Sensex gains 143.70 pts in early trade

Mumbai, Jul 21: Sensex of Bombay Stock Exchange gained 143.70 points at 13,779.10, while Nifty climbed 41.75 points at 4,134 in the opening trade following strong global cues. The market resumed the session on positive note tracking firm Asian markets. However, it witnessed bouts of volatility on the worries over political uncertainty ahead as the Congress-led UPA government have to test a vote of confidence in parliament July 22.

Banking shares were in demand, while Consumer durable stocks edged lower. Reliance Communication topped the Sensex's gainers after its negotiation talks with South African telecom giant MTN had been put off, citing legal issues.

Reliance Communication gained 2.08 per cent to Rs 444.25, Reliance Industries gained marginally 0.31 per cent at Rs 2,119.10, ICICI Bank rose by 1.83 per cent to Rs 628.90 and Infosys Techologies rose by 2.13 per cent to Rs 1,581.05.

HDFC Bank up by 1.71 per cent at Rs 1,051.25, Mahindra&Mahindra up by 1.86 per cent at Rs 530, State Bank of India up 1.48 per cent at Rs 1,318, Wipro up 1.19 per cent at Rs 369.90 and TCS down 1.26 per cent at Rs 805, were the other gainers of the index.

While, DLF down by 2.29 per cent at Rs 446.60, Jaiprakash Associates down 2.62 per cent at Rs 156.35, Hindalco Industries down by 1.65 per cent at Rs 139.80, Satyam Computer down 1.76 per cent at Rs 376.15, and Reliance Infrastructure down 0.91 per cent at Rs 847.85, were the losers of the index.

UNI