Sensex just shy of all-time high

Strong institutional buying in blue-chip counters helped the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex rise by almost 123 points yesterday - its highest gain in a day since May 17.

The Sensex ended at its second-highest closing this year at 6157.77, up 2.03 per cent (122.74 points) from Thursday's close. The Sensex is now just 37 points away from its all-time closing high of 6,194 on January 14.

As a result, the market capitalisation on the BSE increased by Rs 24,157 crore from the market capitalisation on Thursday's closing level to Rs 15,17,776 crore. Foreign funds have in November bought a record net Rs 5,047.30 crore worth of Indian shares, data released by the Securities and Exchange Board of India show.

Banking, automobile, technology and metal industry scrips were among the biggest gainers on Monday. Of the 30 scrips in the Sensex basket, 27 closed with gains, reflecting the positive sentiment. The breadth of the market was buoyant, with gainers outpacing losers 2:1.

Indeed, blue chips were in the limelight, with almost 66 per cent of the total traded turnover of Rs 5,125.64 crore on the cash segment of the National Stock Exchange accounted for by the 50 stocks in the S&P CNX Nifty. On the BSE, trades in Sensex stocks accounted for almost 48 per cent of the turnover.

All the 11 sectoral indices on the BSE closed with gains. The index of banking stocks, the BSE Bankex, was the biggest gainer, up 3.04 per cent, followed by the auto index, up 2.83 per cent. The IT index gained 2.66 per cent, the TECk index was up 2.47 per cent and the metal index was up 2.36 per cent. The laggard was the healthcare index, up only 0.22 per cent.

Maruti Udyog was the biggest gainer in the Sensex basket, rising 5.66 per cent to close at Rs 419.75, followed by Tata Motors, up 5.56 per cent to Rs 490.65. The ICICI Bank share gained 5.19 per cent to Rs 336.40, Tata Steel was up 3.83 per cent to Rs 322.80 and Wipro gained 3.46 per cent to Rs 762.20.

The three losers in the Sensex basket were Zee Telefilms, down 1.27 per cent to close at Rs 151.50, Dr Reddy's Labs, which fell 1.22 per cent to Rs 799.85, and HDFC Bank, which slipped 0.42 per cent to Rs 496.95.

Reliance Industries closed higher at Rs 509.80, up 1.24 per cent and Reliance Energy gained 1.13 per cent to close at Rs 555.30.

HLL was up 3.42 per cent to close at Rs 140.55, Infosys Technologies gained 2.94 per cent to Rs 2090.85, the State Bank of India scrip was up 2.44 per cent to Rs 524.95, ONGC rose 1.18 per cent to Rs 805.50 and ITC gained 1.15 per cent to Rs 1290.15.

The mood in the market appeared bullish on the back of sustained foreign fund inflows, with firmer Asian markets helping the positive sentiment.

Narayan SA, managing director, Kotak Securities, said: "The Indian story continues to attract attention. Consequently foreign fund inflows are strong. Going forward, this should continue."

Brokers said a lack of negative news on the Reliance front over the weekend helped Reliance group companies post gains despite a weak start on Monday.

They said despite the volatility and fall in the Reliance scrips in the last few days, not many large institutions have sold their shares, which has helped. Trading was mostly being done by day-traders and smaller players, said an analyst at a domestic brokerage house.