ICIC1 Bank, Reliance lead rally; Sensex up 95pts

The Sensex opened on a strong note at 7,228 - up 16 points over its last close. Although buying in heavyweights remained steady, buoyancy in auto, cement and other select old economy stocks propelled the index to a new all-time intra-day high of 7,320 in early noon trades.

After moving in a range between 7,300 and 7,315 levels through the afternoon trades, the Sensex finally signed off the session above the 7,300-mark at 7,307 - up 95 points.

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ICICI Bank zoomed 6.61% (Rs 28) to Rs 452. While HDFC Bank scaled up 2.14% (Rs 14) to Rs 664, SBI, however, eased into the red to Rs 714 - down Rs 4.

Reliance Industries advanced nearly 2% (Rs 12) to Rs 633. ONGC was up a per cent (Rs 5) at Rs 925. HLL, however, closed a tad lower at Rs 158.

Bajaj attracted strong buying support and soared 4.42% (Rs 59) to Rs 1,398. While Tata Motors notched up 3.22% gains (Rs 14) to Rs 448, Hero Honda (up Rs 4 to Rs 592) ended off its highs due to profit-taking. Maruti, however, was down a rupee at Rs 447..

HDFC at Rs 925 (up Rs 12 or 1.26%), Hindalco at Rs 1,236 (up Rs 20 or 1.63%) and L&T at Rs 1,246 (up Rs 23 or 1.86%) flared up on strong buying support.

ACC jumped 4.63% (Rs 18) to Rs 412. While Grasim moved up 2.49% (Rs 26) to Rs 1,086, Gujarat Ambuja was up 2.72% (Rs 2) at Rs 62.

TCS added 1.15% (Rs 15) to Rs 1,327, and Satyam gained a per cent (Rs 4) to Rs 500. Infosys and Wipro, however, dropped a per cent each to Rs 2,315 (down Rs 18) and Rs 716 (down Rs 6), respectively.