Marked maintain firm trend on BSE, Sensex up at 12,359

Mumbai, May 5 (UNI) Led by select PSUs, IT and commodity stocks, the markets maintained a firm trend on the BSE as the Sensex today closed higher by 12 points at 12,359.70.

According to dealers, it was a mix bag at the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), as markets repeated same trading pattern of the previous day. PSUs such as ONGC, Hindalco, BHEL staged a smart show, followed by commodity stocks ACC and L&T registering gains, along with IT leader Satyam Computers.

Banking stocks like ICICI Bank and SBI suffered a hit on profit booking. FMCG giant HLL and Tata Power, too, posted losses on sustained selling pressure, dealers said.

The 30-share BSE sensitive index (Sensex) opened at 12,373.47 points, shot up to touch the day's high of 12,443.54 by registering a gain of 70 points. However, it lost the gains to touch the day's low of 12,304.54, before staging a recovery to close at 12,359.70, up by 12.07 points over the previous close.

The Sensex, which had added 1,000 points in the earlier five trading sessions, continued its upward march in the sixth trading session today.

At the National Stock Exchange (NSE), S&P CNX Nifty index ended up by 15.55 points at 3,663.95, from the previous close of 3,648.40 points.

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