Sensex opens high at 18,827 points

Mumbai, Oct 18: The BSE sensitive index today resumed firm at 18,827.46 points gaining around 112 points from its last close of 18,715.82 points on fresh speculative demand from FIIs and some mutual fund operators.

'' The market surged in early trade. Reliance Industries (RIL) hit all-time high ahead of its results today. Power, capital goods stocks also surged. The market breadth was strong. brokers said.

The broader based S&P CNX Nifty index of NSE was up 80.8 points, or 1.45 pc, to 5,640.10. It hit a high of 5,647.70 in early trade.

India's largest private company in terms of market capitalization and oil refiner Reliance Industries (RIL) rose by 2.95 pc to Rs 2,769.70. It hit an all-time high of Rs 2,805. Reliance Industries (RIL) unveils its Q2 September 2007 results today.

Hindalco Industries rose by 3.21 pc to Rs 204.30 and Reliance Communications surged by 3.09 pc to Rs 760.10.

Bharti Airtel declined by 2.81 pc to Rs 1,073 and was the major loser from Sensex pack. ICICI Bank was down by 2.42 pc to Rs 1,089.60,followed by HDFC Bank by 1.34 pc to Rs 1,440, Infosys by 0.7 pc to Rs 1,876.60 and Wipro by 0.6 pc to Rs 483.

Capital goods stocks blossomed. Larsen&Toubro rose by 2.6 pc to Rs 3,374 after it won Rs 462 crore orders for projects in Andhra Pradesh. Bharat Heavy Electricals hiked by 1.61 pc to Rs 2,320.

Power stocks surged. NTPC was up by 3.51 pc to Rs 228.55 followed by Power Grid Corporation of India by 6.73 pc to Rs 145.95, Reliance Energy by 2.71 pc to Rs 1,810.10 and Tata Power Company by 2.62 pc to Rs 1,206.80.

A majority of Asian markets were trading higher this morning. Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up by 0.69 pc at 29,498.83 followed by Japan's Nikkei by 0.43 pc at 17,027.92, Taiwan's Taiwan Weighted by 0.74 pc at 9,632.75, South Korea's Seoul Composite by 0.5 pc at 1,993.63 .

However, Singapore's Straits Times fell by 0.48 pc at 3,821.28.

US markets ended on a mixed note amid volatile trade yesterday, as investors' concerns about sluggish housing and tight credit intensified their uneasiness over a motley batch of corporate profits. Rising oil prices only added to the market's malaise. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 20.40 points, or 0.15 pc, to 13,892.54. The S&P 500 Index climbed by 2.71 points, or 0.18 pc, to 1,541.24, while the Nasdaq gained by 28.76 points, or 1.04 pc, to 2,792.67, which reflected to boost on Indian bources, brokers added.

UNI