Equities gained on Tuesday on hopes that the tension between India and Pakistan may ease further. The Bombay Stock Exchange sensex settled with a gain of 82.93 points at 3,362.42. The index hit an intra-day high of 3,368.56 points and an intra-day low of 3,323.37.
Suhas Naik, portfolio manager with IL&FS Asset Management, said, "Investors are going back to the fundamentals as some signs of stability appear on the horizon."
On the National Stock Exchange, the S&P CNX Nifty rose by 27.15 points to close at 1,097.05. Gainers outnumbered losers in the ratio of 1:3 on heavy trades.
Buying support was almost across-the-board on institutional support. Software bellwether Infosys Technologies settled up 4.76 per cent at Rs 3,537.35 on foreign fund buying.
Other key stocks such as Satyam Computer (up 2.43 per cent to Rs 242.65) and HCL Technologies (up 1.81 per cent to Rs 230.10) gained further ground, despite a decline in the US exchange Nasdaq.
Media major Zee Telefilms settled 9.19 per cent at Rs 147.95 after the Reserve Bank of India on Monday approved the hike in foreign institutional investor stake ceiling to 49 per cent from 30 per cent.
Among frontline stocks, Hexaware Technologies was frozen at the 20 per cent upper limit of the circuit-breaker at Rs 91.60 for the second straight session after trading started in the stock on Monday.
CMC (up 5.15 per cent to Rs 648.50) ended with modest gains, but came off from the day's high of Rs 684.95 on selling pressure, ahead of the announcement of its results.
FMCG giant Hindustan Lever posted a rebound and settled up 2.78 per cent at Rs 203.05 on institutional support. Other blue chips such as State Bank of India (up 2 per cent to Rs 239.45), Reliance Petroleum (up 1.58 per cent to Rs 25.70) and Reliance Industries (up 1.62 per cent to Rs 288.50) settled firm on buying support.
But ITC (down 0.71 per cent to Rs 615.65) and Ranbaxy (down 0.37 per cent to Rs 824.65) ended lower on profit-booking, after Monday's gains.
Among auto stocks, Tata Engineering (up 10.66 per cent to Rs 155.70) gained further ground on sustained buying. The company said it recorded a 12 per cent year-on-year rise in its May 2002 sales. Two-wheeler major Bajaj Auto (up 6.69 per cent to Rs 536.15) touched a new 52-week high of Rs 537, on renewed buying. Hero Honda Motors (up 2.70 per cent to Rs 340) also gained further ground on sustained buying.
