Bull run on, Sensex jumps 112 pts

Strong operator buying across sectors on the first day of the new financial year helped the benchmark Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex close in positive territory for the third straight day.

Investors bought metal, capital goods, oil and banking counters, which were among the biggest gainers today. With year-end concerns out ofthe way and a smooth rollover in the futures market, operator buying coupled with investor interest helped the market record gains as players took fresh positions ahead of the earnings season, brokers said.

Despite hitting a turbulent phase in early trades, when the BSE Sensex hit a low of 6,468.52, the Sensex subsequently surged to a high of 6,618.08 in intra-day trades before closing at 6,605.04, up 1.73 per cent (112.22 points) from yesterday's close.

In the BSE Sensex basket 25 of the 30 scrips closed higher. The breadth of the market was also positive, with gainers outpacing losers 5:1. The traded volume was lower than yesterday in the cash segment of the bourses; the BSE reported a turnover of Rs 1883.61 crore and the NSE reported a turnover of Rs 4,498 crore.

Gurunath Mudlapur, head of research at Khandwala Securities said, "The market built on yesterday's gains as positive sentiment helped investors make buy calls. Going forward, we will see high levels of volatility coupled with underlying bullishness."

Brokers said valuations looked attractive after the recent fall and expectations were also building up over corporate results. But sentiment is still of caution as investors rebuild their portfolios ahead of the April earnings season, analysts said.

The HPCL counter was the biggest gainer in the Sensex basket, rising 5.47 per cent to close at Rs 322.70, followed by Tata Motors, up 4.95 per cent to Rs 434.45, Bharti Tele-Ventures gained 4.69 per cent to Rs 216.55, Hindalco was up 4.66 per cent to Rs 1353.95 and BHEL was up 4.61 per cent to Rs 802.80.

The HDFC scrip was the biggest loser in the Sensex basket, falling 1.35 per cent to Rs 716.80, Zee Telefilms' scrip fell 0.86 per cent to Rs 137.70, Hero Honda was down 0.83 per cent to Rs 543.60, Infosys Technologies was down 0.40 per cent to Rs 2243.60 and ONGC fell 0.25 per cent to Rs 880.50.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers to the tune of Rs 358.60 crore on Thursday while mutual funds were net buyers of Rs 69.60 crore according to figures on the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) website.