Sensex up 176 pts to end above 19K-mark; Sun Pharma, RIL shine

Rising for the fourth straight day, the BSE benchmark Sensex today jumped by 176 points to regain 19,000-mark after two weeks on sustained buying in bluechips like RIL, Sun Pharma, L&T and SBI after government said it will continue to argue for lowering of interest rates by RBI.
Stock markets, which had of late lost vigour on concerns like RBI having little room to cut rates further, shrugged off sluggishness after Finance Minister P Chidambaram reiterated India's commitment to additional economic reforms and the government's pro growth stance.
The Sensex closed 176.20 points higher, or 0.93 per cent, at 19,040.95, a level last seen on March 18. The index had gained around 183 points in past three sessions.

All-round buying was seen as all 13 sectoral indices closed with gains up to 2.07 per cent. Metal, refinery, capital goods, pharma and PSU counters took lead while 23 out of 30 Sensex-based stocks closed up.
RIL jumped over 2 per cent after billionaire Ambani brothers joined hands for telecom biz. Sun Pharma and Wipro gained over 4 per cent each. L&T gained 2 per cent after its construction arm bagged orders worth Rs 3,700 crore in March.
Sterlite Ind. Gained 3.8 per cent after Supreme Court refused to direct closure of Tuticorin plant and set aside Madras HC's 2010 order on closing it down. The apex court, however, asked it to pay Rs 100 crore as compensation.

"Markets rose today with benchmarks up by less than 1 per cent on the back of strong individual performances. Market focus would now be on the upcoming earnings season, government policy moves in Budget session and global developments," said Dipen Shah, Head of PCG Research, Kotak Securities.
The 50-issue CNX Nifty of the NSE also improved further by 43.70 points or 0.77 per cent, to end at 5,748.10.
Second-line shares continued to outperformed the Sensex on heavy buying by retail investors as the BSE-Smallcap and BSE-Midcap indices closed with a rise of 2.28 per cent and 1.43 per cent respectively.