Sensex closes 261 points up at 14,424.87

MUMBAI: Easing concerns about snap polls following a thaw in ties between the UPA government and Left allies lifted the sentiments at the stock market, whose benchmark index on Friday closed with a gain of 261 points.

The market had seen abnormal volatility on Thursday on rumours that the CPI(M) would withdraw support to the government.

Investors took a cue from soft statements made by the Congress and the CPI(M) last evening and began covering short positions before August series expired on Thursday.

The 30-share BSE index resumed firm at 14,237.26 and gradually moved upwards to the intra-day high of 14,455.49 before ending the day at 14,424.87, a net rise of 260.89 points or 1.84 per cent.

Similarly, the broad-based S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) gained 75.20 points or 1.83 per cent to close at 4,190.15 from previous close of 4,114.95.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs), which pulled out about Rs 9,000 crore so far this month, were believed to be covering short positions after hints at softening of stance by the Left parties over the nuclear deal with the US.

The CPI(M) on Thursday said it did not want the "current crisis" over the nuclear deal to affect the Manmohan Singh government and that it had not discussed the possibility of elections in a crucial two-day meeting, ruling out any possibility of a mid-term poll.

Barring the Shanghai Composite, which gained by 1.49 per cent, Hang Seng, Nikkei, Straits Times, Taiwan Weighted and Seoul Composite closed moderately lower.

The trading volume dropped sharply to Rs 3,632.13 crore from Rs 4,935.89 on Thursday. SEL Manufacturing was the top traded share with the highest turnover of Rs 213.37 crore followed by SBI (Rs 133.11 crore), RIL (Rs 99.42 crore), Asian Granito (Rs 97.39 crore) and Omaxe (Rs 91.00 crore).

The broad-based BSE-100 index advanced by 122.47 points to 7,371.37 from previous close of 7,248.90.

The BSE-200 index and the Dollex-200 were quoted up at 1,741.56 and 713.64 at close compared to previous close of 1,713.19 and 702.01 respectively. The BSE-500 Index jumped by 88.38 points to 5,579.52 and the Dollex-30 ended higher at 2,914.79 from 2,862.07.

RIL flared up by 31.90 to 1774.50, ONGC by 21.40 to 805.35, Tata Motors by 35.55 to 657.65, Maruti by 13.10 to 790.20, M&M by 15,45 to 639.95, Bajaj Auto by 3.40 to 2231.60, Tata Steel by 22.15 to 582.35, Hindalco by 2.75 to 141.95, BHEL by 88.75 to 1750.40, L&T by 47.40 to 2443.80, ACC by 37.95 to 1010.35, ACL by 2.65 to 135.40, Bharti Airtel by 15.60 to 866.05, Cipla by 3.15 to 170.95, Grasim by 17.65 to 2768.20, HUL by 1.50 to 199.70, ICICI Bank by 8.45 to 834.25, Infosys Tech by 14.80 to 1823.20, ITC by 1.20 to 161.90, Maruti by 13.10 to 790.20, NTPC by 4.20 to 163.80, Ranbaxy by 12.80 to 360.85, Reliance Com by 11.65 to 498.95, REL by 29.80 to 735.55, Satyam Computer by 14.10 to 436.80, SBI by 51.20 to 1466.25, TCS by 8.80 to 1016.45 and Wipro by 7.15 to 455.55.