Heavyweights save the day

STOCK REPORT

Key indices closed over 1 per cent up on Wednesday, led by buying in heavyweights "� Tata Steel, Wipro and Reliance Industries towards the close. Firm European markets and a recovery in Asia also helped improve sentiment, dealers said.

The Bombay Stock Exchange Sensex closed at 10876.19, up 124.53 points from Tuesday. Intraday, it moved between 10730.13 and 10891.38.

The National Stock Exchange Nifty closed at 3182.10, up 34.30 points. Intraday, it moved between 3127.90 and 3187.85. CNX Midcap and S&P CNX 500 Index were up 1.2 per cent each.Volume on both the exchanges combined was Rs 7,700 crore.

Among sectors, BSE Metal Index, up 2.5 per cent, was the top gainer. Driven by robust July sales figures, BSE Auto Index, too, surged 2 per cent.

Tata Motors was up 3.7 per cent after the company reported 44.5 per cent on year rise in July sales to 45,056 vehicles. Mahindra & Mahindra was up 2.3 per cent on strong sales numbers for July and news that it plans to pick up stake in a domestic forging company.

The company's automotive division sold 13,136 vehicles in July, up 39 per cent on year, while the farm equipment sector unit sold 7,526 tractors, up 40 per cent.

Bajaj Auto was up 1 per cent on 34 per cent on year rise in sales to 199,821 units. Asian markets ended up, led by late buying in South Korean export companies. European markets were also up on robust second quarter earnings from French bank BNP Paribas, and luxury-car maker BMW.

However, dealers do not expect the gains to sustain unless Sensex and Nifty surpass 10900 and 3200 points in the next few sessions. On Wednesday, gainers led losers 1526 to 880 on BSE.

HCL Technologies, up 4 per cent, was the top Nifty gainer. Other major gainers were Punjab National Bank, Tata Steel, and Jet Airways, up 3 per cent each.