Sensex soars past 9500 mark

Bulls continued their dream run on Dalal Street, sending the benchmark Sensex above the 9500 level for the first time. With buyers chasing s...

Bulls continued their dream run on Dalal Street, sending the benchmark Sensex above the 9500 level for the first time. With buyers chasing stocks, the index gained a handsome 149.23 points to close at a new peak of 9,539.37. The index took 18 trading days to move from 9,000 to 9,500.

The broader S038;P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange NSE ended at a new high of 2,883.35, gaining 47.40 points.

The mood was further boosted by strong FII numbers and a surge in the index heavyweights like Reliance Industries Ltd RIL and Infosys Technologies.

RIL gained 2.34 per cent on Tuesday to breach the Rs 900-mark to close at a new all-time high of Rs 919.50. The stock is also witnessing a high volume ahead of the record date for the demerger on January 25.

8220;There was buying witnessed in index stocks, especially Reliance Industries, pulling up the Sensex. FIIs are back in the market with fresh allocations after a brief holiday period,8221; said Devesh Kumar, head-equities, ICICI Securities.

FIIs reported net inflows at Rs 477.70 crore in the cash market on Monday, after pumping in Rs 526.90 crore on Friday. However, in the F038;O segment FIIs were net sellers at Rs 62.38 crore on Monday.

The BSE Small-cap index advanced 1.94 per cent higher and the BSE Mid-cap index headed higher by 1.74 per cent. Buying happened across the board and in all sectors.

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The BSE Bankex rose 1.23 per cent, the BSE PSU index was up 1.20 per cent, the BSE Metal index was up 1.75 per cent and the BSE Healthcare index advanced 1.9 per cent. Pfizer Ltd was the major gainer in healthcare, gaining 9.45 per cent. Glaxo, Wyeth, Novartis India, Aurobindo Pharma and Aventis Pharma were among the other gainers. All sectoral indices closed higher today.

Dr Reddy8217;s Lab closed with a gain of 3.66 per cent to Rs 998. ACC moved up 3.2 per cent to Rs 547.40 after it announced cement production figures at 1.574 million tonnes for the month of Dec 2005 as compared to 1.353 million tonnes during Dec 2004.