The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex rose for the fifth straight day on Tuesday, and ended above the 3,750-mark for the first time in nearly 28 months.
The Sensex closed 24.68 points higher at 3,764.44. Though the market opened weak, it recovered losses in the second half of the session. Meanwhile, at the National Stock Exchange, the S&P CNX Nifty index gained 5.55 points to close at 1,174.75.
The market recovered on the back of sustained buying support in old economy stocks, after these companies reported strong results for the quarter ended June 30, 2003. Heavyweights such as Hindustan Lever, State Bank of India and Reliance Industries contributed to the gains.
More From This Section
FMCG giant Hindustan Lever added 1.52 per cent to Rs 169.90, State Bank of India gained 1.16 per cent to Rs 429.85, and Reliance Industries was up 0.75 per cent at Rs 347.80. GlaxoSmithKline Pharma ended 5.27 per cent higher at Rs 401 on improved quarterly results announced by the company on Monday.
Among cement stocks, ACC gained 4.54 per cent to close at Rs 187.60, Gujarat Ambuja Cements added 2.52 per cent to Rs 217.30, L&T soared 1.09 per cent to Rs 277.70, while Grasim was up 0.48 per cent to Rs 501.70.
Elsewhere, Tata Steel was up 3.82 per cent at Rs 210.75. Steel companies are reportedly considering a hike in prices. Over 45.65 lakh shares of Tata Steel were traded today.
Among technology stocks, Satyam Computer was down 3.11 per cent at Rs 197.80, HCL Tech lost 0.77 per cent to close at Rs 167.40, while Zee Telefilms dropped 2.20 per cent to Rs 115.75.
However, Polaris Software gained 4.41 per cent to close at Rs 107.75, following improved quarterly results. For the quarter ended June 30, 2003, the company posted a net profit of Rs 17.33 crore (Rs 13.69 crore) on a total income of Rs 139.75 crore (Rs 68.45 crore).
Among PSU banks, Punjab National Bank ended 4.54 per cent lower at Rs 167.05, while Bank of India dropped by 3.15 per cent.