Sensex gains 56 points to 10,860 after volatile opening

Mumbai, Mar 14 (UNI) The 30-share sensitive index of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) came back strongly this afternoon after a volatile morning session.

Sensex traded with a gain of 56 points at 10,860, as compared to the last close at 10,803 points.

Banking sector was leading the bull run with a gain of 1.78 per cent on the BSE index. SBI was leading the Sensex gainers' list rising by 3.95 per cent at Rs 965.

Other gainers were - ICICI Bank, Gujarat Ambuja Cements, ACC, Grasim Industries, HDFC, Bajaj Auto, HDFC, ITC, Tata Steel and Dr Reddy's Lab.

The losers on the Sensex were - Satyam Computers, Wipro, TCS, Ranbaxy, Tata Motors, Hero Honda, Hindalco and Larsen&Toubro.

Earlier in the morning, Sensex opened seven points down at 10,796.82, as compared to the last close of 10,803.71 points on Monday.

In a volatile opening move, the benchmark index swung 90 points touching a high 10,850 and a low of 10,761 points during the first half-an-hour of trading.

The National Stock Exchange (NSE) key index S&P CNX Nifty too opened lower at 3,197, as compared to the last close of 3,202 points.

The 50-share Nifty index touched a high of 3,217 points and then dipped 27 points to a low of 3,189 points in the opening move.

Nifty traded at 3,207 points with a gain of five points at 1247 hrs.

HCL Infosys was the stock of the afternoon showing a rise of 7.88 per cent at Rs 209.50 per share, as compared to the previous closing price of Rs 194.20 on the NSE.

J K Cements had a bad listing of its follow-on issue today at Rs 160 per share, as compared to the last close yesterday at Rs 166.

The scrip traded at Rs 149.75 at 1231 hrs with a loss of 9.87 per cent and dipped to a low of Rs 128 in the early trade today. In all, 16.52 lakh shares were traded so far.

The crude oil prices were quoted above USD 61 per barrel today in the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) which were higher than last week's price of around USD 60 per barrel.

Stock markets(NSE/BSE) will be closed tomorrow on account of Holi.

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