FMCG and metal stocks lift Sensex

After exhibiting a sluggish trend yesterday, the Sensex held firm above 13500 for a major portion of the afternoon and closed at 13617, up 186 points. There was strong buying in metal and FMCG stocks that lifted the Sensex to an intra-day high of 13630. The Nifty touched an all-time high of 3922 and closed at 3918, up 62 points.

Among the Sensex stocks Reliance Energy was up Rs17 at Rs533, Bharti Airtel advanced Rs19 at Rs624, ITC soared Rs6 at Rs184, TCS surged Rs33 at Rs1,148, Satyam Computers gained Rs13 at Rs453, Tata Steel rose Rs12 at Rs475 and Wipro advanced Rs14 at Rs569. Gujarat Ambuja Cements, Hindustan Lever, Hindalco, NTPC, Tata Motors, Maruti Udyog and Reliance Communication gained 1-2% each. SBI hit an all-time high of Rs1,244 and closed at Rs1,234, up Rs25.

The market breadth was positive. Of the 2,583 stocks traded on the BSE, 1,794 stocks advanced, 719 stocks declined and 70 stocks remained unchanged. Most of the sectoral indices ended in positive territory. The BSE Metal index surged 199 points at 8585 and the BSE FMCG index advanced 44 points at 2034.

Among the metal stocks, Hindustan Zinc surged Rs26 at Rs870 and Hindalco Industries was up Rs4 at Rs175. However Jindal Saw, Jindal Steel and Nalco ended in negative territory.