BSE Sensex surges by 134.50 points

Mumbai, Aug 20: Snapping the five-day losing streak, the benchmark index of the Bombay Stock Exchange surged by 134.50 points to close at 14,678.23 on positive sentiments in Asian markets. The Sensex opened on a positive note at 14,610.57 and soon afterwards hit a day's high of 14,746.20, gained 202.47 points on fresh buying in early trade. However, it came off the day's high but ended the session in green. It had posted losses for the last five successive trading sessions, brokers said.

Asian stocks rebounded from a two-year low as Chinese shares surged on hopes the government will introduce a stimulus package to boost the economy. European markets were green. The broader based S &P CNX Nifty rose 47.50 points to close at 4,415.75. The BSE Mid-Cap index was up 1.04pc to 5,826.37 and the Small-Cap index gained 0.76pc at 7,066.23. All the sectoral indices, barring FMCG index, ended the day on positive note. Realty, Power and Capital goods indices closed with gain of over 1.75 per cent.

A turnover of Rs 4,233 crore was quoted on BSE against Rs 3,972.48 crore in the previous session. Nifty August 2008 futures were at 4442.35, a sharp 26.60-point premium over the spot closing of 4,415.75. NSE's futures &options (F&O) segment turnover fell to Rs 38567.7 crore from Rs 43426.67 crore, a day before.

Overall, the market breadth was strong on BSE with 1,666 shares advancing, 969 declined, while 83 shares remained unchanged. Index frontliners, Reliance Industries rose 1.03pc to Rs 2,244.15. It came off from sessions high of Rs 2,258.40. Reliance Communications (RCom) rose 3.76pc to Rs 414.85. It had touched a high of Rs 418.20 in late trade.

Grasim Industries rose 3.64pc to Rs 2,028.35, recovered from session's low of Rs 1,955. Bharat Heavy Electricals rose 3.4pc to Rs 1,734.90, came off from session's high of Rs 1,743 hit in late trade.

Larsen&Toubro rose 1.5pc to Rs 2,714.65, came off from session's high of Rs 2,725 hit in late trade. As per reports, L&T is close to buying equity stake in coal mines in Australia and Indonesia to increase its focus on the power sector.

Bharti Airtel rose 2.99pc to Rs 815.25. It recovered from the session's low of Rs 793. India's second largest private sector lender HDFC Bank rose 2.52pc to Rs 1,237.90, recovered from session's low of Rs 1,202.05.

Reliance Infrastructure rose 1.55pc to Rs 1,009.70, Reliance Power was up 2.23pc to Rs 160.60, NTPC up 1.41pc to Rs 183.95 and Power Grid Corporation of India was up 1.25pc to Rs 93.35.

However, Mahindra&Mahindra dropped 2.08pc to Rs 549.55, ONGC declined 2.52pc to Rs 1,035.85, Satyam Computer Services was down 0.74pc to Rs 402.65 and ICICI Bank closed with a marginal loss at Rs 678.30.

UNI