Sensex extends gains, ends 102 pts up

The market opened on a high note on strong global cues, and shrugging off a setback it suffered a little past mid afternoon, ended higher today, extending its winning run to a fifth successive session.

While a positive lead from global markets following a stronger than expected U.S. jobs report and the data showing strong buying by FIIs in recent sessions lifted stock prices early on in the session, a weak start on the European bourses triggered some profit taking around mid afternoon. However, with the bulls staying rooted to the ring amid hopes of some rate cuts from the central bank in the near term, and on recent positive reports about activity in the manufacturing and services sectors, the market recovered swiftly and ended the day on a firm note.

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The BSE benchmark Sensex, which rose to 17,829.72 in early trades, but faltered to around 17,595 later on in the session, ended the day with a gain of 102.35 points or 0.58% at 17,707.31, its best close since 28 October 2011.

The National Stock Exchange's 50-stock Nifty index settled at 5361.65, nearly 30 points off the day's high of 5390.05, recording a gain of 55.80 points or 0.67%. The Nifty touched a low of 5327.25 in afternoon trade.

Realty, capital goods, metal and bank stocks were among the major gainers. Automobile, information technology, consumer durables and power stocks saw some bright spells during the day, but failed to sustain at higher levels. Oil, FMCG and healthcare stocks were mostly subdued.

Midcap and smallcap stocks had a good session though some of them gave up a portion of their gains during the final hour. The market breadth was strong right through the day.

Jindal Steel ended stronger by 3.4%. BHEL and State Bank of India closed higher by around 2.85%. Cipla, Larsen & Toubro, Tata Consultancy Services and DLF gained 2% - 2.2%. Sterlite Industries, Bajaj Auto, Hindalco, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, ITC, ONGC and NTPC also ended with impressive gains.

Cement stocks ACC and Ambuja Cements ended stronger by 5.8% and 5.3% respectively. Grasim Industries moved up by 2.8%. An impressive surge in cement shipments in January 2012 buoyed up sentiment.

Siemens, Cairn India, Power Grid Corporation, SAIL, HCL Technologies, Punjab National Bank, IDFC and Axis Bank also closed on a high note.

Tata Power shed more than 4% today. Hindustan Unilever ended lower by over 3% despite the company reporting a good surge in earnings in the October - December quarter. Sun Pharmaceuticals, Dr Reddy's Laboratories, Ranbaxy Laboratories, Sesa Goa, Reliance Infrastructure, GAIL India, Infosys, Reliance Industries, Tata Steel and BPCL also closed weak.

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Carborundum Universal, India Cements, Pratibha Industries and Dena Bank attracted buyers and moved up on strong results.

Out of 3014 stocks traded on BSE, 1855 stocks moved up. 1054 stocks declined and 105 stocks ended flat.