Sensex ends firm; L&T surges

The Sensex ended sensitive session on a strong note for the seventh consecutive day. On sectoral front, capital goods, oil & gas and auto stocks moved up except consumer durable. Both Sensex and Nifty traded above 1-month high.

It opened on a flat note with positive bias following mixed Asian cues and was continued to trade in a sluggish manner amid volatility. Later in the second half, the index gained ground on positive European market.Finally, it closed on a firm note after touching a high of 17,647.42. All ADAG stocks were shining today. All eyes on RIL AGM tomorrow.
Meanwhile, Food Inflation for the week ended June 5, 2010 stood at 16.12% as against 16.74% in the previous week (May, 29, 2010). Index for primary articles stood at 16.86% as against 17.21% in the previous week.
European stocks closed little changed at the highest level in a month as gains by insurers offset a decline by auto-industry companies and a slump in technology shares after Nokia Oyj cuts its forecasts. Asian stocks end mixed on concern a global economic recovery will stall after US housing starts dropped and FedEx Corp`s profit forecast trailed estimates.
At the close, the benchmark 30-share index, BSE Sensex gained 153.82 or 0.88% at 17,616.69 with 23 components registering rise. Meanwhile, the broad based NSE Nifty went up by 41.50 or 0.79% at 5,274.85 with 37 components registering rise.
Sensex Movers
Larsen & Toubro contributed rise of 39.79 points in the Sensex. It was followed by Reliance Industries (32.86 points), Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (12.11 points), H D F C Bank (12.02 points) and I T C (10.61 points).
However, State Bank Of India contributed fall of 5.82 points in the Sensex. It was followed by Hindustan Unilever (3.9 points), Hero Honda Motors (3.29 points), Tata Steel (2.66 points) and Grasim Industries (1.92 points).
Biggest gainers in the 30-share index were Larsen & Toubro (3.30%), Tata Motors (2.80%), Jaiprakash Associates (2.60%), Reliance Communications (2.30%), Jindal Steel & Power (2.20%), and D L F (1.98%).
On the other hand, Hero Honda Motors (1.26%), Hindustan Unilever (1.08%), Tata Steel (0.68%), State Bank Of India (0.67%), Bharat Heavy Electricals (0.29%), and NTPC (0.17%) were the biggest losers in the Sensex.
Mid & Small-cap Space
The Midcap and Smallcap index rose 0.41% and 0.58% respectively.
Sectors in Limelight
The Capital Goods index was at 14,462.22, up by 252.85 points or by 1.78%. The major gainers were Gammon India (1.46%), Crompton Greaves (1.11%), BEML (0.74%), A I A Engineering (0.56%) and A B B (0.48%).
The Oil & Gas index was at 10,408.18, up by 136.28 points or by 1.33%. The major gainers were Aban Offshore (3.21%), G A I L (India) (2.45%), Essar Oil (0.43%), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (0.38%) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation (0.37%).
The Auto index was at 8,186.20, up by 75.37 points or by 0.93%. The major gainers were Exide Industries (3.92%), Cummins India (3.28%), Bharat Forge (1.92%), Bajaj Auto (0.4%) and Mahindra & Mahindra (0.22%).
On the other hand, the Consumer Durables index was at 4,467.89, down by 4.62 points or by 0.1%. The major losers were Bajaj Electricals (2.15%), Titan Industries (0.95%), Gitanjali Gems (0.52%), Blue Star (0.33%) and Videocon Industries (0.12%).
Market Breadth
Market breadth was positive with 1,521 advances against 1,335 declines.
Value and Volume Toppers
I C I C I Bank topped the value chart on the BSE with a turnover of Rs. 2,207.79 million. It was followed by Reliance Industries (Rs. 1,403.67 million), Sesa Goa (Rs. 1,203.31 million) and Reliance Communications (Rs. 1,165.97 million).
The volume chart was led by Reliance Natural Resources with trades of over 15.91 million shares. It was followed by Reliance Communications (6.09 million), Unitech (4.27 million) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam (4.18 million).