Sensex rises for fifth day; closes 51 points higher

Good corporate earnings so far this season induced buying interest in the stock market, which saw the barometer Sensex advance 51 points -- the fifth straight day of gains.

The 30-share Sensex of the BSE ended the day at 17,745.28 points, up 51.08 points, or 0.29%, from its previous close.

The index opened on a weak note but soon gained strength on firm Asian cues. It surged over 132 points to touch an intra-day high of 17,826.48.

Higher levels during the day triggered profit-booking in bluechip RIL and ICICI Bank, limiting the overall gains.

"Stock market is likely to remain in a range till the expiry of derivative contracts, which is due on Thursday. Till then, there will be stock specific movement in market," SMC Global vice-president Rajesh Jain said.
 
RIL dropped 1.61% to end at Rs1,069.80. RIL, the country's most valued firm, on Friday posted a net profit of Rs4,710 crore for the March quarter, representing a 30% jump.

Profit-booking in ICICI Bank, whose consolidated net profit in the January-March quarter jumped 79%, dragged the scrip down by 1.6% to end at Rs960.10.

The wide-based Nifty Index of the National Stock Exchange rose 0.35% to 5,322.45 points.

Among the 30 constituents of Sensex, 18 scrips ended with gains, while 12 closed in the red.

Brokers said that upbeat investor sentiment and sustained inflow from overseas fund houses helped the market to end with a modest gain.

Vedanta Group firm Sterlite Industries topped the gainers pack and surged nearly six per cent to settle at Rs842.50, after it announced a two-fold increase in its consolidated net profit for the March quarter.

Metal, PSU, banking and IT sectors were the top gainers in today's trade, while realty, oil & gas, health consumer and auto sectors witnessed selling pressure.

HDFC moved forward by nearly 4% and was followed by Hindalco that advanced by 3.34%, HDFC Bank by 2.39% and Mahindra & Mahindra by 1.51%.

Among the losers, Sun Pharma dropped 4.77%, the most in 30 blue-chip stocks on the BSE and was followed by DLF that declined 2.52%.

Maruti Suzuki dropped about 2% despite it posting a three-fold increase in earnings in the January-March quarter.  Marketmen attributed the fall to higher expectations by the Street. Hero Honda fell 0.71%.

On the global front, most of the Asian bourses, including Japan and China, closed in the green.