Sensex ends up 336pts

The Sensex ended (provisional) at 16459 - up 336 points. Nifty ended up 99 points at 4,931.
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(Updated at 1439 hrs)

Markets were at the day's low as select stocks gave up gains. The Sensex after a firm opening, shot up  to a high of 16,718. However, weakness in Bharti Airtel and HUL led to Sensex to a low of 16,431. The index is now up 356 points at 16,479. Nifty is up 97 points at 4,929. A moderating food inflation also helped the markets to stay in green.

Meanwhile in Asia, the decision of the world's six major central banks to tame a liquidity crunch for European banks by providing cheaper dollar funding, took markets higher. Hang Seng soared 5.6% to 19,002. Nikkei went up 2% to 8,597. European markets were in the red, however, with CAC and DAX slipping nearly 1% each.

Food inflation witnessed a sharp moderation to 8% for the week ended November 19, though prices of most agricultural items, barring potatoes, onions and wheat, continued to rise on an annual basis. Food inflation, as measured by the Wholesale Price Index (WPI), was 9.01% in the previous week ended November 12. It stood at 9.03% in the corresponding week of the previous year.

BSE healthcare index slipped 0.4% to 6,034. However, BSE metal and bankex held on to gains and were up 3% each in trades.

Hindalco jumped 6% to Rs 130. ICICI Bank was the biggest contributor to the Sensex, and along with Reliance, accounted for over 100 point rally in the benchmark. Sterlite, DLF, Tata Steel and Jindal Steel surged 4-6% each.

BSE auto index moved up 2.4% to 8,634 as auto majors started to report sales numbers.

Tata Motors surged 6.4% to Rs 131 after the European Commission listed it as India's top-ranked company for research and development (R&D). Hero MotoCorp surged 3.4% to Rs 2,071. Bajaj Auto surged 2.2% at Rs 1,710.Mahindra & Mahindra rose 1.6% at Rs 736 after reporting 53% rise in sales in November. However, Maruti Suzuki was down 0.5% on reporting a 18.4% sales drop to 91,772 units for the month of November. Maruti's Manesar plant will, however, run at full capacity by January, producing 800 cars a day.

BSE market breadth is positive. Out of 2,804 stocks traded, 1,665 shares advanced while 1,036 declined.