Sensex ends up 170 points at 19,966

The Sensex opened with a huge positive gap of 267 points at 20,063 following the sharp rally in the US markets, and touched a high of 20,095 in early deals.

Profit-taking at higher levels saw the index pare gains and slip to a low of  19,706 - down 389 points from the day's high - as the day progressed.

Renewed buying in late trades saw the index regain most of its lost ground, and finally ended with a gain of 170 points at 19,966 - its third best close ever.

The Nifty gained 20 points to close at 5,974.

The mid-cap and small-cap indices ended marginally lower at 9022 and 11,342, respectively.

The IT index soared 3.7% to 4425. The Bankex gained 2.4% at 11,378, and the Realty index added 2% to 11,577. The FMCG and Metal indices, however, slipped 1% each to 2177 and 18,738, respectively.

The NSE Nifty ended with a gain of 19 points at 5974.

The market breadth was marginally positive - out of 2,909 stocks traded, 1,460 advanced, 1,406 declined and 43 were unchanged today.

INDEX MOVERS...

Infosys zoomed 5% to Rs 1,718. DLF and ICICI Bank soared 4% each to Rs 1,011 and Rs 1,248, respectively.

HDFC surged 3.8% to Rs 2,921. TCS rallied 2.6% to Rs 1,061.

Ranbaxy gained over 2% to Rs 407. Reliance Communications, Bharti Airtel and HDFC Bank advanced over 2% each to Rs 734, Rs 960 and Rs 1,721, respectively.

Wipro moved up nearly 2% to Rs 503. SBI and Satyam added 1.6% each to Rs 2,437 and Rs 444, respectively.

...AND THE SHAKERS

Hindalco shed 2.5% at Rs 188. ITC dropped 2% to Rs 189.

BHEL, ACC and Tata Steel slipped over 1.5% each to Rs 2,743, Rs 1,065 and Rs 833, respectively.

Reliance declined over 1% to Rs 2,842.

Ambuja Cements, Grasim and Bajaj Auto were also down 1% each at Rs 152, Rs 3,642 and Rs 2,700, respectively.
 

Major Gainers			Major Losers
Name	Close	% Chg	Name	Close	% Chg
Riga Sugar	33.90	20.0	Ganesh Benzo	1.05	93.4
Cenlub Inds	27.00	20.0	Khaitan	73.05	82.9
Bharat Seats	22.14	20.0	Mortext	10.73	19.9
Machino	97.20	20.0	Kilburn Off	7.62	13.2
Visu Intl	21.61	20.0	Damodar Thre	47.55	10.3
(Close = Stock pirce at the end of day in Rs)

VALUE & VOLUME TOPPERS

Ispat Industries topped the value chart with a turnover of Rs 259 crore followed by Reliance Petroleum (Rs 236.80 crore), Reliance Natural Resources (Rs 221.50 crore), IFCI (Rs 182.70 crore) and Reliance (Rs 182.30 crore).

Ispat Industries led the volume chart with trades of around 3.70 crore shares followed by Centurion Bank of Punjab (2.52 crore), IFCI (1.79 crore), Tata Teleservices (1.60 crore) and Reliance Natural Resources (1.25 crore).