Sensex: Hat-trick of gains

Continuing the pullback, the markets on Friday opened with positive gaps this mornign backed by strong global cues. The Sensex opened at 16,137 and touched a high of 16,284 -- up 220 points from the previous close. Metal and realty stocks were responsible for the early gains of the BSE index.

However, selling in index heavy-weight Reliance and Infosys saw the markets trim gains in the noon session. The Sensex slipped 209 points from the day's high to a low of 16,075.

However, towards the end the Sensex regained some strength finally ended with a gain of 94 points at 16,158.

With three consecutive gains, the Sensex has ended the week with a net gain of 262 points despite the near 500-point fall on Tuesday.

The NSE Nifty ended up 31 points at 4,796.

The BSE Mid-cap and Small-cap index outperformed the broader market and gained over 2% each at 6,254 and 7,171, respectively.

The PSU index surged 4% to 8,795. The realty, metal and bankex added around 2% each.

The BSE market breadth was fairly positive. out of 2,787 stocks traded, 1,941 advanced while 783 declined.

INDEX MOVERS...

Jaiprakash Associates surged 5% to Rs 228. Tata Steel and SBI rallied 3% each to Rs 500 abd Rs 2,205, respectively.

DLF, Sterlite, Larsen & Toubro and HDFC added 2% each.

Sun Pharma and Reliance were up 1% each at Rs 1,398 and Rs 1,960, respectively.

...AND THE LOSERS

Tata Power shed 4% to Rs 1,270. FMCG stocks were down. Hindustan Unilever dipped 2% to Rs 273 while ITC slipped 1.5% to Rs 249.

Auto stocks - Hero Honda, Maruti Suzuki and Tata Motors declined. Hero Honda dropped 2% to Rs 1,526. Maruti Suzuki was down 1.5% at Rs 1,467. Tata Motors slipped 1% to Rs 569.