The Hindu Business Line : Dow, Asian markets drive up Sensex 395 points

Mumbai, Nov 26 The week began on a positive note on the bourses with heavy buying in frontline stocks pushing up the Sensitive Index, Sensex, by 394.67 points on Monday.

Dealers said positive global cues and short covering by operators, before the expiry of futures contract, led to fresh buying.

“The international cues were very favourable to the markets as the Dow closed positive on Friday. Asian markets were also up today and as a result Indian markets opened positive”, said Mr Sanjay Someshwar, sub-broker, Ventura Securities.

The Sensex closed the day at 19247.54, while the broad-based S& P CNX Nifty ended the day at 5731.70 after gaining 2.19 per cent.

“There are expectations of a good rollover for the futures expiry due on Thursday, which is keeping the market sentiments up,” said Ms Anita Gandhi, Head of Institutional Business, Arihant Capital Markets Ltd.

All sectoral indices were in green with BSE-Metal leading the pack as it gained 5.61 per cent, while BSE-Realty gained 3.05 per cent and BSE-CG gained 2.25 per cent. Bhushan Steel Ltd, a mid-cap scrip, today gained 45.67 per cent to Rs 1575.80 after hitting the 52-week high intraday level at Rs 1625.

“We saw sectors across the board doing well as there was good support coming in from the heavy weight stocks, and there was short-covering too taking place due to the F&O expiry on Thursday,” said Ms Shahina Mukadam, Head-Research IDBI Capital Markets Services Ltd.

The top gainers include HDFC Bank, which gained 5.18 per cent, Bharti Airtel 3.58 per cent, Reliance Energy 3.74 per cent, Tata Steel 3.47 per cent, ONGC 3.35 per cent and Hindalco by 3.32 per cent.