The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) benchmark Sensex today almost regained the 19,000-mark in early trade but lost the steam to end the day only 52 points in choppy trading.Markets opened on a promising note with the BSE 30-share index surging over 170 points to 18,942.42 points. But profit selling at higher levels trimmed most of the gains and the Sensex closed 51.68 points or 0.28 per cent higher at 18,814.48.Broad-based NSE 50-issue Nifty gained 23.30 points or 0.41 per cent to 5,650.50.Realty stocks continued to attract good buying support and the BSE-Realty index surged by 3.66 per cent to end the day as the top gainer among sectoral indices.Consumer durables and banking stocks were the next best performers of the day."A surprising jump in a US manufacturing sector gauge on Friday sent equities on Wall Street sharply higher. Most Asian markets traded with a positive bias. All eyes will be on the US monthly jobs data on Friday besides the interest rate decisions in the UK and eurozone", said Amar Ambani, head of research, IIFL - India Private Clients.According to provisional data, foreign institutional investors picked up shares worth Rs599.66 crore on Friday to extend their buying for the seventh session in a row.Other markets in Asia also ended higher. Key benchmark indices in Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan gained between 0.40 per cent and 1.94 per cent.European stocks were trading mixed in afternoon trade; key indices in Germany and the UK rose by 0.08 per cent and 0.29 per cent, respectively, while France's CAC eased by 0.10 per cent.Back home, 11 out of the 13 sectoral indices on the BSE gained while BSE-CG and BSE-FMCG ended with losses. Consumer durables (1.99 per cent), banking stocks (1.09 per cent) and BSE-Auto (0.91 per cent) were also in demand."For the Indian markets, the big near-term trigger will be the latest corporate results and the RBI's policy meeting later this month."Progress in the southwest monsoon, coupled with the trend in FII flows and possible positive surprise on the policy front will also have a bearing on the sentiment," said Ambani.Realty sector index led the Sensex gains; Reliance Infra and DLF rose by 6.84 per cent and 6.01 per cent, respectively.Among other gainers, Rel Com rose by 3.29 per cent, Hindalco (1.90 per cent), Tata Motors (1.76 per cent), Jaipra Asso (1.72 per cent), M&M (1.45 per cent), HDFC Bank (1.42 per cent), Maruti Suzuki (1.09 per cent), Sterlite Ind (1.00 per cent), RIL (0.70 per cent), SBI (0.51 per cent) and ICICI Bank (0.46 per cent).Total market breadth at BSE remained positive as 1,766 stocks settled in the green while 1,075 finished in the red. The total turnover improved further to Rs3,004.05 crore from Rs2,756.53 crore previously.

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