Sensex ends 81 pts up at 10-week high

Pharmaceuticals, power and consumer durables stocks moved higher. There were smart gains for a few stocks from oil and FMCG sectors as well. Bank stocks, which rallied sharply on Tuesday after the central bank cut CRR by 50 basis points, were mostly subdued today. Capital goods stocks eased on profit taking. Realty stocks found some support midway through the session, but failed to hold at higher levels.

The BSE benchmark Sensex, which rose to 17,130.24, ended the day with a gain of 81.41 points or 0.48% at 17,077.18, its best close since 15 November 2011. The broader 50-stock Nifty index of the National Stock Exchange, which advanced to 5174.15, closed at 5158.30, its best since 14 November 2011, gaining 30.95 points or 0.6%.

Midcap and smallcap stocks had a good outing. The BSE Midcap index surged 1.25% and the Smallcap barometer ended 1.11% up.

Coal India, up nearly 4% to Rs 342.75, was the top gainer in the Sensex. Tata Motors moved up by over 3.75%. Tata Steel, Sterlite Industries and Maruti Suzuki gained 2.5% - 3%, while Infosys closed with a gain of a little over 1.5%. HDFC, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Industries, Tata Consultancy Services, State Bank of India and Bajaj Auto also ended notably higher.

Reliance Infrastructure ended nearly 7% up. Sesa Goa moved up by 5.8%. BPCL gained almost 5%. SAIL closed higher by 3.1%. IDFC, Axis Bank, Reliance Power, Ambuja Cements, Ranbaxy Laboratories and Reliance Communications surged 1% - 2.2%.

Tata Power shed more than 2%. Jindal Steel, Hero Motocorp, Larsen & Toubro and Hindalco lost 1% - 1.7%. ONGC, ICICI Bank and Cipla also closed notably lower.

Cairn India opened on a firm note thanks to impressive quarterly results, but gave up its gains and drifted down to end the day with a loss of around 1.75%. HCL Technologies, Siemens and Punjab National Bank also closed weak.

Adani Ports, Indian Overseas Bank, Jain Irrigation Systems, Unitech, Oriental Bank of Commerce and Bharat Electronics ended with sharp losses. Alstom Projects, Biocon, IRB Infrastructure, Union Bank of India, 3i Infotech and Greaves Cotton drifted lower on weak quarterly results.

United Spirits shot up by nearly 14% on hectic buying at the counter. Aurobindo Pharma gained 8.5%. Sintex Industries, Dish TV India, Indiabulls Real Estate, Engineers India, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation, JSW Ispat, JP Power, GMR Infrastructure, Federal Bank, Zee Entertainment and Mphasis closed stronger by 4.5% - 8%.

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Patni Computer Systems, Deepak Fertilizers and REC saw some hectic buying today thanks to buoyant quarterly results.

The market breadth was strong. Out of 2974 stocks traded on BSE, 1808 stocks moved up. 1040 stocks declined and 126 stocks ended flat.