Sensex ends 71.99 points up, closes at 13,561.92

{image-sensex, big_07072008.jpg news.oneindia.in}Mumbai, Jul 7: The Benchmark index of the Bombay Stock Exchange on Monday, July 7 ended with a marginal gain of 71.99 points at 13,561.92 amid bouts of volatility, after shedding huge early gains as some blue chip pivotals plunged in late trade.

Sensex started the day on a positive note at 13,561.92 on fresh buying interest and touched a high of 13,793.39 to gain 339.39 points from its previous close of 13,454.00. However, it failed to hold on to the gains after reports came in that the UPA-Left parties panel would meet again on July 10 to discuss the Indo-US deal, marketmen observed.

Sensex lost about 250 points in late trade on account of a sharp slump in the blue chip pivotals including Reliance Industries, Reliance Communcations, Reliance Infrastructure, Larsen&Toubro, and Bharat Heavy Electricals, brokers said.

Meanwhile, Nifty index of National Stock Exchange closed with a slight gain of 14 points at 4030 from its previous close of 4016, came off the day's high of 4114.50 in late trade.

Mid-cap on BSE gained 1.17 per cent at 5,339.81, while Small-cap surged 2.22 per cent to close at 6,593.01. Among sectoral indices on BSE, IT, FMCG and Auto index gained 2.25 per cent to 2.75 per cent, whereas oil&gas and capital goods stocks closed marginally low.

The market breadth was strong as for most of the day it remained firm on positve global cues. European and Asian markets were positive today. Back home, BSE clocked a turnover of Rs 6,697 crore as compared to Rs 5,677.98 crore in the previous session.

Reliance Infrastructure closed slightly up at Rs 778.55. It came off from the day's high of Rs 838.75. Reliance Communications fell 4.22 pc to Rs 419.80 and came off from a high of Rs 454.90. It was the top loser from the Sensex pack, followed by Reliance Industries that fell 3.38 pc at Rs 2,028.15.

Cairn India was down 5.49 pc to Rs 237.70, Essar Oil by 1.95pc to Rs 176.20 and Reliance Petroleum by 2.77pc to Rs 166.55 among the the other losers.

However, Jaiprakash Associates gained 4.47pc to Rs 160.15, Mahindra&Mahindra by 4.4pc to Rs 496.35, Maruti Suzuki India by 4.34pc to Rs 574.35, State Bank of India by 3.92% to Rs 1,171.75 and ICICI Bank by 0.52pc to Rs 603.75 and come off from day's high of Rs 639.95.

UNI