Sensex extends gain for third session; ends 72 points up

Mumbai, Feb 15 (PTI) In volatile trading, the BSEbenchmark Sensex today surged for the third session in a row,rising almost 72 points to close at 18,273.80 on capitalinflow by foreign funds as blue-chips, led by RIL, wereavailable at attractive values.

The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex, which gainednearly 740 points in the previous two sessions, gatheredanother 71.60 points to 18,273.80 supported by a strongcomeback by most-weighed Reliance Industries stocks.

The gauge moved between 18,361.66 and 18,050.48 duringthe session, showing volatile movements in stocks.

In a similar fashion, the broad-based National StockExchange index Nifty shot up 25.00 points to 5,481.00 aftercrossing the psychological mark of 5,500 points to touch thesession''s high of 5,506.50 and a low of 5,408.35.

Brokers said that apart from sustained buying by foreignfunds and retail investors, hectic short-covering in therecently beaten oil and gas, banking and auto sector stockswas also responsible for the ongoing rally on the market.

RIL, which had been trading in the negative zone for thepast several sessions, bounced back on emergence of buying atprevailing levels and ended 2.90 per cent to Rs 941.75.

Tata Power, the largest power producer in the privatesector, gained 2.14 per cent to Rs 1,267.90 on a flurry ofbuying, triggered by a three-fold increase in net profit forthe third quarter ended December 31, 2010, while State Bankof India, country''s biggest lender, surged 1.38 per cent to Rs2,728.40.

Tata Motor shares ended 2.41 per cent higher at Rs1,237.85 after its global sales increased 16 per cent inJanuary.

The oil and gas sector gained the most, up 1.85 per centat 9,497.05, followed by banking index that was up by 1.53 percent to 12,429.32. The PSU index gained 1.10 per cent to8,637.79, auto index by 0.71 per cent to 8,875.58 and powerindex by 0.14 per cent to 2,639.59 points.

However, capital goods sector index which had been risingin the past two sessions, fell by 1.75 per cent to 13,068.59as BHEL and Larsen and Toubro succumbed to profit-booking. Therealty sector index also shed 1.33 per cent to 2,112.90 andthe IT sector Index closed lower by 0.40 per cent to 6,245.08.

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