Sensex swings between red and green

Mumbai, May 16: The Sensex of Bombay Stock Exchange swung between red and green after opening with a positive gap of 122.87 point. The benchmark index resumed the day at 17,476.41 and struck a high of 17,497.36 in the early trade, gaining 143.82 points. Thereafter, it lost 27.24 points at a low of 17,326.30. However, Sensex recovered in the mid-morning trade, with a positive gain of nearly 70 points.

The broader based S&P CNX Nifty index of National Stock Exchange was 20 point up at 5,135. The market breadth was strong on BSE with 1,124 shares advancing as compared to 558 that declined. 45 shares remained unchanged. Index frontliner, Hindalco Industries fell 2.33 by per cent to Rs 199.10 on 2.23 lakh shares. It was the top loser from Sensex pack. Reliance Industries (RIL) was down by 0.25 per cent to Rs 2,616 on 84,619 shares. Ambuja Cements was also down by 1.34 per cent to Rs 110.60, ITC was down by 1.24 per cent to Rs 223.75 and Bharti Airtel by 0.89 per cent to Rs 848.60, were the other losers from Sensex pack.

However, HDFC Bank gained by 1.61 per cent to Rs 1,500 on 14,512 shares. It was the top gainer from Sensex pack. Satyam Computer Services recovered from red and was up by 1.12 per cent to Rs 489.30. Larsen&Toubro gained by 0.80 per cent to Rs 2,986 and State Bank of India by 0.93 per cent to Rs 1,696.30.

As per provisional data, foreign funds purchased shares worth a net Rs 706.88 crore yesterday, whereas domestic funds bought shares worth a net Rs 363.11 crore.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net buyers of Rs 524.05 crore in the futures and options segment, in the previous session. They were net buyers of index futures to the tune of Rs 173.50 crore and bought index options worth Rs 186 crore. They were net buyers of stock futures to the tune of Rs 150 crore and bought stock options worth Rs 14.55 crore.

UNI