Sesex opens high at 13,434.58 pts

Mumbai, Nov 21 (UNI) The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex today opened high at 13,433.58 points, from it's previous day's close of 13,430.71 points, registering a gain of 2.87 points, due to fresh speculative demand from Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs), a stock broker said here.

The market surged in opening trade, tracking steady-to-firm Asian markets. Cellular telecom majors and metal scrips edged higher, while software giant Infosys eased.

The day's high of the Sensitive index was at 13,536.20 points. It later came down at 13,434.58. Currently, the index is quoted high at 13,518.59 points, making a handsome gains of 87.88 points, from it last close.

Similarly, S&P CNX Nifty index of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) also resumed firm at 3859.50 points. It quoted the day's high at 3,884.40 points and touched a low of 3,856.75 points during the mid-morning session. It has currently touched a high of 3881.70 points with a modest gain, of around 25 points from its last close of 3856.15 points.

IT heavyweight Infosys lost 1.1 per cent to Rs 2,226.65.

It has today priced it's sponsored ADR issue at USD 53.30 per ADR, a 3.2 per cent discount to yesterday's closing price of USD 55.2.

Hindustan Zinc jumped 5.6 per cent to Rs 891. The stock today made a debut on the National Stock Exchange. Among other metal firms, Sterlite Industries rose 1.7 per cent to Rs 514.50, and Hindalco rose 1.3 per cent to Rs 173.45.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries rose 0.8 per cent, to Rs 1,268. ICICI Bank rose 1.4 per cent to Rs 871.50. Yesterday, ICICI Bank ADR rose 0.7 per cent to USD 38.37.

HDFC Bank lost 0.5 per cent to Rs 1,081. Yesterday, HDFC Bank ADR lost 2.6 per cent to USD 73.

Cellular services major Bharti Airtel rose 2 per cent to Rs 617, extending yesterday's near 4 per cent surge. Rival Reliance Communications advanced 1.3 per cent to Rs 414.50. Tata Steel rose 0.8 per cent to Rs 467.45. Mahindra&Mahindra gained 1 per cent to Rs 827.50, after the company yesterday said it had signed a deal with Global Vehicles USA, to distribute Mahindra's sports utility vehicle and pick-up in the US.

Asian markets were steady to firm. Key benchmark indices in Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan were up between 0.16 - 0.9 per cent, brokers added.

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