Sensex ends higher in volatile trade

The benchmark made a net gain of 432 points in the last four trading sessions beginning on January 1,after the government announced the second stimulus package to boost economic growth and leading banks cut key interest rates.

As many as 17 of the Sensex stocks were higher while other 13 remained weak on profit selling. However,Satyam Computer rose by 7.31 per cent,ACC by 7.67 per cent,Mahindra and Mahindra by 7.23 per cent and Jaiprakash Associate by 7.34 per cent,bolstering trading sentiment.

The 50-share National Stock Exchange index Nifty,on the other hand,fell by 8.65 points at 3,112.80,after touching the day8217;s high of 3,141.80 and a low of 3,056.10 points.

A parallel rally in the Nifty was snapped today as Bharti Airtel,Unitech,DLF Ltd,Reliance Communications,ABB Ltd and Tata Power 8212; constituents of the index 8212; ended lower.

The metal segment index gained the most by 2.02 per cent at 5,987.46 as Hindustan Zinc rose by 9.25 per cent,SAIL by 5.35 per cent,Sterlite Industries by 4.52 per cent,Jindal Steel by 5.05 per cent and Tata Steel by 0.67 per cent.