rs 143.40), Mascot Systems (down 2.07 per cent to Rs 231.95), Polaris Soft (down 1.70 per cent to Rs 263), Hughes Soft (down 1.50 per cent to Rs 226.75), Digital GlobalSoft (down 1.44 per cent to Rs 635.50), NIIT (down 0.29 per cent to Rs 257.25) and Wipro (down 0.26 per cent to Rs 1,518.95).