MUMBAI, February 27: Pivotals moved up further on the BSE today in brisk trading on the last day of settlement cycle following renewed buying support. Sensex gained another 50 points. After a firm spell, select scrips declined slightly towards the end on profit-taking. The closing rates, however, showed widespread modest to handsome gains. The undertone at the close remained strong.The BSE sensitive index opened higher at 3578.89, crossed the 3600 mark and touched day's high at 3639.84 before closing at 3622.22 with a net gain of 50.59 points compared to the previous level of 3571.63. The BSE-100 gained 24.72 points to 1568.83 points from the last trading day's close of 1544.11.Brokers said despite the day being the last session for the current settlement, several pivotals attracted fresh speculative support. With the news of new takeovers pouring in continuously, interest in the market seemed to have increased although foreign funds' activity was restricted to select heavy weighted scrips. Even cashstocks started moving and showed good gains.The volume of business spurted to Rs 1201.24 crore from yesterday's turnover of Rs 973.65 crore. On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), pivotals rose further handsomely on on increased speculative buying.The NSE-50 index opened better at 1045.85 and rallied to 1064.15 before closing at 1060.75, showing a gain of 14.95 over the last close of 1045.80. The Midcap index commenced slightly higher at 1187.20 and after touching a high of 1217.25, finished at 1213.15, disclosing a smart rise of 26.10 from yesterday's level of 1187.05.
