By IANS
Mumbai : Even as India’s key share market index closed well above the 17,000-mark Thursday, another broad-based index topped the 5,000-point mark for the first time ever, as equities gained for the seventh straight session.
The 50-share index of the National Stock Exchange (NSE), called the S&P CNX Nifty, saw a major rally in early hours of trading Thursday and surged 75.05 points to touch 5,015.55.
As trading drew to a close, the index settled down at 5,000.55 points, to register a gain of 60.05 points, or 1.22 percent, over the previous close at 4,940.50 points. It took the index 203 days to rise from 4,000 to the 5,000-point level.
Even at the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), the 30-share sensitive index (Sensex) settled above the 17,000-point mark for the first time ever, closed at 17,150.56 points, with a gain of 229.17 points, or 1.35 percent.
This key index made its journey from the 16,000-point mark to 17,000 in all of five trading days – the shortest ever 1,000-point rise, crossing the 17,000 mark on Wednesday.
“There have been several positive triggers that have contributed to the gains over the past few sessions. The resurgence in the global equities market has been one of them,” said an analyst with a leading brokerage here.
“This apart, the finance minister’s reassuring statement Wednesday that he sees the central bank intervening in the forex market if the movement is unruly has also been comforting,” the analyst added.
Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said in Washington that the government and the central bank might have to address the challenge of a rising rupee since it was affecting exports and tax revenues.
Among the 30 scrips that comprise the Sensex basket, as many as 22 closed with gains, while eight others closed in the negative territory, data available with the BSE showed.
Reliance Energy powered the rise with an impressive gain of 8.87 percent at Rs.1,117.25, followed by Tata Steel, up 5.82 percent at Rs.794.60, Infosys, up 4.79 percent at Rs.1,911.75 and HDFC Bank, up 4.26 percent at Rs.1,433.30.
Oil and Natural Gas Corp, Cipla, Associated Cement, Bharat Heavy Electricals, Satyam Computer, State Bank of India, Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Motors, Maruti Suzuki, Wipro and National Thermal Corp also made gains.
Hindustan Unilever led the losers, falling 2.86 percent at Rs.218.80, followed by Ambuja Cement, down 1.69 percent at Rs.145.15, Reliance Communications, down 1.12 percent at Rs.582.80 and Hindalco, down 0.58 percent at Rs.164.10.
The other four losers among the Sensex shares were Grasim Industries, Ranbaxy Laboratories, Larsen and Toubro and Reliance Industries.