Sensex ends up 91 pts; snaps 3-day losing streak

The Sensex ended on a positive note with strong gains enhanced by metal, PSU, realty and banking stocks while IT and healthcare dipped. It belled positive with a gain of 32.61 points, at 16,633.81 on Tuesday on firm global cues and witnessed range bound movements for most part of the day. Later it gained ground on the back of sustained buying interest seen among the pivotal stocks and also on positive opening of European market. Finally the Indian barometer closed in the green after touching a day`s high of 16,738.12.

European stocks gained, sending the Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index to a five-week high, before US economic reports that may show the recovery is strengthening. US futures also climbed, Standard & Poor`s 500 Index futures added 0.3% today. UK`s benchmark index FTSE 100 advanced 54.65 points, or 1.04%, to trade at 5,348.73. French benchmark index CAC 40 increased 26.10 points or 0.67% to trade at 3,898.08. Germany`s benchmark index DAX rose 21.44 points or 0.37% to trade at 5,952.62. (4.25 pm)

FY11 Budget may be tabled on February 27,2010 but the final decision is yet to be taken by the finance minister.

UK Q3 GDP stood (-) 5.1% on a year-on-year basis. This was unchanged from the last estimates

BSE Midcap and Smallcap index rose 0.78% and 0.99% respectively.

The Sensex ended the day with a gain of 90.80 points, or 0.55% at 16,692.00 after touching a high of 16,738.12 and a low of 16,633.81. The broad-based NSE Nifty gained 33.25 points, or 0.67% at 4,985.85 after hitting a high of 4,997.30 and a low of 4,953.35.

Leaders in the 30-share index were Tata Steel (3.97%), Bharti Airtel (3.84%), Hindalco Industries (3.65%), NTPC (3.27%), ICICI Bank (1.95%), and Reliance Capital (1.74%).

On the other hand, ACC (1.92%), Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (1.28%), Tata Consultancy Services (1.19%), Mahindra & Mahindra (1.04%), Jaiprakash Associates (0.98%), and Grasim Industries (0.89%) were the major losers in the Sensex pack.

Overall market breadth was positive. Out of the total 2,885 stocks traded at BSE, 1,694 advanced, 1,107 declined while 84 remained unchanged.

Among the sectoral indices, BSE Metal which went up 2.87%, PSU gained 1.59%, Realty went up 1.51%, Bankex gained 1.16% and Power climbed 1.00%, while BSE IT declined 0.35% and HC lost 0.17%.

``The market is expected to continue to consolidate. The trading range is expected to be 4,850 to 5,050,`` said Avinash Gupta, assistant vice president Research Equity, Bonanza Portfolio while opining on the trend of equity market.