Sensex passes 12,500 mark, ends at new high

Mumbai, May 8: Led by index heavyweights Reliance and ONGC, the 30-share BSE Sensex surpassed yet another important milestone of 12,500 mark, before settling at a new high of 12,462.47 points, adding about 103 points over the previous close today.

The Sensex has so far added more than 1,100 points in last seven trading sessions.

The firm trend in the Asia and a steady start in the European markets aided the bullish sentiments on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) as well as National Stock Exchange (NSE), dealers said.

Select stocks from petrochem, cement, steel and telecom sectors were in the limelight, while stocks from auto, energy, engineering, FMCG, pharma and banking continued under the bear hammering, dealers said.

Reflecting the bullish trend, the 30-stock BSE Sensex opened at 12,393.22 points, which happened to be the day's low. It surpassed the 12,500 mark by touching the day's high of 12,511.07 points, before closing at a comfortable level of 12,462.47 points, registering a smart gain of 102.77 points from the previous close of 12,359.70 points.

The trend was similar at the NSE, where the S&P CNX Nifty index closed at its new high of 3,693.15 points showing a net gain of 29.20 points from the previous close, before scaling a new intra-day high of 3,708.55 points.

Commenting on the day's trend, Nucleas Securities Vice President (Institutional Desk) Sharmila Joshi said Reliance was seen leading from the front, as investors seemed upbeat on the RPLs listing.

According to her, heavy buying in the cement and select auto stocks allowed the market to maintain a firm trend in the market.

broad-based BSE-100 index ended at 6,482.52 points, registering a gain of 47.38 points from the previous close of 6,435.15 points. Reliance which fuelled the Sensex with its upward march, opened at 1,101 and shot up to the day's high of 1,169.80, before closing at 1,155.65 points, netting a gain of Rs 56.15 over the Friday's close.

Similarly, housing finance major HDFC advanced by Rs 55.20 to Rs 55.20, ACC went up by Rs 22.40 to Rs 1,010.05, Hero Honda shot up by Rs 17.30 to Rs 875, Guj Ambuja gained by Rs 2.10 to Rs 119.80, Reliance Energy added Rs 6.70 to Rs 623.25, Grasim ended higher by Rs 24.35 to Rs 2,441.85, ONGC posted a gain of Rs 13.60 to Rs 1,378.85, Satyam Computer finished higher by Rs 7.60 to Rs 782.70, and TCS registered a gain of Rs 15.55 to Rs 2,019.45.

Among the major losers on the Sensex were NTPC, which was down by Rs 1.80 at Rs 130.65, followed by HDFC Bank down by Rs 9.10 at Rs 869.15.

FMCG major HLL ended lower by Rs 2.60 to Rs 282.25, Pharma major Cipla was down by Rs 2.40 at Rs 272.50, Ranbaxy dropped by Rs 3.65 at Rs 506.55, ICICI Bank moved down by Rs 4.35 to Rs 634.25, Tata Motors lost Rs 4.85 to Rs 963.15, ITC Ltd down by Rs 0.75 to Rs 207.75, Hindalco closed lower by Rs 0.75 to Rs 229 and L&T registered a sharp drop by Rs 8.65 to Rs 2,723.05.

UNI