Market ends off highs as profit booking sets in

Mumbai, Mar 18:Stocks trimmed gains towards the fag end of the session as investors resorted to profit booking. Realty and metals ended with smart gains while FMCG shares edged lower.

Bombay Stock Exchange"s Sensex settled at 8,977.74, up 1.29 per cent or 113.02 points. The index ended well off the high of 9,120.46. The low of the day was 8,951.32.

National Stock Exchange"s Nifty ended 1.27 per cent or 34.95 points higher to 2792.40. The index fell to a low of 2752.25 from a high of 2836.05.

Secondline stocks outperformed frontline counters. BSE Midcap Index ended 2.38 per cent higher and BSE Smallcap Index rose 1.89 per cent.

Biggest gainers in the 30-share index were DLF (8.05pc), Jaiprakash Associates (6.66pc), Tata Steel (4.71pc), BHEL (4.03pc) and Reliance Infrastructure (3.85pc).

Mahindra & Mahindra (-3.7pc), ITC (-2.54pc), Tata Power (-2.18pc) and ACC (-1.4pc) ended with losses.
4.06 PM

Market firm; JP Associates, DLF lead

Broad based buying helped to keep the momentum going on Dalal Street. Investors picked up stocks across the board but realty and metal stocks were in demand the most

At 1 pm, Bombay Stock Exchange"s Sensex was up 211.38 points or 2.39 per cent at 9,075.40. The index remained in a range of 9,088.94 and 8,956.30 in trade so far.

National Stock Exchange"s Nifty climbed 2.37 per cent or 65.25 points to 2822.70. The index rose to a high of 2826.55 from a low 2752.25 till now.

Midcaps and smallcaps participated in the rally. BSE Midcap Index was up 2.93 per cent and BSE Smallcap Index rose 2.35 per cent.

Biggest Sensex gainers were Jaiprakash Associates (9.21pc), Sterlite Industries (6.29pc), DLF (6.22pc), Reliance Infrastructure (5.82pc), Hindalco Industries (5.15pc) and Tata Steel (4.62pc).

Losers comprised Mahindra & Mahindra (-2.34pc), Hindustan Unilever (-0.96pc) and Bharti Airtel (-0.39pc) .
2.21 PM

Sensex crosses 9k mark; realty shows strength

The pullback rally continued after the spurt in global markets helped boost sentiment in the domestic market.

At 10:55 am, Bombay Stock Exchange"s Sensex managed to cross the 9000 mark and was trading at 9,049.89, up 2.01 per cent or 186.07 points. The index surged to a high of 9,063.61 after opening at 8,956.30.

National Stock Exchange"s Nifty was up 2.15 per cent or 59.3 points to 2816.75. The index swung in a range of 2816.90 and 2752.25 in trade so far.

With crude showing strength, shares of Cairn, Reliance Industries and ONGC were in demand. Banking stocks, after a three-day rally saw profit booking and fresh short positions were created. This supported a fresh rally in banks.
11.25 AM

Stocks open higher; realty, banks lead
Equities opened higher on Wednesday, Mar 18 taking cues from global shores. Secondline stocks too participated in the upmove. Realty, banking and metal were forerunners.

Bombay Stock Exchange's 30-share Sensex was up 110 points to 8973.81. National Stock Exchange"s benchmark Nifty climbed 31.6 points to 2789 from Tuesday"s close.

US stocks surged on Tuesday, Mar 17 as an unexpected leap in housing starts pushed Home Depot and other retailers higher while bullish comments from a broker on Cisco Systems buoyed technology shares.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 178.73 points, or 2.48 per cent, to end at 7,395.70, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index jumped 24.23 points, or 3.21 per cent, to 778.12 and the Nasdaq Composite Index surged 58.09 points, or 4.14 per cent, to 1,462.11.

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