Sensex ends up 34 points

The 30-share barometer of the Bombay Stock Exchange had gained 218 points to hit a high of 18,216.50 in early trade,helped by a smart rise in metal,consumer durables and auto stocks.

The National Stock Exchange8217;s wide-based 50-share Nifty Index finished at 5,415.45,up 0.12 per cent.

8220;Investors were concerned about the changes in taxation of capital gains in the revised DTC which was to be presented in the Parliament. However,as the details trickled in,the market heaved a sigh of relief and recovered a part of lost ground,8221; Bonanza Portfolio Vice-President Avinash Gupta said.

Tata Steel zoomed 3.49 per cent and was the top performer in the Sensex pack after the steel major8217;s European arm Corus decided to sell its Teesside cast products plant to Thailand8217;s Sahaviriya Steel Industries for USD 500 million.

8220;The deal is a positive development for Tata Steel as the operations at TCP were unviable after its four key clients walked away from a long-term contract in 2009 about 80 per cent of TCP8217;s business,8221; Angel Broking said in a note.

Other metal stocks also attracted buying,amid hopes steel prices may go up by next month. Hindalco increased by 1.96 per cent,Jindal Steel 1.53 per cent and Sterlite Industries 0.49 per cent. The rise in metal stocks,pushed the BSE Metal Index to the top of the gainers8217; list.

State-run ONGC added 2 per cent on media reports that it will get permission from the Centre to pay only a third of its total royalty obligation to the Rajasthan government on the production from oil blocks it jointly owns with Cairn India.

8220;Restricting the royalty burden to 30 per cent will come as a major relief to ONGC shareholders and remove an overhang from the stock,8221; a broker said.

Other major gainers during the session include Bharti Airtel,which rose 2.12 per cent,while ICICI Bank 1 gained per cent,R-Infra 1.64 per cent and HDFC 0.91 per cent.

However,worried over the rise in MAT,software major TCS declined 1.14 per cent and Infosys by 0.92 per cent. However,another software exporter,Wipro rose by 0.93 per cent.