Sensex ends 75.07 pts, led by Oil & Gas stocks

The markets ended the day on firm note. The 30-share index, BSE Sensex did turn flat in the noon trades but pulled up a good show again towards end. A strong support was provided by BSE Oil & Gas sector. Oil stocks cheered the announcement made by Oil minister Murli Deora that the public sector oil firms would be getting some compensation for their losses in the form of cash against oil bonds

Markets however did not react much on wholesale price index which rose 7.31% in December 2009 from a year earlier.

Broader markets traded on an upbeat note. Asian stocks rose for the fourth time in five days, as a bigger-than-estimated increase in Australian jobs and a Federal Reserve survey boosted confidence in the global economic recovery. Japanese benchmark index Nikkei 225 rose 172.65 points, or 1.61%, to end at 10,907.68. Hong Kong`s Hang Seng decreased 31.65 points, or 0.15%, to end at 21,716.95.

European stocks too traded on an upbeat note. UK`s benchmark index FTSE 100 rose 25.54 points, or 0.47%, to trade at 5,499.02. French benchmark index CAC 40 increased 18.91 points or 0.47% to trade at 4,019.77. Germany`s benchmark index DAX gained 28.21 points or 0.48% to trade at 5,991.95. (4:02 p.m)

The Sensex ended the day with a gain of 75.07 points, or 0.43% at 17,584.87 after touching a high of 17,628.04 and a low of 17,525.71. The broad-based NSE Nifty gained 25.95 points, or 0.50% at 5,259.90 after hitting a high of 5,272.85 and a low of 5,232.50.

Major gainers in the 30-share index were Reliance Communications (4.07%), Wipro (3.61%), Reliance Industries (2.99%), Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (2.94%), Bharat Heavy Electricals (1.89%), and Sterlite Industries (India) (1.45%).

On the other hand, Hindustan Unilever (2.86%), Tata Power Company (2.23%), Reliance Capital (1.95%), Reliance Energy (1.25%), Hero Honda Motors (1.22%), and DLF (1.06%) were the biggest losers in the Sensex.

Overall market breadth was positive. Out of the total 2,975 shares traded at BSE, 1,929 advanced, 980 declined while 66 remained unchanged.

Major gainers in the sectoral indices were BSE Oil & Gas which climbed 2.35%, Consumer Durables climbed 1.65%, went up 1.41%, PSU gained 0.83% and Capital Goods climbed 0.76%.

Major losers in the sectoral indices were BSE FMCG which declined 0.5%, Realty that declined 0.26% and Bankex which lost 0.07%.