Sensex, Nifty scale new peak

New Delhi: The BSE Sensex closed at 12,219 gaining 176 points or 1.46 per cent; after touching an all time high of 12,288.51.

The CNX Nifty closed at 3605.45 up 47.85 points or 1.35 per cent; after touching an all-time high of 3622. The CNX Midacp closed at 5190.30, up 49.15 points or 0.96 per cent.

The BSE Midcap closed with gains of 1% at 5,902. The BSE Small cap closed at 7475 up 1.04 per cent.

The overall market breadth was positive, about 1587 shares have advanced, 881 shares declined, and 56 shares are unchanged.

Experts say that the corporate results flow has been very good for the markets.

Among the major gainers on the indices were Dr Reddy's, Ranbaxy, Hindalco, ICICI Bank, Tata Steel, HDFC Bank, ITC and Zee.

However, stocks like Hero Honda, Tata Power, NTPC, Satyam, Jet Airways and BPCL were among the few laggards on the indices.

The NSE cash turnover stood at Rs 9995.83 crore and the BSE cash turnover was at Rs 4905.56 crore.

The total market turnover stood at Rs 46694.37 crore. The NSE F&O turnover was at Rs 31792.98 crore.

The follow-on public offer, FPO of Patel Engineering, a civil-infrastructure construction company, is scheduled to open for subscription on May 3, 2006 and close on May 9, 2006. The company has fixed the price band at Rs 400-440.

Bajaj Auto sold 188,518 motorcycles in the month of April demonstrating growth of 37 per cent. The company's motorcycle market share for the month estimated at 33 per cent.

Maruti Udyog has sold 43,127 vehicles in April 2006. This includes 1,553 units of exports.

The BSE Bankex Index closed at 5,459.79 up 4.08 per cent. Stocks like Bank of India, Andhra Bank, Bank of Baroda, UTI Bank, ICICI Bank and PNB surged up.

Pharma stocks like Dr Reddy's, Ranbaxy Labs, Glenmark, Ipca Labs, Novartis India and Wockhardt also gained. The BSE Healthcare Index closed up 3.95 per cent at 4,048.60.

The BSE Metal Index was up 3.38 per cent at 11,125.52 as buying was seen in Jindal Steel, Hindalco, Tata Steel, JindalStainless, SAIL and Hind Zinc.

The FMCG Index was up 1.86 per cent at 2,355.10. Stocks including Colgate, Britannia, Tata Tea, HLL, ITC and Nestle stirred up.

Auto stocks also moved up smartly. The BSE Auto Index was up 1.12 per cent at 5,611.26. Punj Tractors, Bajaj Auto, Cummins, MRF, Apollo Tyres and Escorts closed higher.

Buying was also seen in oil & gas stocks like BPCL, HPCL, Chennai Petro, IOC, ONGC and Kochi Refinery. The BSE Oil & Gas Index closed at 5,747.93, up 1.06 per cent.

Some buying interest was also seen in capital goods, stock like HEG, Bharat Elec, Gammon India, Crompton Greave and Greaves Cotton closed in green. The BSE Capital Goods Index ended at 8,879.35, up 0.78 per cent.

However, the BSE IT Index was down 0.14 per cent at 4,031.47. Stocks like Patni Computer, Hexaware Tech, Satyam, HCL Tech and Infosys witnessed selling pressure.