Sensex ends 72 pts up

The Bombay Stock Exchange’s 30-share Sensex provisionally closed at 17,677 up 72 points or 0.4%. The National Stock Exchange’s 50-share S&P CNX Nifty provisionally closed at 5,356 up 30 points or 0.6%.


-------------------------------------------------------

Updated at 1430 hrs

Markets have trimmed the gains but continue to maintain the positive trend amidst volatility. At 14:30 hrs, the Sensex was up 80 points at 17,685 and the 50-share Nifty rose 28 points at 5,354. 

On the global front, Asian markets ended mixed. Strait Times, Shanghai Composite Nikkei and Kospi ended in green. However, Hang Seng and Taiwan Index ended in red zone. The European markets have opened lower.

Back home, BSE Realty index is leading the uptrend, surging by over 4%. Sectors like Capital Goods, Metal, Banks and Consumer Durable have gained by almost 2% each. Apart from Oil & Gas, all the major BSE sectoral indices are trading in green zone.

Among Realty pack, DLF has gained by over 3% on expectations that the central bank will start cutting interest rates in the coming months to prop up slowing economy.

From the Capital Goods space, BHEL is the top Sensex gainer, up 3%. L&T has gained by over 2% on winning Rs 1,937-cr order from GVK group.

Banking stocks like SBI and ICICI Bank have gained between 2-3%. However, HDFC Bank is trading marginally lower.

Metal stocks has surged after LMEX, a gauge of six metals traded on the London Metal Exchange jumped 2.45% on Friday, 3 February 2012. Sterlite Industries, Hindalco Industries, Tata Steel and Jindal Steel & Power have gained between 2-5%.

FMCG major HUL has surged by almost 2% after the announcement of robust Q3 numbers. ITC has gained by almost 1%.

Auto stocks like Tata Motors, M&M, Maruti and Hero Motocorp are up between 1-2%.

However, IT stocks like Infosys and Wipro are trading marginally in red.

Index heavyweight RIL has lost ground and has plunged by almost 1%.

The broader markets have outperformed the benchmarks indices. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices have zoomed by over 2% each.

The overall market breadth in BSE remains firm with 1,934 shares advancing and 890 shares declining.