By IANS
Mumbai : Riding piggyback on a good show of international markets and ample liquidity in the equity market, Indian stock markets maintained their gaining streak for the second consecutive trading session Monday with IT, metal stocks leading the rally.
The 30-share sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) closed the day gaining 417.53 points or 2.43 percent at 18,660.32 points.
It opened 253.45 points higher at 18,496.03 points and surged to hit a high of 18,895.34 in afternoon trade. At day’s high, it gained 652.76 points and slipped to the day’s low of 18,447.25 points in mid-afternoon trade.
The broader 50-share CNX S&P Nifty index on the National stock Exchange was up by 119.05 points or 2.24 percent at 5,436.30 points.
The BSE Mid-Cap index was up by 3.14 percent to 8,004.91 points, while the BSE Small-Cap was up 2.87 percent at 10,361.37 points at close.
The market breadth was strong with 26 out of 30 stocks gaining in the Sensex pack.
European markets, which opened after Indian markets, were trading slightly higher. The benchmark index in Britain was up by 0.01 percent to 6,029.60 points, in Germany up by 1.04 percent to 7,041.80 point and in France up 0.16 percent to 4,985.91 points.
Asian markets, which opened before Indian markets, all edged higher. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up by 3.77 percent to 25,032.08 points, Japan’s Nikkei went up 2.69 percent to 13,859.70, Singapore’s Straits Times index rose by 2.30 percent to 3,077.80, South Korea’s Seoul Composite went up by 3.40 percent to 1,690.13, and China’s Shanghai Composite was up by 8.13 percent to 4,672.17 points.
The top gainer of the day was Reliance communications, which galloped 13.01 percent to Rs.691.40. It was the top gainer from the Sensex pack.
Reliance Infratel, a subsidiary of Reliance communications, today filed its draft red herring prospectus for an initial public offer (IPO) with market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
Among IT stocks, Wipro soared 6.11 percent to Rs.464 on reports that the IT giant planned to develop electronic warfare systems for US defence contractors.
Other IT stocks extended their lead with Infosys Technologies up 3.39 percent to Rs.1645, TCS up 4.17 percent to Rs.968.10 and Satyam Computers up 3.33 percent to Rs.435.05.
Steel stocks were seen in action on reports of a price hike. Tata Steel gained 3.93 percent to Rs.807, and Steel Authority of India rose 2.26 percent to Rs.231.
Tata Steel has increased the prices of hot rolled coils by Rs 2,000-2,500 per tonne, while Steel Authority of India Ltd has hike prices by Rs 1,500-2,500 per tonne.
Among the losers from the Sensex pack were India’s largest oil exploration company in terms of market capitalisation, Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), which slipped sharply from day’s high of Rs.1,121.90 to a low of Rs.1,032. It settled 1.87 percent higher at Rs.1,064.
India’s leading small carmaker in terms of sales, Maruti Suzuki India slipped 1.30 percent to Rs.893. It was the top loser from Sensex pack. The stock slipped from day’s high of Rs.924.90.
Reliance Energy slid by 0.69 percent to Rs.2,001, ITC slipped by 0.17 percent to Rs.2,040.50 and HDFC Bank went down by 1.03 percent to Rs.1,551.10.