Sensex up by 208.57 points

Mumbai, Dec 5: The bechmark sensitive index of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) today climbed up by 208.57 points to close at 19,738.07 on strong buyings across the sectors.

The Sensex started 100 points up at 19,628.85 from the previous close of 19,529.50 and after remaining range bound in afternoon trade closed on a firm note, traders said. It touched a high of 19,790.92 and a low of 19,560.50 during the day trade.

The market firmed up in late trade as European markets, which opened after Indian markets, started on a firm note and most of the Asian markets were in green. ICICI bank surged in late trade.

Reliance Industries firmed up and Banking, oil&gas and realty stocks were in demand. IT stocks edged lower.

The broader based National Stock Exchange's (NSE's) Nifty index gained 81.65 points to close at 5,940.00 from its previous close of 5,858.35. Nifty touched day's high of 5,949.30 and day's low of 5,859.30.

Buying continued in small-cap and mid-cap shares, which have been rising since the past few days. Market breadth was strong. 22 out of 30 stocks from the Sensex pack were in green. BSE registered a a turnover of Rs 9,360 crore today.

The BSE Mid-Cap index was up 1.67 pc to 9,052.83 and BSE Small-Cap index was up 2.88pc to 11,271.96. On BSE, 2147 stocks advanced, 698 stocks declined and 40 stocks remained unchanged.

Among the major sectorial indices on BSE, Bankex, Consumer durables and Oil&Gas gained 2 to 2.5 per cent, while Auto, Capital goods and metal registered about one per cent gain. Key players of the market like Reliance Industries rose 1.01 pc to Rs 2892.80, off day's low of Rs 2863, ICICI Bank rose 2.77pc to Rs 1172, off day's low of Rs 1131, whereas Infosys Technologies fell 0.65 per cent to Rs 1604.

ONGC soared 4.26pc to Rs 1206, Tata Motors jumped 4.25pc to Rs 774, State Bank of India gained 2.70pc to Rs 2380, Hindalco Industries gained 2.19pc to Rs 198, and Cipla rose 2.54 per cent to Rs 189.50.

Tata Steel was down by 1.37pc to Rs 861, Satyam Computers declined 0.66pc to Rs 438, Grasim Industries slipped by 0.49 pc to Rs 3795, Reliance Energy shed 0.48 pc to Rs 1884.10 and Hindustan Unilever declined by 0.19 pc to Rs 206.20.

UNI