Sensex up by 290.08 points: Nifty gains 88.80 points

Mumbai, July 31 (UNI) Strong buying momentum in index pivotals and positive cues from Asian and global bourses today catapulted the Sensex to zoom by 290.08 points on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and settle in the green at 15,550.99, notwithstanding a hike in cash reserve ratio (CRR).

''The rally on the bourses gathered steam in the last one hour of day's trade, as buying momentum intensified for index pivotals. The market had witnessed a bout of volatility in early afternoon trade when the sentiment was dampened by RBI decision to increase the CRR by 50 bps to 7 per cent from 6.5 per cent. 100 bps is equal to 1 per cent. Firm Asian and global markets boosted sentiments here. All the sectoral indices on BSE posted gains, with shares from capital goods leading the rally on strong revenue growth visibility. Cement, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG), metal and banking scrips rallied here,'' market analysts observed.

Similarly, the National Stock Exchange (NSE) S&P CNX Nifty also advanced by an impressive 88.80 points to settle higher at 4,528.85 from its previous close of 4,440.05, after opening firmer at 4,444.25 and moving between 4,534.20 and 4,432.85 during the day's session.

BSE data showed that the market breadth was strong with over 1.5 gainers for every loser as small-cap and mid-caps attracted buying interest. 1,695 shares advanced as compared to 973 that declined, while 79 remained unchanged. The total turnover here amounted to Rs 5272 crore compared. Among the 30-scrip Sensex pack, 24 advanced while the rest declined.

BHEL, L&T, ACC, India Cements, UltraTech, HDFC, ITC, Ranbaxy Laboratories, Reliance Communications, Tata Steel, Satyam Computers, Reliance Industries (RIL), Bharat Petroleum Corporation and Indian Oil Corporation were the day's leaders, while the laggards included Mahindra&Mahindra, Hindustan Unilever, Infosys and Tata Motors.

Among Asian markets, Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 1.96 per cent at 23,184.94, Taiwan Weighted was up 2.37 per cent at 9,287.25, Singapore's Straits Times advanced 0.61 per cent at 3,547.66, South Korea's Seoul Composite was up 1.39 per cent at 1,933.27, and China's Shanghai Composite gained 0.68 per cent to 4,471.03, while only Japan's Nikkei slipped 0.37 per cent at 17,248.89.

All the European indices were trading higher today. Even the US Dow Jones advanced 92.84 points, or 0.70 per cent, to 13,358.31 in the last trading session. Broader stock indicators also posted gains. The Standard&Poor's 500 index added 14.96 points, or 1.03 per cent, to 1,473.91, and the Nasdaq Composite index advanced 21.04 points, or 0.82 per cent, to 2,583.28.

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