Sensex gains 30 points

MUMBAI, FEB 16: Select scrips led by pharma and software rallied on the Bombay Stock Exchange BSE today on buying support by foreign funds coupled with local support.

Sensex BSE sensitive index recovered from the session8217;s low of 3305.72 to finish at 3344.68 with a net gain of 29.60 points compared to the previous level of 3315.08. The BSE-100 at 1478.42 showed a net increase of 16.34 points from the previous close of 1462.08. Brokers said after the initial hesitancy, pivotals recovered on fresh buying. The sentiment was weak initially due to the absence of speculative support in view of end-account on the National Stock Exchange NSE. However, some pivotals led by pharma and infotech shares attracted fresh buying towards the end by FIIs and local institutions. It is reportedly made all-round purchases particularly in key scrips like E Merck, Tata Tea, IPCL, Zee Telefilms, ITC and some others. As a result, over 80 scrips in the cash section hit the daily upper price band. Pentafour Software remainedthe top traded scrip with a turnover of Rs 235.26 crore of the total volume of business of Rs 1605.33 crore. Tata Tea gained by Rs 10 to Rs 463.50, Zee Telefilms by Rs 45.25 to Rs 663, Satyam Computer by Rs 23.75 to Rs 965.75 on buying support.

On the NSE, pivotals flared up moderately on fresh buying support from bull operators and financial institutions. The Samp;P CNX Nifty index opened lower at 952.55, finished 4.35 points higher at 958.90. The total turnover was Rs 2,135.53 crore. 584 securities advanced, 493 declined while 96 remained unchanged while 113 shares have hit their price bands.