Gains extended

STOCKS REPORT

In a volatile trading session, the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex eventually closed higher for the fourth straight day.

Metal, pharma, FMCG and PSU counters were among the biggest gainers on Tuesday while select consumer durables and capital goods scrips witnessed selling pressure.

The Sensex hit a high of 6579.05 and a low of 6522.80 in intra-day trades before finally closing at 6565.37, up 25.54 points (0.39 per cent) from its previous close. The BSE Small-Cap index was down 0.04 per cent and the Mid-Cap index gained 0.23 per cent.

A fund manager said, "We saw some profit booking on Tuesday that dragged the indices down in intra-day trades, but late buying in select heavyweight scrips helped the market close in positive territory. Profit taking was also visible in mid-cap and small-cap counters on Tuesday."

Some volatility is also expected ahead of the current month's futures contracts expiry on Thursday, brokers said.

Among frontline counters, 17 out of the 30-scrip Sensex basket closed higher. The breadth of the market was negative, with losers outpacing gainers 13:11 on the BSE. Volumes were higher than on Monday, with a turnover of Rs 1,965.90 crore recorded on the BSE and Rs 3,922.49 crore on the NSE.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of Indian shares worth Rs 64 crore on Monday while domestic mutual funds were net buyers to the tune of Rs 70 crore.

Tata Motors was the biggest gainer in the Sensex basket, rising 2.82 per cent to close at Rs 445, Ranbaxy was up 2.23 per cent to Rs 1,002.40, Wipro gained 2.13 per cent to Rs 682.10, Tata Steel was up 1.95 per cent to Rs 357.85 and Cipla gained 1.92 per cent to Rs 278.50.

Zee Telefilms was the biggest loser in the Sensex basket, falling 3.60 per cent to Rs 144.55, Satyam fell by 1.74 per cent to Rs 451.80, Gujarat Ambuja Cement was down 0.97 per cent to Rs 433, Bajaj Auto fell 0.87 per cent to Rs 1,205.90 and ICICI Bank was down 0.87 per cent to Rs 399.20.