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Sowmya Sundar

AFTER trading in a tight band for the past three days, the market bounced back on the back of renewed buying in index heavyweights such as Reliance, Hindustan Lever and technology stocks. Banking and auto stocks also extended support to the indices.

The benchmark 30-share barometer, Sensex remained range-bound through the morning session and shot past the 3300-mark later during the day. The BSE Sensex closed 1.52 per cent or 49.36 points higher at 3305.44 points. Traded volumes were higher at 7.97 crore shares as against 6.9 crore on Wednesday. Barring consumer goods, all other sectoral indices recorded a sharp jump. The FMCG and IT sector indices rebounded sharply, closing 1.53 per cent and 2.24 per cent higher.

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The 50-stock NSE Nifty closed 1.55 per cent or 16.20 points higher at 1063.60 points. Around 16.75 crore shares exchanged hands on the NSE.

Banking and automobile stocks were the star performers of the day. Banking stocks showed weak trend early in the day but recovered later. Canara Bank, Union Bank and Punjab National Bank recorded handsome gains towards the end of the day. State Bank of India closed 4.4 per cent higher at Rs 306.40 on speculation that FII limit in the stock could be hiked. Traded volumes stood at 31.7 lakh shares.

Index heavyweights, HLL and Reliance shot up casting a heavy influence on the index. HLL jumped 2.79 per cent to Rs 167.70 while Reliance closely followed gaining 1.70 per cent to Rs 284.75.

Ashok Leyland and Tata Engineering topped the gainers list in the automobile sector. Tata Engineering rallied on expectations of higher commercial vehicle off take in January. The company is likely to declare its sales figures next week. The company has declared encouraging numbers for its small car Indica. The January sales for Indica were the highest in that segment. The stock gained 3.03 per cent to close at Rs 163.30.

Ashok Leyland too jumped 3.7 per cent to end the day at Rs 100.05, triggered by a rise in January sales figures.

Hindustan Powerplus, a generator manufacturer, shot up 20 per cent to touch the upper circuit filter after the MNC parent offered to buy out the entire 62.25 per cent stake in the company at Rs 32 per share. The stock ended the day at Rs 28.80.

The rally in BHEL continued for the third consecutive day taking the share price to Rs 204.45. On Thursday, the stock shot up 4.7 per cent on trading volumes of about 7.6 lakh shares, on the back of the likelihood of the passage of the Electricity Bill in Parliament.

There was also activity seen on the counter of State-owned telecom major MTNL. The stock posted a rise of Rs 3.65 over its previous day's close to end at Rs 108.35, representing a gain of 3.5 per cent. About 15 lakh shares were traded on the counter.

Kotak Mahindra Finance appreciated 9 per cent to Rs 173.35 after the RBI granted it licence to set up its banking business. About 40,000 shares changed hands on the counter.

Zodiac Clothing jumped 10 per cent to close at Rs 64.90. Cement stocks such as Larsen and Toubro, Gujarat Ambuja and ACC ended the day in positive territory.

Steel stocks such as SAIL, Jindal Steel, and Essar Steel also ended higher. Stocks of media companies such as Padmalaya Tele, Mukta Arts and Pritish Nandy Communications also finished the on firm note.

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