The Sensex opened three points higher at 4,300. Steady gains in select old and new economy stocks saw the index move in a narrow, positive range till noon deals.
Renewed buying in the last hour of trade saw the index surge to a high of 4,389. The Sensex finally wrapped the last day of the week with a gain of 85 points at 4,382. The Nifty advanced 29 points to 1,386.
While 26 Sensex stocks advanced, four declined today. The traded volume and value of the index scrips totalled 2.47 crore and Rs 872.54 crore, respectively.
Reliance gained nearly 2% (Rs 7) to Rs 426. HLL edged higher towards the closing bell, and moved up nearly 2% (Rs 3) to Rs 182. ITC, after a mixed outing, added Rs 4 to Rs 819.
Infosys bounced from a low of Rs 4,426 and ended with a gain of a per cent (Rs 31) at Rs 4,546. Nearly 3.31 lakh shares were traded on the BSE with a value of Rs 149 crore. HCL Tech firmed up in afternoon deals, and advanced 5% (Rs 8) to Rs 169. Satyam gained 2% (Rs 5) to Rs 249.
SBI, after a steady begining, upsurged towards the closing bell and gained 4% (Rs 17) to Rs 434. The banking major logged a volume of 17.65 lakh on the BSE with a turnover of Rs 75 crore.
HPCL slipped in mid-noon deals, but recovered towards the end to finish with a gain of Rs 3 at Rs 355. MTNL was up 3% at Rs 117. BHEL, however, slipped from higher levels to finish with a loss of 2% (Rs 7) at Rs 383.
Bajaj (up 6% or Rs 44 to Rs 810), Hero Honda (up 3% or Rs 8 to Rs 294) and Telco (up 3% or Rs 10 to Rs 302) ended with sharp gains on sustained buying today.
Grasim and Gujarat Ambuja shot up 3% each to Rs 640 (up Rs 21) and Rs 226 (up Rs 7), respectively. While L&T logged 2% gains (Rs 7) to Rs 314, ACC was up a per cent (Rs 3) at Rs 197.
Cipla, after trading with modest gains, spurted towards the closing to finish with a gain of 3% (Rs 32) at Rs 1,031. Dr. Reddy's ended on a steady note at Rs 1,066 - up Rs 10. Glaxo, however, slipped towards the closing and ended a rupee lower at Rs 450. Ranbaxy, too, ended down a tad at Rs 939.
ICICI Bank crossed the Rs 200-mark in mid-noon deals, and continued its rally to finish 7% higher (Rs 14) at Rs 204. More than 12 lakh shares changed hands on the BSE with a turnover of Rs 24 crore. Hindalco at Rs 903 (up Rs 28 or 3%), HDFC at Rs 500 (up Rs 7) and Tisco at Rs 266 (up Rs 5 or 2%) moved up on decent buying support. Nestle, however, ended in the losers list at Rs 589 - down Rs 4.
Wipro notched up 5% gains (Rs 64) to Rs 1,245. More than six lakh shares changed hands on the BSE with a turnover of Rs 56 crore. Hughes gained 7% (Rs 27) to Rs 396. Digital, Mphasis and Mastek logged 4% gains each to Rs 531 (up Rs 21), Rs 457 (up Rs 17) and Rs 241 (up Rs 10), respectively. NIIT rose 7% (Rs 9) to Rs 147.
IOC ended a per cent lower (Rs 5) at Rs 361. IBP, ONGC and BPCL ended down a tad each at Rs 849, Rs 574 and Rs 347, respectively.
Container Corporation lost 3% (Rs 16) to Rs 465. BEML, too, was dealt at Rs 153 - down Rs 4 or 3%. Dredging Corporation, Hind Zinc and SCI ended down a per cent each at Rs 370 (down Rs 5), Rs 103 and Rs 67, respectively.
Telecom stocks rallied sharply on the back of the GoM propsal to hike the FDI limit to 74% and allow unified licences.
Bharti Tele spurted 13% (Rs 9) to Rs 76. Shyam Telecom added 11% (Rs 5) to Rs 53. Tata Telecom mopped up 6% gains (Rs 9) to Rs 150. Himachal Futuristic hit the upper circuit of 20% (Rs 4) at Rs 18. Over 30 lakh shares were traded on the BSE with a value of Rs 6 crore.