Sensex up 123 points in late buying amid firm European markets

After dull trading, the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex spurted in late buying to close with gains for the second successive day today - up 123 points at 17,830.75 - on sustained FII inflows as European markets firmed ahead of a decision to ease euro-zone debt crisis, especially in Greece.

Gains were led by metals, realty, auto, banking, consumer durables, power and IT stocks. Small-cap and mid-cap equities were also in good demand. However, refinery, capital goods and healthcare counters saw declines.

"Sudden buying momentum was seen during the afternoon session as positive openings in European markets aided investor sentiments," said Shanu Goel, research analyst at Bonanza Portfolio

Global developments will continue to play crucial role in the next few sessions and a cautious approach is recommended as the stock market has become highly volatile, she added.

The BSE 30-scrip Sensex opened lower and moved between 17,879.46 and 17,609.43. Finally, it ended the day at 17,830.75, up 123.43 points or 0.70%.

The NSE 50-share index Nifty gained 44.20 points or 0.82 per cent to finish at 5,412.35.

FIIs bought shares worth Rs384.24 crore yesterday as per provisional data from the stock exchanges. They have picked up shares worth Rs6,692.01 crore in first six trading sessions this month.

Asian stocks ended mixed. Key indices in Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore eased by up to 0.15%, while those in China, South Korea and Taiwan gained up to 0.54%.

In Europe, key markets -- CAC (France), DAX (Germany) and FTSE (the UK) -- were up nearly one% in the afternoon trade.

Of the 30 Sensex scrips, 21 ended in the green, while the rest closed with losses.

Sterlite was up 4.59%, Jindal Steel (3.81%), Tata Power (3.38%), Bajaj Auto (3.30%), HDFC Bank (2.79 pc), Tata Motors (2.57%), Wipro (2.28%), ICICI Bank (2.14 pc), M&M (2.01%), NTPC (1.61%), Infosys (1.39%) and HUL (1.15%).

However, Sun Pharma fell 1.36%, followed by Hindlaco (1.31%), DLF (1.15%), Bharti Airtel (1.13%), L&T (1.01 pc), ITC (0.71%) and Reliance Industries (0.63%).

Among the sectoral indices, BSE-Meal shot up 2.05%, Realty - 1.95%, Bankex - 1.85%, Auto - 1.78%, Consumer Durables - 1.28%, Power - 1.26% and IT - 1.14%.

Small cap and Midcap indices also shot up by 1.18% and 1.27% respectively.

However, Oil&Gas fell 0.24%, Capital Goods - 0.11% and Healthcare - 0.03%.

Market breadth at the BSE continued to be positive as 1,828 stocks ended with gains while 1,057 finished with losses. The total turnover declined to Rs3,326.44 crore from Rs3,630.37 crore yesterday.