RIL catapults Sensex to new peak

STOCK REPORT

The BSE Sensex on Friday advanced higher on the back of rising Reliance Industries' (RIL) scrip and closed at a new peak of 12,359.70 points.

RIL shares, after touching an intra-day high of Rs 1,109, closed at Rs 1,099.50, revealing a sharp gain of Rs 20.35 or 1.89 per cent over yesterday's close.

In highly volatile trading, the bellwhether index started firm at 12,373.47 as against yesterday's close of 12,347.63 and soon shot up to a new intra-day high of 12,443.54 on heavy funds buying.

Later, as shares, specially in the banking segment, fell sharply, the index nosedived to a low of 12,304.59 and closed at 12,359.70, showing a moderate gain of 12.07 points or 0.10 per cent over the previous close.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) who turned active buyers made a net buying of Rs 907.20 crore on May 3 and took the total buying in the first two days of the month to an impressive Rs 1,125.70 crore which boosted the market sentiment, a broker said.

During the early trades, some of the market friendly reports like the government announcement that there was no plan for an immediate hike in fuel prices and Moody's raising India's domestic currency rating to stable had made some impact on the sentiment, he said.

The National Stock Exchange (NSE) index, S&P CNX Nifty touched a new intra-day high of 3,676.55 and ended at 3,663.95, a new closing high.

BHEL made an impressive rally of Rs 31.85 at Rs 2,395.35 on heavy buying after the company's statement that its electricity generating sets produced a record 402.6 billion units during 2005-06, up five per cent over the previous year.

The total turnover was relatively low at Rs 4,705.17 crore from yesterday's level of Rs 5,216.47 crore. RIL recorded highest turnover of Rs 179.33 crore followed by Plethico (Rs 163.17 crore), Lokesh (Rs 144.71 crore), and RCVL (Rs 123.24 crore).