Sensex scores 236.60 pts, closes at 13,708.34

Mumbai, Dec 26: The Sensex today shot up by 236.60 points and closed firm at 13,708.34 on the Bombay Stock Exchange on sustained heavy speculative demand in select shares by Foreign Institutional Investors (FII's) and local investors.

The market extended its rally into the third straight day, with the BSE Sensex striking a fresh intra-day high of 13,726.62 at the fag end of trading.

The 30-shares BSE Sensex settled 236.60 points (1.76 per cent) higher, at 13,708.34; its intra-day low being 13,490.77 before resuming high at 13,501.44 points.

The BSE IT and BANKEX indices jumped up sharply by 141.83 points and 121.84 points respectively and closed at 5196.98 points for IT index and for BANKEX index at 6951.15 points. CG index was up by 116.44 points, touching 9034.06 points, METAL index by 105.95 points and was quoted at 8943.84 points, PSU index by 99.64 points and touched 6016.26 points. AUTO index was up by 88.38 points and quoted at 5433.92 points, SML CAP index by 84.17 points and touched 6805.56 points and OIL&GAS index was higher by 66.79 points and closed at 6193.47 points.

The market-breadth was strong, as buying continued for smallcap and midcap shares. On BSE, there were over 1.7 gainers for every loser. Against 1,644 shares that advanced, 956 declined and 76 remained unchanged. The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 3,051 crore.Among the 30-Sensex pack, 26 advanced while the rest declined.

Meanwhile, the S&P CNX Nifty index of NSE also closed high at 3940.50 points with a handsome gain of 69.35 points from its last close of 3871.15 points before it opened flat 3871.30 points. The index recorded a high and a low at 3946.10 points and 3870.45 points respectively during the intra day.

The Nikkei share average rose 0.45 per cent, or 76.30 points, to 17,169.19, its highest close in seven and half months on Tuesday, as Fast Retailing Co. rose after government data showed a slower-than-expected fall in personal consumption in November.

India's central bank, on Friday, allowed up to 49 per cent foreign investment in stock exchanges, paving the way for New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) to expand into Asia's best performing markets.

The Reserve Bank of India also said that foreigners could hold up to 49 per cent in depositories and clearing corporations. Under the new rules, foreign direct investment will be limited at 26 per cent, while foreign portfolio investments would be capped at 23 per cent in all such entities, the central bank said. It, however, said portfolio investments will be allowed only through the secondary market. The stock exchange also plans to list its shares on its own trading floor.

Recently, media reports suggested New York Stock Exchange was eager to pick up a stake in the BSE.

Volatility is expected to remain high ahead of the expiry of December futures contracts on December 28 2006 (Thursday).

Participation by FIIs is also expected to remain low as most fund managers would have proceeded on a Christmas vacation, which will last till the New Year.

The Dow Jones had closed at 12,343.22, down 0.63 per cent, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq had lost 0.53 per cent and 0.61 per cent, to close at 1,410.76 and 2,401.18, respectively, on December 22, brokers said.

IT stocks saw renewed buying in anticipation of a robust set of December quarter results. Wipro was the top gainer, up 4.69per cent to Rs 599.95, on a volume of 1.90 lakh shares. Other IT shares - TCS (up 3.45 per cent to Rs 1,191) and Satyam Computers (up 3 per cent to Rs 476) also gained.

IT bellwether Infosys Technologies rose 2.33 per cent to Rs 2,222.15, after it scheduled a board meeting on January 11 2007, to consider Q3 December 2006 results on 11 January 2007.

Tata Motors advanced by 2.78 per cent to Rs 883.15, on a volume of 3.37 lakh shares, while the State Bank of India (SBI) gained 2.36 per cent to Rs 1,242.70 on a volume of 3.42 lakh shares.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) was up 0.52 per cent to Rs 1,278, on a volume of 4.35 lakh shares.

Hero Honda was the top loser, down 0.62 per cent to Rs 745, on 1.06 lakh shares. It had slipped to a low of Rs 737, brokers said.

UNI