Sensex gains 42 points

MUMBAI, OCT 14: Select pivotals led by infotech and pharma shares staged a smart rally on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on Thursday on bull support coupled with fresh support extended by foreign funds. Sensex recovered by 42 points as operators made fresh purchases in select counters following the induction of Yashwant Sinha as finance minister in the new government. Some scrips, however, attracted profit-taking at the end in view of end-account considerations.

Sensex (BSE sensitive index) opened higher at 5055.76, surpassing the 5100-mark touched the day’s high of 5118.39 and low of 5041.00 before closing at 5075.39 showing a net gain of 42.40 points as against the previous close of 5032.99. The BSE-100 index also gained by 15.30 points to 2384.17 from the previous close of 2368.87.

Brokers said the market was volatile during the day in view of squaring-up of positions by bull operators since Friday is the last day of the weekly settlement at the BSE. A holiday on Tuesday at both the BSE and the NSEalso forced players to reduce their long-term positions. Apart from infotech and pharma scrips, select scrips like ITC, Gujarat Ambuja Cement and Larsen also attracted fresh buying.