In choppy trade,the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex on Thursday ended about 37 points higher as a surge in blue-chips Tata Motors and Reliance Infra prevented a heavy fall due to profit booking. Heavyweight Reliance Industries gained handsome 5 per cent in early trade after the company announced yesterday 1:1 bonus shares to stakeholders for the first time in 12 years. However,the shares failed to hold on to the gains and ended with a marginal rise of less than 1 per cent. The 30-share index,which commenced higher,closed the day at 16,843.54,up by 36.88 points from the previous close. It briefly touched the day's low of 16,775.36 on profit selling. Tata Steel rose smartly on expectations of better revenue as company announced a rise in sale this quarter. Similarly,the wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty added 16.50 points up at 5,002.25. Marketmen said inflation easing to 0.70 per cent for the week ended September 26 had morale -boosting effect on investors,who looked set to book profit at higher levels. Among the 30-BSE index stocks,22 stocks ended in positive zone while eight closed lower.
