Sensex ends firm at 16,739

The market remained upbeat on the extended day's trading session and registered gains of more than 200 points during the intra-day trades on phenomenal buying in metal, banking and consumer durable (CD) stocks. The Sensex resumed on a firm note at 16,611 and moved past the 16,700 mark in early trades. The index remained above the crucial level for the rest of the trading session and advanced further to touch the intra-day high of 16,779, up 298 points from the day's low of 11,882. The Sensex finally ended 1.57% higher or up 258 points at 16,739, while the Nifty rose 1.59% or 79 points to close at 5,037.

Metal stocks were the clear winner among the index stocks. Tata Steel led the upsurge and flared up 8.61% at Rs776.80, while Jindal Steel vaulted 5.07% at Rs2,122.15 and Sh Precoated scaled up 4.98% at Rs200.45. Among other major gainers, SAIL (Steel Authority of India Ltd) shot up by 4.33% at Rs178.40, ISPAT Industries advanced 3.19% at Rs33.95, NALCO (National Aluminium Company) surged 3.09% at Rs435.95 and Hindalco (Hindustan Aluminium Company) added 2.95% at Rs191.85. JSW at Rs833.70, Maharashtra Seamless at Rs1.98, Welspun Gujarat at Rs1.98, Gujarat NRE at Rs158.98, Bhushan Steel at Rs816.10 and Jindal Saw at Rs1.19 gained around 1-2% each. Satyam Computer went up by 2.13% at Rs458.95, while Infosys and Wipro ended with modest losses.

Banking stocks, too, attracted relentless buying. Axis Bank rose 6.83% at Rs881.10, Bank of India jumped by 4.91% at Rs336.60. Union Bank at Rs165.60, Bank of Baroda at Rs310, Central Bank of Punjab at Rs46.65, HDFC Bank at Rs1445.25, SBI at Rs1741 and ICICI Bank at Rs863.55 moved up by 3-4% each. Among the gainers in CD stocks, Videocon Industries, Bluestar, Lloyd Electric, Gitanjali, Titan and Rajesh Export gained between 0.50- 6% each.

Over 1.84 crore ISPAT Industries shares changed hands on the BSE (Bombay Stock Exchange) followed by Sita Shree Food products (1.32 crore shares), Orchid Chemicals (1.13 crore shares), Central Bank of Punjab (1.09 crore shares), Tata Teleservices (1.08 crore shares) and Nagarjuna Fertilisers (1.04 crore shares).