Sensex moves 120 points up on last trading day of the year


Mumbai: A benchmark index of the Indian equities market moved up 120 points Friday, the last trading day of 2010. Led by realty and banking stocks, broader markets too saw modest buying. The 30-share sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 20,412.76 points closed at 20,509.09, up 120.02 points or 0.59 percent, from its previous close of 20,389.07 points. It traded in a tight range, touching an intra-day high of 20,552.03 points and falling to intra-day low of 20,412.76 points. At the National Stock Exchange 50-share S&P CNX Nifty closed 0.54 percent higher at 6,134.5 points. Broader markets saw relatively better gains with the BSE midcap closing 1.14 percent up and the BSE smallcap index ending 1.23 percent higher. Compared to its last yearly close, the Sensex gained 3,044.28 points, or 17.43 percent, while the Nifty moved up 933.45 points, or 17.94 percent. Among the gainers on the Sensex Friday were Reliance Communications, up 4.99 percent at 145.10; Bajaj Auto, up 4.37 percent at 1,541.50; Reliance Infra, up 4 percent at 842 and Jaiprakash Associates, up 2.97 percent at 105.90. The losers were Sterlite Industries, down 0.98 percent at 186.60; Jindal Steel, down 0.79 percent at 713.20; NTPC, down 0.64 percent at 200.60 and BHEL, down 0.51 percent at 2,324.75. The market breadth was positive, with 1,978 stocks advancing, compared to 947 scrips on the decline, while 142 stocks remained unchanged. According to data available with SEBI, foreign institutional investors bought scrips worth $523.98 million Friday. For the whole year, FIIs bought stocks worth $28.83 billion. Other Asian markets closed mixed on the last trading day of the year. The Shanghai Composite Index ended 1.76 percent higher at 2,808.08 points, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng closed 0.16 percent up at 23,035.45 points. Japanese markets were closed on account of holiday. European markets were ruling subdued with trading volumes remaining low as investors stayed on the sidelines. Around mid-day, Britain's FTSE 100 was ruling 0.78 percent down at 5,924.65 points, while the French CAC 40 was trading 0.66 percent lower at 3,825.19 points. The German markets were closed.
Source: IANS