Sensex ends higher for second day; Hindalco zoom

The Sensex ended on a higher note for the second day supported by index heavyweights Hindalco, Jaiprakash Associates and Sterlite Industries. Metal stocks traded higher during the day followed by realty and teck stocks, which led the upmove, except auto. Comments from Finance Ministry`s Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) Kaushik Basu that the Indian economy can notch up a 10% growth rate in the next few years also enhanced the sentiments.
It opened flat with a loss of 2.96 points, at 17,555.77 on Tuesday and soon moved up into the positive and traded higher touching a 22 month high of 17,729.78 in morning trade. The index later pared some of its gains due to some profit taking seen at higher levels in frontliners and remained positive throughout the session, settling near day`s high.
BSE Midcap and Smallcap index rose 1.20% and 0.85% respectively.
The Sensex ended the day with a gain of 127.51 points, or 0.73% at 17,686.24 after touching a high of 17,729.78 and a low of 17,555.77. The broad-based NSE Nifty gained 45.70 points, or 0.87% at 5,277.90 after hitting a high of 5,288.35 and a low of 5,242.40
Leaders in the 30-share index were Hindalco Industries (7.39%), Jaiprakash Associates (5.79%), Sterlite Industries (India) (4.57%), Reliance Communications (3.51%), Grasim Industries (3.36%), and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (3.03%).
On the other hand, Maruti Suzuki India (2.27%), Tata Motors (1.99%), ACC (1.37%), NTPC (1.08%), Reliance Industries (0.54%), and Hindustan Unilever (0.38%) were the top laggards in the Sensex pack.
Overall market breadth was positive. Out of the total 2,962 stocks traded at BSE, 1,780 advanced, 1,104 declined while 78 remained unchanged.
Among the sectoral indices, BSE Metal which gained 3.82%, Realty gained 1.14%, TECk climbed 0.94% and PSU gained 0.91%, while BSE Auto fell 0.25%.
On global front, European stocks declined after the Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index rose to a 15-month high yesterday.
Asian stocks rose, lifting the MSCI Asia Pacific Index to a 16-month high after US manufacturing expanded at the fastest pace in more than three years and commodities gained.
New Listing
Equity shares of Godrej Properties, a part of Godrej Group, got listed on the bourses today. The shares of the company settled at Rs 534.55 a share, a premium of 9.09% against its issue price of Rs 490 a share on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE)
The scrip opened at Rs 510 a share and touched a high of Rs 586.70 a share and a low of Rs 500 a share. A total of 5,260,628 shares have exchanged hands. The scrip has been placed in the `B` Group and has been assigned the scrip code of 533150.
On NSE, the shares of the company settled at Rs 534.55 a share, a premium of 9.09% against its issue price of Rs 490 a share. The scrip opened at Rs 511 a share and touched a high of Rs 586.80 a share and a low of Rs 502.15 a share. A total of 8,707,481 shares exchanged hands