MUMBAI, JAN 6: Equities, led by pharmaceutical shares, remained bullish on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) today pushing the Sensex over the 3200 mark following speculative support coupled with buying by foreign funds. Resuming higher, Hindustan Lever, BHEL, pharma shares and others moved up further as the session progressed.Sensex (BSE sensitive index) opened firm at 3172.31 and moved between 3214.36 and 3153.94, before closing at 3205.68 with a handsome gain of 56.62 points against yesterday's close of 3149.06. The BSE-100 index shot up by 22.43 points to 1424.49 from previous close of 1402.06.Brokers said that FIIs led by Morgan Stanley made heavy purchases in Hindustan Lever, TELCO and Philips. Pharma scrips like Ranbaxy, E Merck, Rhone Poulenc and others also moved up due to the promulgation of ordinance on Patents. FIs also picked up shares of Cochin Refineries, Glaxo, Asian Hotel and United Phosphorus. UTI also reportedly sold shares of Hindustan Lever which rose sharply to a 52-week high of Rs1799.00 after mid-session to book profits at higher levels to finish at 1754.50 with a sizeable gain of 82.75.ITC remained the most active scrip with a turnover of Rs 253.53 crore of the total volume of business of Rs 1707.83 crore and scrip firmed up by Rs 8.25 to Rs 796.75, BHEL by Rs 20 to Rs 282.00, TELCO by Rs 3.80 to Rs 182.60 and TISCO by Rs 2.10 to Rs 124.60. However, Satyam Computer and Pentafour Software declined on profit-taking.On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), share prices rose sharply on the first day of the current settlement due to good foreign institutional investors (FIIs) buying. The market opened on a buoyant note and prices improved further to close sharply higher and nifty rose by over 21 points.The S&P CNX Nifty rose further sharply by 21.05 to end at 928.25 from yesterday's close of 907.20. Shares worth Rs 2,008.95 crore were transacted today. The exchange witnessed 828 scrips advance, 236 scrips decline and 70 scrips remain unchanged. About 120 securities had hit theirprice bands.
