Sensex up 56 pts; Airtel, Wipro, auto pack share limelight

The Sensex, which had gained 74.53 points in yesterday's trade, opened weak and was trading over 60 points lower weighed down by RIL, HUL, ITC and Infosys in initial trades.

The sentiment reversed on robust auto sales numbers. Bajaj Auto, M&M and Maruti rose in the 1.3-1.7 per cent range after good numbers and Tata Motors, which posted numbers after markets closed, shot up by 4.89 per cent.

Shares of telecom major Bharti Airtel rose 4.41 per cent on hopes of some easing as Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) today consider the recommendations of Telecom Commission on spectrum refarming, said market dealers.

The 30-share Sensex finally closed with again of 56.32 points or 0.30 per cent, at 18,561.70. On the similar lines, the wide-based NSE index Nifty ended 25.35 points higher at 5,645.05 after touching a low of 5,601.95 in early trade.

Shares of Wipro, which rose 7 per cent in early trade after the company announced separation on non-IT business, finally ended 3.02 per cent higher.

"The rise was strongly supported by the stocks in the auto sector...RIL did show some initial weakness but the stock closed in positive territory at close," said Milan Bavishi, Head Research, Inventure Growth & Securities.

Had there not been a fall in ITC, HUL, HDFC Bank and ONGC, the rise in Sensex would have greater, said analysts.

A slight rise in country's manufacturing sector to 52.9 in October from 52.8 in September as per HSBC India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index, also aided the market mood.

Besides, a firming trend in the Asian region and a higher opening in the European market, helped sustain the late recovery on domestic boures, brokers said.

The BSE consumer durables sector index gained the most today by rising over 5.5 per cent as Titan Industries rallied by a whopping 9.83 per cent on the back of strong performance in the second quarter. (MORE)