Sensex ends up 44 points

The National Stock Exchange index Nifty,too,rose by 13.30 points to settle at 6,075.95.

Marketmen said buying support emerged on strong earning cues from India Inc.

Trend-setter Reliance Industries RIL rose by Rs 8 to Rs 1,048.90,and the next heaviest on Sensex,Infosys Technologies,jumped by Rs 30.85 to Rs 3,107. The two carry nearly 23 per cent weight on 30-share Sensex.

RIL rose on reports of the company indicating that it might actively bid for oil exploration block in the next round of auction by the government.

Brokers said trading commenced lower with investors liquidating a part of their holdings to raise funds for the mega initial public offering by Coal India Ltd.

Soon,buying emerged in fundamentally strong stocks after reports of Larsen and Toubro posting 32 per cent gain in profit for the second quarter this fiscal.

Mortgage leader HDFC too registered a profit of 21.63 per cent for the same period.

In the 30-BSE index components,13 ended with gains.

Brokers said oil and gas and information technology stocks supported the market the maximum.

The IT sector index at 1.28 per cent gained the most among all indices. Oil and gas sector was the next best index at 0.84 per cent.