Sensex zooms 93 pts, tech stocks lead rally

After clocking gains on the last five successive trading sessions, the Sensex today opened with a gain of four points at 6,392. While upsurge in the first half was led by tech and auto stocks, the market witnessed a broad-based rally towards the closing hours of the trading session, with the index spurting to a high of 6,487 - up 99 points over its last close.

The Sensex finally settled with a huge gain of 93 points at 6,481. The Nifty edged above the 2,000-mark at 2,001 - up 24 points.

Infosys soared 3.74% (Rs 75) to Rs 2,097. While Satyam mopped up 2.96% gains (Rs 12) to Rs 426, Wipro was up 1.55% (Rs 10) at Rs 647.

ITC shot up 2.93% (Rs 42) to Rs 1,484. While ONGC logged 1.13% gains (Rs 10) to Rs 872, Reliance ended up a per cent (Rs 5) at Rs 553. HLL, however, lost 1.19% (Rs 2) to Rs 133.

ICICI Bank gained 1.58% (Rs 6) to Rs 383, while SBI closed up a per cent (Rs 5) at Rs 622. HDFC Bank, however, slipped a per cent (Rs 3) to Rs 538.

Tata Motors scaled up 2.77% (Rs 12) to Rs 437. While Hero Honda moved up 1.90% (Rs 10) to Rs 550, Maruti added 1.59% (Rs 7) to Rs 440. Bajaj was up a per cent (Rs 6) at Rs 1,120.

L&T (up Rs 13 or 1.34% to Rs 1,023), BHEL (up Rs 18 or 2.22% to Rs 840), Tisco (up Rs 9 or 2.63% to Rs 363), Bharti (up Rs 5 or 2.13% to Rs 223) and Zee (up Rs 4 or 2.43% to Rs 154) ended with strong gains. HPCL, however, dropped 2.59% (Rs 9) to Rs 325.

Dr. Reddy's, which dropped aroung 5% in early trades, bounced back into the green towards the fag-end and moved up 2% (Rs 14) to Rs 680. While Cipla gained 1.20% (Rs 3) to Rs 275, Ranbaxy closed up a tad at Rs 957.