Sensex rises 100 points; HUL, Wipro surge

Mumbai, April 29 (IANS) A benchmark index of the Indian equities markets rose 100 points Monday, led by a strong buying support in FMCG, consumer durables, realty and power stocks, ahead of the Reserve Bank of India's monetary policy review later this week.

The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened in the positive at 19,306.67 points, closed at 19,387.50 points, up 0.52 percent or 100.78 points, from its previous day's close at 19,286.72 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 19,428.94 points and low of 19,284.40 points intra-day.

The wider 50-scrip S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) also climbed 0.56 percent or 32.65 points at 5,904.10 points.

There was good buying support in interest rate sensitive consumer durables and realty stocks ahead of the monetary policy review by the central bank. The RBI is scheduled to announce its annual monetary policy review for financial year 2013-14 on May 3.

The BSE consumer durables index surged 2.43 percent. FMCG index rallied 2.30 percent. Realty index rose 1.53 percent and power index closed 1.44 percent higher.

Hindustan Unilever, the country's largest manufacturer of consumer goods and household products, surged 6.98 percent at Rs.497.60 after announcing better than expected earnings.

Hindustan Unilever said its net profit increased by 41 percent to Rs.3,796.67 crore for the year ended March 31. For January-March quarter, the company has posted 15 percent year-on-year increase in net profits.

Other prominent Sensex gainers were: Wipro, up 3.57 percent at Rs.341.90; Hero MotoCorp, up 3.24 percent at Rs.1,648.65; Sterlite Inds, up 2.29 percent at Rs.91.75; ITC, up 1.69 percent at Rs.324.35; and ONGC, up 1.37 percent at Rs.328.80.

Major Sensex losers were: Jindal Steel, down 4.24 percent at Rs.301.35; Coal India, down 1.74 percent at Rs.313.55; Sun Pharma, down 1.50 percent at Rs.941.55; and HDFC, down 0.99 percent at Rs.863.95.