Sensex ends firm; J P Asso. soars 7.26%

The sensitive 30-share index, Sensex ended on a firm note as sustained buying interest was seen across board. Capital goods, healthcare, realty and auto stocks were on the upmove. It opened with a gain of 65.07 points, at 9,633.21 on Tuesday. After few minutes of trading into the positive, the index fell into the negative to bounce back into the positive. The Sensex proceeded to trade further on sustained buying, touching a day`s high of 9,826.22. Meanwhile, opening of European markets also supported the sentiment.

Secondline stocks also performed well. BSE Midcap and Smallcap index rose 2.27% and 1.46% respectively.

Amongst sectoral indices, BSE Capital goods surged over 3%, Healthcare, Realty, auto and Metal rose over 2% each.

European stocks gained as Marks & Spencer Group posted sales that beat analysts` estimates and commodity producers climbed. FTSE 100 gained 199.23 points, or 3.17%, to trade at 3,882.14, CAC 40 advanced 48.89 points, or 1.80%, to trade at 2,768.23 and DAX climbed 58.65 points, or 1.47%, to trade at 4,047.88 (4.28 p.m., IST)

The Sensex ended the day with a gain of 140.36 points, or 1.47% at 9,708.50 after touching a high of 9,826.22 and a low of 9,547.21. The broad-based NSE Nifty climbed 42.80 points, or 1.44% at 3,020.95 after hitting a high of 3,054.30 and a low of 2,966.40

Biggest gainers in the 30-share index were Jaiprakash Associates (7.26%), Tata Steel (5.02%), Tata Motors (4.64%), Reliance Capital (4.63%), Ranbaxy Laboratories (4.58%), and State Bank Of India(4.36%).

On the other hand, Housing Development Finance Corporation (2.71%), NTPC (1.80%), ICICI Bank (1.58%), Hindustan Unilever (0.50%), and Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (0.41%) were the biggest losers in the Sensex.

Overall market breadth was sharply positive. Out of the total 2,542 stocks traded at BSE, 1,551 advanced, 903 declined while 88 remained unchanged.