Mumbai: The Sensex’s gains slipped, but the gauge is still trading higher today by 482 points, powered by a huge sweep by the BJP in UP and Uttarakhand and a higher probability of the party forming government in other states. The broader Nifty came off from record highs while holding on to the key 9,000 level. Solid IIP numbers and strong FII inflows bolstered sentiment too.
Barring telecom counters which witnessed profit- booking, buying was led by capital goods, financials, realty, industrials and auto, among others. The Sensex opened gap-up at 29,437.23 and hovered in a range of 29,561.93 and 29,356.05 before trading at 29,428.40 at 1155 hours, a gain of 482.17 points, or 1.67 per cent.
The NSE 50-share Nifty was also up 146.65 points, or 1.64 per cent, to quote at 9,081.20 at 1155 hours. Major gainers were ICICI bank (5.82 per cent), L&T (4.17 per cent), HDFC (3.39 per cent), ITC (2.39 per cent) and Asian Paints (2.27 per cent). Meanwhile, foreign funds bought net Rs 412.14 crore last Friday, as per the provisional figures. Overseas, most Asian markets rose ahead of an expected US interest rate increase later in the week. US stocks wavered and ended mixed yesterday as investors mainly awaited cues from the US Federal Reserve policy meet tomorrow.
PTI