Sensex ends up 362pts

The Sensex has ended (provisional) at 17,508 - up 362 points. Nifty has ended up 116 points at 5,336.
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(Updated at 1434 hrs)

Markets continue to trade firm in late-noon trades with the Sensex adding 338 points or 2% to 17,483. Nifty added 111 points at 5,332.

Global markets ended higher with exports leading gains. The Nikkei added 1.6% to 9,929. Shanghai Composite and Hang Seng added 0.8% each.

Shares of MCX was trading at Rs 1,303 a premium of 26% over the issue price of Rs 1,032. The equilibrium price of the stock discovered through the one-hour call auction from 0900 hrs to 1000 hrs was set at Rs 1,387. The stock touched a high of Rs 1,426 and a low of Rs 1,295 in trades today. Over 5 million shares have changed hands on the counter in BSE so far.

All the sectoral indices gained. BSE metal index gained smartly 4% at 11,423. Capital goods, bankex and realty indices were up around 3% each.

"On Charts BSE Metal INDEX has given a positive breakout; whereas it have broken the bearish trend line on Monthly charts; best trading strategy would be grab the opportunity to buy metal stocks at dips," said Ravi Nathani, Technical analyst, Nsetoday.com.

ICICI Bank was the top gainer among Sensex stocks and accounted for a 71 points move on the Sensex. Metal shares - Jindal Steel and Tata Steel added 5.5% each. Sterlite and Tata Motors advanced 3-4% each. Among other gainers were SBI, HDFC and Maruti Suzuki.

Larsen & Toubro added 5% at Rs ,1298. The board of directors of the company in its meeting held today has decided to bifurcates the role of Chairman and Managing Director into two positions. The company has appointed Mr K Venkataramanan as Chief Executive Office and Managing Director with effect from April 1, 2012 while Mr. A. M. Naik, will continue as Executive Chairman of the Group.

Meanwhile, FMCG shares have weakened. Hindustan Unilever was down 0.5% at Rs 382. ITC was unchanged at Rs 210. IT shares -  Wipro and Infosys declined marginally in trades. Mahindra & Mahindra traded flat after it said that it would be observing no production days up to 2 days per week for the rest of March 2012.

BSE market breadth remained positive. Out of 2,830 shares traded, 1,843 shares advanced while 879 shares declined.