Nifty ends at 4-wk high of 5,124.65

The bellwether S&P CNX Nifty extended gains for the second day in a row and finished higher by over 60 points at about four-week high of 5,124.65 on positive Asian as well as European stocks. Increased buying by Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) too helped the rally. FIIs pumped in Rs 568.80 crore yesterday,as per Sebi data.

Realty,banking,energy,infrastructure and services sectors attracted good buying support. The 50-share Nifty started better and gradually improved further to a high of 5,154.50 before concluding at 5,124.65,a gain of 60.35 points or 1.19 per cent. Previously,it had settled at 5,138.30 on August 11,2011. Asian indices today closed higher between 1.71 per cent and 3.78 per cent while European markets were trading strong in afternoon deals. Key indices from France,Japan and UK were quoting up between 2.0 per cent and 2.75 per cent. US stocks index futures too indicated firm opening today. Jaipra Asso (7.24 pct),Ambuja Cement (6.32 pct),ACC (5.09 pct),SAIL (4.97 pct) and Tata Power (3.60) were top five Nifty gainers while M&M,ITC,TCS,Infosys Tech and Dr Reddy were top loser .

Turnover in cash segment was slightly low at Rs 12,753.73 crore from Rs 12,884.20 crore yesterday. A total of 7,483.41 lakh shares changed hands in 63,92,673 trades.