Sensex gains 16 points

MUMBAI, May 19: Select pivotals remained better on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) today on speculative support. Sensex improved by another 16 points. After a steady start, share prices moved widely on alternative bouts of buying and selling. The closing rates showed widespread small gains. The volume of business remained moderate. The BSE sensitive index opened at 3907.75 and advanced to a high of 3924.42 the day but later lowered to 3895.71 and finally closed at 3924.42 with a small gain of 15.94 points. The BSE-100, on the other hand closed at 1739.11 showing an increase of 9.67 points from its previous close of 1729.44.

Brokers said that a few select scrips attracted local support. The foreign institutional investors (FIIs) stayed away from the market for the second consecutive day. The market sentiment was ruled by local operators on both the buying and selling in few scrips.

The rupee remained steady against dollar at the forex market for the second successive session also aided the marketsentiment. The business was at a low ebb with scattered support from domestic funds in some fundamentally strong shares. Infosys, Satyam Computers, NIIT and Pentafour Software gained sharply in heavy volumes. The total turnover amounted Rs 1183.16 crore.

On the NSE, share prices rose further marginally on the last day of the current settlement cycle on increased speculative buying. The NSE-50 index opened steady at 1119.80 and closed at 1121.75, showing a small gain of 1.95 points over the last close of 1119.80. The Midcap index rallied by 27.90 points to close at 1620.55. The market displayed a total turnover of Rs 1,573.42 crore.