Funds pull Sensex up 110 pointsOur Markets Bureau / Mumbai March 25, 2006With metal and FMCG stocks leading the way, the Sensex on Friday bounced back by 110 points to finish just 50 points short of 11,000, ending a three-day slump. Strong fund-based buying made sure the market opened strong at 10,852 points and made continuous gains throughout the day, negating the 100-point loss of the last three sessions.The 50-stock Nifty at the National Stock Exchange ended at 3,279.80, up 1.01 per cent or 32.65 points after testing a high of 3,286.20 points during intra-day trade. It also touched a low of 3,242.60, five points below its opening level. Led by foreign institutional investors and mutual funds, retail investors jumped on to the bandwagon later in the day, taking the Sensex close to the psychologically important 11,000-point mark for the second time in its lifetime. Short-covering by derivative traders due to the impending expiry of the March contracts, too, added to the rise, according to market sources.The sentiment was lifted by the overnight rally at the London Metal Exchange, which saw most of the metal stocks like SAIL, Sterlite, Tata Steel and Hindustan Zinc open strongly, despite the considerable upswing in yesterday
