Sensex touches a new high of 13,808

Mumbai, Dec 1: The Sensex touched a record peak of 13,808.66 with a handsome gain of 112.35 points from its last close on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) today on sustained heavy speculative demand from Foreign Institutional Investors(FIIs) and some domestic investors.

The BSE Sensex surged over 100 points by early-trade and even crossed 13,800, as banks firmed up.

Blue chips rose on renewed buying, inspired by a stronger-than- expected 9.2 per cent GDP growth rate for Q2 ended September 2006.

The data was released on Thursday during trading hours. Index heavyweights Reliance Industries, Infosys and ICICI Bank firmed up.

At 1059 hrs, the Sensex was up by 116 points, closing at 13,812.

It had struck a new high of 13,819.06, exceeding its previous best at 13,799.08 of Monday's trading, before it opened high at 13,729.67 points.

Meanwhile, S&P CNX Nifty index of NSE resumed high at 3955.70. The Nifty index recorded a new peak at 3982.40 and low at 3953.95. The current index is quoted high by 27 points and touched a new peak of 3981.45 from it last close of 3954.50.

Reliance Industries rose by 1.4 per cent to close at Rs 1,262.50.

As many as 2 lakh shares changed hands in the counter on BSE.

Bajaj Auto after its bike sales hiked 36 per cent in November 2006, to 2.14 lakh units from 1.57 lakh units in November 2005.

Software major Infosys gained by 1 per cent to close at Rs 2,203.

On Thursday, Infosys ADR rose 0.39 per cent to USD 53.53.

Bank shares surged even as inflation data, which is due at 1200 hrs, and is expected to show a rise in inflation to an 18-month high, at 5.56 per cent, for 12 months to 18 November 2006. State Bank of India rose 2.7 per cent to Rs 1,350. The stock hit Rs 1,354, a new high for the scrip. ICICI Bank gained by 1.1 per cent to close at Rs 881, and HDFC Bank rose 1.1 per cent to Rs 1,131.

Dr Reddy's Lab advanced by 2.5 per cent to close at Rs 770, after its ADR rose 1.5 per cent to USD 16.70 on Thursday.

Tata Motors gained by 1 per cent to close at Rs 1,131.70, on expectations of strong sales for the month gone by.

PSU power generation major NTPC rose 1 per cent to Rs 148.75, engineering&construction major L&T moved up by 1 per cent to close at Rs 1,383, and cellular services major Bharti Airtel gained by 0.9 per cent to close at Rs 635, brokers said.

UNI