Sensex crosses 14,500 points in opening session

Mumbai, May 28: The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) 30-scrip Sensex today crossed the 14,500-mark in the opening session, registering a gain of a whopping 140.37 points, buoyed by strong buying momentum for index pivotals and positive cues from the US and Asian markets.

It had earlier opened stronger at 14,467.85 points as against its previous close of 14,338.45.

Among the broader markets, the National Stock Exchange (NSE) 50-stock Nifty Index, after opening marginally higher at 4,248.35 points from its previous close of 4,248.15, also surged by 27.60 points to touch 4,275.75 points during early trade.

Traders said the total turnover on BSE was Rs 464 crore. There were over 3.5 gainers for every loser as 1,143 shares advanced and 348 declined, while all the 30-members from the Sensex pack were trading with gains.

Market analysts pointed out that banking stocks, which stayed under selling pressure last week, on rumours that the RBI, which has already raised the cash reserve ratio (CRR) thrice since December 2006, is contemplating another hike, though only on incremental deposits this time, staged a strong come back. CRR is the percentage of deposits that banks are required to keep with the RBI. The central bank is particularly concerned about absorbing excess liquidity since it has lowered the inflation target from 5-5.5 per cent to 4-4.5 per cent for 2007-08.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth Rs 319.50 crore on Thursday. FIIs have continuously poured in money since the last six trading sessions, starting May 17. They have poured Rs 952.6 crore in the last six trading sessions, traders said.

The major gainers included HDFC Bank, ACC, Reliance Communications, Bajaj Auto, Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL), Reliance Industries (RIL) and India Infoline.

US stocks advanced last week on takeover news, including Nasdaq's plan to buy Nordic exchange company OMX, boosted investor optimism, although trading was light ahead of a long holiday weekend. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 66.15 points, or 0.49 per cent, to end at 13,507.28.

The Standard&Poor's 500 Index rose 8.22 points, or 0.55 per cent, to finish at 1,515.73. The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 19.27 points, or 0.76 per cent, to close at 2,557.19. All US financial markets will be closed today for the Memorial Day holiday.

The Asian markets surged today, as key benchmark indices in Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan were up by between 0.09 per cent and 0.75 per cent. China's main index was up 2.1 per cent.

UNI