Sensex rises 56 points

MUMBAI, Sept 4: Values recovered smartly on the Bombay Stock Exchange BSE today on buying support by foreign funds coupled with short covering by local operators. Sensex spurted by 56 points.

Resuming better, select scrips led by ITC advanced further as the session progressed. The BSE sensitive index Sensex started higher at 2930.63, touched the day8217;s high of 2985.49 before finishing at 2975.10 showing a net gain of 56.21 points against the previous close of 2918.89. The BSE-100 index gained 20.90 points to 1323.25 from the previous level of 1302.35.

The sentiment remained bullish following the spurt in ITC counter from Rs 637.25 to Rs 662.75 amidst reports that excise claim against the firm will be lowered. Foreign funds made moderate to heavy purchases in heavy weighted counters like MTNL, BHEL, Mahindra and Mahindra and some others while buying by company cirles were reported in Reliance scrips. The recovery was due to short covering as it was the last session for the current settlement.The totalturnover was Rs 1226.60 crore. ITC notched up a remarkable turnover of Rs 384.19 crore. Satyam gained by Rs 13.25 to Rs 475.25, Reliance by Rs 7.50 to Rs 114.60 and SBI by Rs 5.50 to Rs 188.70 on buying support.