Sensex vaults by 88 pts, trades at 14391 pts

Mumbai, May 21: Tracking firm global markets, the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex today shot up by 88 points to 14391 points in the opening trade.

The benchmark index Sensex opened at 14362.63 points, and soon zoomed up to 14,391.65 points during early trades, recording an impressive gain of 88.24 points from the previous close of 14303.41 points dealers said.

The broader S&P CNX Nifty Index also surged by 38.65 points on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) to reach its all-time high of 4,259.65 points, surpassing its previous all-time high of 4,245.30, which it had stuck on February 8. It had opened marginally higher at 4,217.65.

The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 1,023 crore, boosted by three block deals of 44.10 lakh shares in the Reliance Energy (REL) counter at an average price of Rs 513 per share in opening trade.

REL rose 1.90 per cent to Rs 521 on volumes of 1.32 crore shares. It was the top traded counter on BSE, with turnover of Rs 685.01 crore.

Analysts said the market breadth was strong. There were 4 gainers for every single loser. 1,224 shares advanced, while 335 declined.

Among the Sensex pack, 27 were up, while the rest declined.

HDFC Bank was the top gainer, up 3.63 per cent to Rs 1111, on 26,693 shares. Bank shares extended last week's gains due to easing of inflation worries. State Bank of India gained 1.5 per cent to Rs 1346, ICICI Bank nearly 1 per cent to Rs 960 and HDFC Bank 1.3 per cent to Rs 1086.50.

PSU oil exploration major ONGC advanced 1.89 per cent to Rs 926.50, after Brent crude oil rose 28 cents to USD 69.70 a barrel today, while US benchmark crude gained 20 cents to USD 65.14, boosted by concerns over supplies from major exporters Iran and Nigeria.

Reliance Communications was up 2.11 per cent to Rs 506.25 and Dr Reddy's rose by 1.99 per cent to Rs 679.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) edged up 1.21 per cent to Rs 1,720 on 72,150 shares.

Auto major Tata Motors was the top loser, down 1.20 per cent to Rs 733.90 on 80,996 shares. TCS was down 0.15 per cent to Rs 1248.50 and Satyam Computers was down 0.13 per cent to Rs 454.70.

Meanwhile, in a major development, the Indian government late last week tightened overseas borrowing rules, making it harder for less creditworthy and smaller local companies to raise funds, a measure seen aimed at curbing soaring capital flows and calm the hot real-estate sector.

The Finance Ministry, in a statement last week, said the ceiling has been lowered to 150 basis points (bps) over six-month Libor from the earlier 200 bps for overseas borrowings by Indian companies for maturities between three and five years.

For maturities over five years the ceiling has been reduced to 250 bps over six-month Libor from 350 bps. It said the ceilings had been revised in view of the upgrading of the country's sovereign credit ratings.

China's stocks held steady today, helping Asian markets react calmly to China's surprise move to widen the yuan's trading band and raise interest rates, while the yen slid to a record-low against the euro. Sentiment was underpinned by Wall Street, where US blue chip shares hit a record high last week.

Wall Street surged last week by fresh takeover activity and after a gauge of consumer sentiment rose more than expected this month, reassuring investors about the strength of the US economy. Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 79.81 points, or 0.59 per cent, to a record closing high of 13,556.53. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 19.07 points, or 0.75 per cent, to 2,558.45.

UNI