IT, FMCG lift Sensex up 70 points

The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex continued to trade higher by over 70 points in the noon session today on bargain buying by funds and retail investors amid a mixed trend in the Asian markets.

At 12.35 p.m., the 30-share BSE index Sensex was up 70.33 points or 0.42 per cent at 16,801.27 and the 50-share NSE index Nifty was up 11.45 points or 0.23 per cent at 5,047.25.

Volume toppers during the session were SBI, ICICI Bank, Tata Steel, DLF and HDFC Bank. Major Sensex gainers were ITC, Infosys, HDFC, TCS, RIL, HDFC Bank and ONGC. Tata Motors, DLF and ICICI Bank were the major losers.

Among the sectoral indices, IT was up 1.4 per cent, FMCG 1.38 per cent, oil & gas 1.00 per cent and teck 0.95 per cent. Realty was down 4.38 per cent, auto 1.36 per cent, bankex 1.2 per cent and power 0.34 per cent. Of the total 2,665 stocks traded, 852 advanced, 1,701 declined and 112 remained unchanged.

During the opening session, the 30-share index, which lost nearly 400 points in the previous three sessions, rose 127.35 points or 0.76 per cent to 16,858.92.

Bargain buying by funds and retail investors and covering up of short positions by speculators led to the Sensex recovery.

Similarly, the broad-based National Stock Exchange Nifty index gained 37.3 points or 0.74 per cent to 5,073.10.