Buoyancy lifts Sensex past 14800

The market extended its winning streak for the fourth consecutive session, as firm Asian indices and strong buying by domestic investors on account of it being the second day of the of the June series in derivatives segment helped the sentiment remain bullish for the entire trading session. Taking its healthy up-move of over 1,000 points registered in the last three sessions further, the Sensex commenced 122 points higher at 14747 and swiftly moved past 14800 in early trades gaining 200 points for the day. While the market largely remained unchanged above 14800 in the first half, the index received a jolt in afternoon, as it slipped on selective selling to touch the day's low of 14655. However, a smart bounce back thereafter and buoyancy in heavyweights, reality and metal stocks towards the close saw the index surge to an intra-day high of 14907. The Sensex finally ended the session 215 points up at 14841, while Nifty added 84 points to close at 4533.

The market breadth was positive. Of 2,870 stocks traded on the BSE, 2,272 stocks advanced, 552 stocks declined and 46 stocks ended unchanged. Among sectoral indices, BSE Realty jumped 5.65% at 4036 followed by BSE Metal (up 5.32% at 11457), BSE IT (up 3.95% at 3116) and BSE FMCG (up 2.76% at 2155). Rest of indices gained 1-2% each. BSE HC and BSE Bankex lost marginally for the day.

Barring a few select counters, most of the heavyweights ended at higher levels. Among blue chips, Tata Steel shot up by 7.79% at Rs437.95, Sterlite Industries soared 6.75% at Rs664.75, ACC surged 6.40% at Rs833.10, National Thermal Power Corporation advanced by 6.17% at Rs228.75, JP Associates added 6.12% at Rs220.20, Mahindra & Mahindra moved up 5.25% at Rs710.45, HDFC scaled up 5.16% at Rs2,298.55 and ITC was up 5.04% at Rs192.90. Among laggards, ICICI Bank dropped 2.36% at Rs723.20 and Bharat Heavy Electrical Ltd shed 2.27% at Rs2,125.60 while Bharti Airtel, Ranbaxy Laboratories, HDFC Bank, Larsen & Toubro and Tata Consultancy Services closed marginally lower.