Sensex at 11,638 pts after crossing 11,700 mark in opening move

Mumbai, Apr 4 (UNI) Soon after opening, the benchmark index of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) crossed 11,700 mark first time ever after yesterday's historic close at 11,564 points.

The index touched an all-time high of 11,710.69 points before falling sharply in the mid-mornig session. It touched a low of 11,570 points before showing a recovery this morning and was trading 74 points up at 11,638 points at 1430 hrs.

Earlier, the 30 share Sensitive Index (Sensex) opened with a gain of 35 points at 11,599.80 points as compared to the last close of 11,564.36.

Banking sector was leading the bull run today with gains being registered all across the banking counters. BSE Bankex index was up by 2.10 per cent.

HDFC Bank was up by 5.71 per cent, SBI was up by 1.48 per cent and ICICI Bank was up by 1.99 per cent.

SBI today crossed Rs 1,000 and touched a high of Rs 1,005.75 and traded at Rs 998 this afternoon.

Midcap banks Andhra Bank, Union Bank and IndusInd Bank were also up by more than three per cent.

Among the Sensex gainers were HDFC Bank, Ranbaxy, ITC, ICICI Bank, Larsen&Toubro, BHEL, SBI, NTPC, Cipla and HDFC.

The National Stock Exchange (NSE) S&P CNX Nifty index crossed 3,500 mark this morning going upto 3,508 points, but dropped sharply and traded at 3,484 with a gain of 11 points at 1429 hrs.

There was a block deal in the Bharat Forge of 7.5 lakh shares at the rate of Rs 451.50 per share.

The global crude oil prices have been rising and were up at USD 66.46 per barrel in the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), which could concern investors.

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