Sensex opens up by 185 pts on firm note

Mumbai, Dec 3: The benchmark Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) sensitive index today opened 184.90 points up at 19,547.09 as compared to its previous close of 19,363.19 on firm note led by gains in heavyweight stocks.

Similarly the broader based S&P CNX Nifty was up 61.95 points or 1.08 per cent to 5824.70.

Metal, power and oil&gas stocks were in demand and the market breadth was strong on BSE. 26 of 30 share from the BSE-30 shares Sensex pack advanced. Asian markets were trading mixed today, according to the dealers.

The BSE Mid-Cap index was up 1.62 pc to 8,692.10. The BSE Small-Cap index was up 1.87 pc to 10,723.17 during the early trade.

Reliance Industries was at the gain of 1.90 pc to Rs 2905. Where as ICICI Bank fell 0.81 pc to Rs 1175. India's second largest software exporter Infosys Technologies rose 0.68 pc to Rs 1615.

Reliance Energy was up 5.76 pc to Rs 1837.95, Maruti Suzuki trading at the gain of 2.83 to Rs 1041.05, ACC at 1.79 pc to Rs 1109, NTPC rose 2.37 pc to Rs 242.25, Tata Motors was up 0.84 pc to Rs 739.50 and Mahindra&Mahindra rose 0.79 pc to Rs 737.55, during the late morning session.

However, among the stocks which landed in red were Bajaj Auto fell 1.26 pc to Rs 2675, Bharti Airtel declined 0.91 pc to Rs 930.95, Hindustan Unilever fell 0.19 pc to Rs 206.75, followed by Ranbaxy Laboratories at Rs 387 and DLF at Rs 943.25 traded at slight loss.

The BSE Metal index was up 2.26 pc to 18,131.59, the BSE Oil&Gas index was up 2.07 pc to 12,615.97 and the BSE Power index was up 2.44pc to 4,450.14.

Asian markets were trading mixed today. The key indices in Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong were up by 0.05 per cent to 1.5 per cent. While, key indices in Japan, South Korea and China were down by about 0.50 per cent US markets ended mixed on Friday on the expectation that US Federal Reserve will cut the key rates by at least 25 basis points next week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 59.99 points 0.45 pc to 13,371.72 and The S&P advanced rose nearly 1 pc to 1,481. However, the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.3pc to 2,661.

As per provisional data, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) purchased shares worth a net Rs 1072.07 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers of shares worth Rs 688.34 crore on Friday.

FIIs sold equities worth Rs 5,849.90 during the month of November 2007. On cumulative basis, FIIs were net buyers of equities to the tune of Rs 65,907.30 crore. UNI