Business   

Sensex climbs to new peak

Automobile stocks score gains on robust sales

MUMBAI: Notwithstanding pressure from retail investors, the Sensex on Friday climbed to a new peak on the back of a sharp rally in auto stocks bolstered by sharp rise in sales of two-wheelers and cars in August as also sustained foreign institutional investment inflows.

The Bombay Stock Exchange's benchmark 30-share index (Sensex) hit an all-time intra-trade high of 7928.07 at the initial stages, breaching the previous peak of 7921.39 touched on August 18. The Sensex later ended at a new record high of 7899.77 against yesterday's close of 7876.15, a net gain of 23.62 points.

Attributing the Sensex's fall to the day's low of 7836.34 in late morning trade to selling due to week-end profit selling, brokers said the market witnessed a smart rally during the latter part of the session on fresh purchases by institutional investors.

Foreign institutional investors seemed to have stepped up their activity in the week. They have reported net investments of Rs. 638.70 crore in the first three days of the week while private mutual funds were net buyers to the tune of Rs. 361.02 crore in the same period.

Sentiment was aided by firm trend in the Southeast Asian markets during the day.

Automobile stocks such as Tata Motors, Bajaj Auto, Hero Honda and Maruti Udyog scored impressive gains. Other major gainers in blue chips included Tata Steel, RIL, SBI, ITC, Dr. Reddy's Lab, HDFC Bank, Bharti Tele-Ventures, ACC, Tata Power and ONGC.

Reflecting the strong trend in the automobile sector, the BSE Auto Index spurted by 72.94 points or 2.22 per cent to 3352.26. The broad-based BSE-100 index moved up further by 11.33 points to 4229.51.

In the specified group, 98, including 20 index-based scrips, registered sharp to moderate gains while 100 others finished with losses. — PTI

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

LIC to put more money in stocks
Pension regulator issues draft norms
Sensex climbs to new peak
Bharti to invest Rs. 1,500 cr.
Patni to issue ADR/ADS
IOC not to hold back investments
India to sign pact with U.S. on tech IPR: Sibal
Rupee extends rally against $
Bank staffers suspended for overtrading
NRI investment norms eased
Bullion rates
Exchange rates
Separate window on bourses for block deals
Tata Power pact with DVC for Maithon project
Dr. Reddy's to sell Goa facility
Inflation slides further
Calsoft to raise additional capital
CUB signs MoU with Integrated Enterprises
Tata MF ties up with IOB
Shiva Cement CDR scheme approved
IBM Rational Software Developer Conference
Sundram Fasteners bags ACMA awards

Copyright © 2005, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu